To make amends for Martin Bashir’s infamous 1995 interview with Princess Diana, the BBC has reportedly agreed to pay $1.5 million to a charity to be picked by the British royal family. Is this another opportunity for Prince William and Prince Harry to reconnect and bond?
In a 127-page report, High Court Judge Lord Dyson determined that Bashir “deceived” in order to persuade the late royal’s brother, Earl Charles Spencer, into securing the interview to Panorama while working for the BBC at the time.
According to the Mail on Sunday, the planned donation is about equal to the amount the network received for selling global rights to the interview as well as compensation for its usage.
Based on the reports, the royal family will determine which philanthropic group will receive the funds. In particular, the report had it that Princess Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, who are allegedly in an immense feud these days, will have a say in how the money is to be used.
The interview was the most explosive one that Princess Diana did. It was later found out that she was not really comfortable doing the interview.
In particular, Diana said in the interview that “there were three of us in this marriage,” referring to Charles’ connection with Camilla Parker-Bowles, whom he married after Diana’s death in 2005.
The following year, in 1996, she and Charles divorced. Diana died in 1997 as a result of injuries she sustained in a vehicle accident in Paris. She was 36 years old at the time.
Bashir was accused of violating the BBC’s editorial guidelines by fabricating two bank statements and showing them to Earl Spencer. Bashir was then introduced to Diana by the 57-year-old.
Two months after the meeting, the interview went place. Earl Spencer told People magazine in November 2020 that the documents influenced his decision to approach Diana about the interview because they claimed a member of his staff was being paid by tabloids to leak information about the princess’s family.
The Sunday Times reported in October 2020 that Bashir allegedly duped Diana into telling the truth by showing her brother the erroneous financial statements. Following criticism from Diana’s family in the aftermath of the report, Davie commissioned an independent investigation into Bashir’s techniques.
Tim Davie, the BBC’s current director-general, stated that the corporation accepts Lord Dyson’s findings completely without qualms.
“Although the report states that Diana, Princess of Wales, was keen on the idea of an interview with the BBC, it is clear that the proceeds for securing the interview fell far short of what audiences have a right to expect,” said Davie. “We are very sorry for this. Lord Dyson has identified clear failings.”
“While today’s BBC has significantly better processes and procedures, those that existed at the time should have prevented the interview being secured this way,” he continued. “The BBC should have made greater effort to get to the bottom of what happened at the time and been more transparent about what it knew. While the BBC cannot turn back the clock after a quarter of a century, we can make a full and unconditional apology. The BBC offers that today.”
On his part, Bashir also made an official statement following Lord Dyson’s report.
“This is the second time that I have willingly fully co-operated with an investigation into events more than 25 years ago,” Bashir, now 58, said. “I apologized then, and I do so again now, over the fact that I asked for bank statements to be mocked up. It was a stupid thing to do and was an action I deeply regret. But I absolutely stand by the evidence I gave a quarter of a century ago, and again more recently.”