The Duke of Cambridge welcomes the probe into BBC's 1995 interview with his late mother following uncle Earl Spencer's claims that the journalist tricked her into doing the interview.
- November 20, 2020
AceShowbiz - British royal Prince William has welcomed the BBC's decision to investigate how its Panorama programme secured a bombshell 1995 interview with his mother, Princess Diana.
Diana's brother Earl Spencer has alleged BBC journalist Martin Bashir used forged bank statements to convince her to agree to the interview, and has also claimed in a Daily Mail interview that he fabricated allegations her private correspondence was being opened, her car tracked and phones tapped.
On Wednesday (18Nov20), BBC chiefs announced that former U.K. Supreme Court judge Lord Dyson would lead an independent inquiry, a decision Kensington Palace officials announced William "tentatively welcomed" the new probe in a statement.
"The independent investigation is a step in the right direction," he said. "It should help establish the truth behind the actions that led to the Panorama interview and subsequent decisions taken by those in the BBC at the time."
The BBC's director-general, Tim Davie, added, "The BBC is determined to get to the truth about these events and that is why we have commissioned an independent investigation."
In a letter to Davie, the Earl alleged Bashir used the falsified documents to show two senior courtiers were being paid by the security services for information on his sister.
He wrote, "If it were not for me seeing these statements, I would not have introduced Bashir to my sister."
Bashir, who is now BBC News religion editor, is recovering from heart surgery and Covid-19 and has been too unwell to comment on the allegations.
In the interview with Diana, she famously said there were "three of us in this marriage" when referencing her then estranged husband Prince Charles' affections for his current wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, with who he had a long-standing affair during their union.
