The two sons of the late Princess Diana of Great Britain, Prince William and Prince Harry, smashed the BBC publicly after a report was released showing that BBC interviewer Martin Bashir had deceived her into thinking close friends had become traitors before he conducted his infamous 1995 interview with her, and the BBC had covered it up. The BBC sent an apology to the two princes after the report was released.
William stated:
I would like to thank Lord Dyson and his team for their report. It is welcome that the BBC accepts Lord Dyson’s findings in full, which are extremely concerning. That BBC employees lied and used fake documents to obtain the interview with my mother, made lurid and false claims about the royal family, which played on her fears and fueled paranoia, displayed woeful incompetence when investigating complaints and concerns about the program and were evasive in their reporting to the media and covered up what they knew from their internal investigation.
It is my view that the deceitful way that the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said. The interview was a major contribution to making my parent’s relationship worse and has since hurt countless others. It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia, and isolation that I remember from those final years with her. 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’d been deceived.
She was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders of the BBC who looked the other way rather than ask any tough questions. It is my firm view that this Panorama program holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. It effectively established the false narrative which over a quarter of a century has been commercialized by the BBC and others. This settled narrative now needs to be addressed by the BBC and anyone who has written or intends to write about these events. In an era of fake news, public service broadcasting and a free press, have never been more important. These failings, identified by investigative journalists, not only let my mother down and my family down, they let the public down, too.
Prince Harry stated:
Our mother was an incredible woman who dedicated her life to service. She was resilient, brave, and unquestionably honest. The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life. To those who have taken some form of accountability, thank you for owning it. That is the first step towards justice and truth. … Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed. By protecting her legacy, we protect everyone, and uphold the dignity with which she lived her life. Let’s remember who she was and what she stood for.
The Daily Mail noted of the BBC’s Martin Bashir, “The ‘rogue reporter’ commissioned fake bank statements to secure his interview with Princess Diana … The statements wrongly suggested that Earl Spencer’s security boss was in the pay of tabloid journalists and a shadowy company linked to the security services.”
Related: BBC Apologizes To Royal Family For Explosive Princess Diana Interview