Princess Diana’s 1995 television interview, in which she claimed that there were “three people” in her marriage to Prince Charles, was fueled by rumors broadcast by Diana herself, says interviewer Martin Bashir.
The BBC reporter is now under investigation for alleged lies he told Diana to secure his cooperation in an outrageous television chat, which eventually led to the divorce. He is currently a BBC religious affairs reporter.
Bashir now claims that the “blemishes” attributed to him actually came from Princess Diana. A BBC investigation into the allegations was launched in November after Diana’s brother Earl Spencer made notes that he took to the public.
Spencer’s notes, taken during a meeting with Bashir and his sister, claimed that the queen was ill and on the verge of abdication, that Prince Charles was in love with his children’s nanny and that Prince William wore a Swatch watch that contained a listening device.
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But Bashir now claims that the defamation meeting had comments wrongly attributed to him instead of Diana.
The BBC investigation, which is being led by a former judge, is due to be completed next month. A negative result would likely affect Bashir’s stay on the BBC.
The Royal Family will not pursue Bashir with a criminal investigation.
Bashir, also a former MSNBC anchor, made his name behind the Panorama interview.
But his actions to gain access to the princess and the BBC’s subsequent treatment of the matter have been questioned for decades. Diana’s brother reopened the debate earlier this month, when he presented the BBC with a “dossier” of evidence that allegedly sheds new light on Bashir’s tactics after he was cleared of offenses by the broadcaster in 1996.
Spencer called in new director general Tim Davie to investigate, and now the BBC has hired Lord Dyson to guarantee some answers. “The BBC is determined to find out the truth about these events and that is why we have commissioned an independent investigation,” said Davie.
Jake Kanter contributed to this report.