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The BBC Diana interview controversy takes another turn, as the broadcaster claims that it has found a handwritten note from the Royal that appears to absolve Martin Bashir of false bank documents.
- The BBC previously said that the copy of Princess Diana’s note was no longer in possession
- Concerns about fake bank statements that the BBC said Bashir admitted to commissioning
- But the BBC said the note confirms that the princess had not seen the false documents.
- They said they did not influence his decision to speak on camera in a 1995 interview.
- But Earl Spencer accused Bashir of showing him other fabricated documents.
The BBC has claimed to have discovered a handwritten note from Princess Diana that appears to absolve journalist Martin Bashir of using false documents to influence her appearance on Panorama.
The broadcaster previously said that a copy of the Princess of Wales note was no longer in its possession and could not be submitted for a 2007 Freedom of Information request, although its existence was documented in BBC records.
Diana’s document refers to mock bank statements that, according to the corporation, Mr. Bashir, who interviewed royalty, admitted to having been commissioned while trying to access the princess.
But the BBC has said that the note confirms that the princess had not seen the false financial documents prior to her 1995 Panorama interview and that they did not influence her decision to speak on camera.
The BBC has claimed to have discovered a handwritten note from Princess Diana that appears to absolve journalist Martin Bashir of using false documents to influence her appearance in Panorama 1995 (pictured)
Diana’s document refers to mock bank statements that the corporation has said that Mr. Bashir (pictured left and right during the interview), who interviewed royalty, admitted to being commissioned while trying to access the Princess.
The BBC has said that the note confirms that the princess (pictured during the interview) had not seen the fake financial documents prior to her 1995 Panorama interview and that they did not influence her decision to speak on camera.
The simulated bank statements refer to a now former employee of Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer.
But the princess’s brother has accused Bashir of showing him other fabricated documents, relating to members of the royal household, to ingratiate himself with Diana.
Earl Spencer says that Bashir sold 32 vile smears to Diana about her staff betraying her and royalty conspiring against her, playing on her paranoia to gain her trust.
Friends of the princess, including her close confidante Rosa Monckton, have questioned whether Bashir’s interview had an effect on the chain of events that ultimately led to her death in Paris on August 31, 1997.
She has recalled how Diana was consumed by conspiracy theories at the time, and only now does she realize that Bashir may have fed them.
BBC Director General Tim Davie has already announced that there will be an investigation into these alleged new documents relating to royal staff.
The corporation said in a statement: ‘Following the announcement of the independent investigation, the BBC has now recovered the original handwritten note from the princess which is referenced in our records from that time. We will pass it on to independent investigation.
As there have been many comments on this note and journalists have asked about it, we thought it appropriate to record that we have now recovered it.
“We will provide more details of the independent investigation shortly.”
In a recent tweet, the earl criticized the BBC for the Panorama affair saying that the corporation was “incapable of honestly facing the ugly truth of this matter.”
While graphic designer Matt Wiessler, who scoffed at documents relating to the earl’s former employee, said the BBC made him a scapegoat and asked the broadcaster to apologize.
In 1996, the BBC conducted an internal investigation that examined claims that Mr Bashir used false financial documents, purporting to show that a member of the earl’s staff was leaking stories, as a way to persuade the princess to speak. .
The corporation has previously said in a statement that Bashir admitted to commissioning the simulated bank documents and it is understood that the journalist was found to have “ done wrong ” at the end of the process, but it is not known what sanction, if any. , he faced.
The simulated bank statements relate to a now former employee of Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer (pictured with Prince Harry)
There is no suggestion that any of the individuals who were the subject of any of the financial documents were involved in any wrongdoing.
In an earlier statement, a BBC spokeswoman highlighted an apology the earl received from the CEO for the simulated documents relating to his former employee.
The BBC has said that Bashir, now the BBC’s religion editor, is seriously ill with Covid-related complications and cannot comment.
