Prince William: BBC lies fuelled my mother’s paranoia

Prince William has criticised the BBC over the Martin Bashir Panorama interview with his mother after a probe found the journalist had deceived Princess Diana to secure an interview – and that corporation bosses covered it up.

In a statement broadcast last night, Prince William said it brought “indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly” to his mother’s “fear, paranoia and isolation” during her final years.

He said the interview made a “major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse”. He said that the Princess had been failed “not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions”.

“But what saddens me most, is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived,” he said.

Prince Harry also issued a statement. He claimed that a “ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices” ultimately killed his mother. He expressed concern that such practices are still widespread today, adding that it was “bigger than one outlet, one network or one publication”.

The princes made the comments after an independent probe by Lord Dyson found Bashir had been “deceitful” and commissioned fake documents to convince the princess she was being spied on, in what was a “serious breach” of the broadcaster’s guidelines.

The report also said the BBC had been “woefully ineffective” in its attempts to investigate the allegations of wrongdoing and that BBC bosses led a cover up of Bashir’s deception.

In response to the report, The BBC has sent letters of apology to the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex and Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer.

Tim Davie, the current director-general, gave an “unconditional apology”, while Lord Hall, a former director-general and head of news when the internal inquiry into Bashir’s actions took place, said: “I was wrong to give Martin Bashir the benefit of the doubt, basing that judgement as I did on what appeared to be deep remorse on his part.”

Bashir also apologised, saying the faking of bank statements was “an action I deeply regret” but added he felt it had “no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview”.

A handwritten note from Princess Diana on Kensington Palace notepaper, which was part of the evidence in the inquiry, said Bashir did not show her any documents or give her any information that she was not previously aware of. 

However, the inquiry did find that Bashir deceived Earl Spencer into introducing the journalist to his sister by showing him forged bank statements that falsely suggested individuals were being paid for keeping the princess under surveillance.

Earl Spencer told the BBC last night that he “draws a line” from the paranoia created by Bashir’s lies to the death of his sister two years later in a car crash

Following publication of the report, Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, threatened an overhaul of the BBC.

In a statement posted on Twitter, he said the report revealed “damning failings” at the heart of the corporation and said: “We will now reflect on Lord Dyson’s thorough report and consider whether further governance reforms at the BBC are needed in the mid-term charter review.”