The BBC, on Thursday, issued a “full and unconditional apology” after an independent report found that journalist Martin Bashir used “deception” to secure an explosive 1995 interview with Princess Diana.
“The indirect and real target of Bashir’s deceptions was Princess Diana,” wrote retired senior judge John Dyson following a six-month investigation.
In an interview with the BBC 25 years ago, Princess Dianna opened up about her life. The eye-catchy interview, which aired in 1995, landed one of the world’s
biggest broadcasting companies into trouble.
On November 20, 1995, BBC
Panorama’s Martin Bashir sat across Diana, the Princess of Wales, as she bared
her heart out to him. The embers of the interview have stoked a fire 25 years
later, when in November 2020, questions about how the interview was secured
started making rounds.
A two-part documentary titled ‘The Diana Interview: Revenge of a
princess’ that recently aired on British network ITV has claimed that Bashir
used devious methods to secure his interview with Princess Diana. The
documentary features a testimony of Matt Wiessler, graphic designer for BBC Panorama
who worked on the 1995 interview.
Wiessler has claimed that Bashir had asked him to forge bank statements
that corroborated that Royal employees close to the Princess were given extra
bucks to spy on her.
Playing
on her fears, Bashir allegedly faked bank statements showing payments of £10,500 to the
former head of security for Charles Spencer, the Princess’s brother, from a
publisher.
After the 1995 interview was aired, allegations of misconduct
had started making rounds, forcing Bashir to reportedly run into hiding. BBC had carried out a probe in 1996, but the then news chief, Tony Hall cleared
Bashir of all charges.
After the ITV documentary was aired in November 2020, Charles Spencer wrote a letter to Tim Davie, the current
director-general of BBC, requesting an independent inquiry into the matter.
Spencer said that those bank statements were the sole reason that he introduced
his sister to Bashir.
He also presented evidence of a letter penned by Bashir in which
he pressed on Diana for an interview citing rumours about her children’s nanny
having “recurring intimacy” with a “particular individual (hinting at Prince
Charles)”, according to Daily Mail.
Spencer’s allegations have now pushed BBC to launch a fresh
probe, headed by former Supreme Court judge John Dyson, into how the interview
was obtained. “This is an important investigation which I
will start straight away. I will ensure it is both thorough and fair,”
Dyson told AFP.
The investigation would include checking the
measures taken by Bashir to secure the interview, if they were in line with
BBC’s editorial standards of the time and how effectively the investigation was
handled back in 1995-96.
“The BBC is determined to
get to the truth about these events and that is why we have commissioned an
independent investigation,” Davie said.
After BBC commissioned the probe, it co-incidentally recovered a
handwritten note from Princess Diana that apparently cleared Bashir of all the
wrongdoing. The letter, that BBC had previously lost, will be presented to the
independent inquiry.
BBC director Davie has also offered his apologies for using the
allegedly fake bank statements, which were crucial in getting the 1995 interview
watched by 23 million viewers.
A recently launched internal inquiry by BBC under the Freedom of
Information Act revealed that Wiessler had been blacklisted from BBC in 1996,
and Wiessler came to know about this only now, The Guardian reported. He slowly
moved out of the media industry and is now the co-owner of Devon bicycle
business design. He blamed BBC for the downfall of his career in media and
sought an apology.
Martin Bashir, a week back, stepped down from his role as the BBC’s religion editor, the media organisation announced.
“Martin Bashir has stepped down from his position as the BBC’s Religion Editor, and is leaving the corporation,” said deputy director of BBC News, Jonathan Munro, adding it was due to health issues.
