Princess Diana during her Panorama interview.Photo: PA Images
BBC journalist Martin Bashir will not face any criminal charges over his1995 Panorama interviewwithPrincess Diana, in which she famously claimed there were “three of us” in her marriage toPrince Charles.
Speaking exclusivelyto PEOPLE in November 2020, Earl Spencer stated that Bashir’s documents played a hugely influential role in his decision to approach Diana about the interview, as they alleged that a member of his staff was being paid to leak information about the princess’s family.
“This was what led me to talk to Diana about such things,” he told PEOPLE. “This, in turn, led to the meeting where I introduced Diana to Bashir, on September 19, 1995. This then led to the interview.”
Martin Bashir.Mark Allan/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
“They obtained legal advice from Metropolitan Police lawyers, independent counsel and from the Crown Prosecution Service.”
Princess Diana and Prince Charles.Anwar Hussein/WireImage
“In this matter, as in any other, should any significant new evidence come to light we will assess it.”
The bombshell conversation led swiftly to an order fromQueen Elizabeththat Diana and Charles should divorce (they had separated in 1992), which they did in 1996. The princess died at age 36 following a car crash in Paris in August 1997.
Charles Spencer and Princess Diana.Amanda Edwards/WireImage; Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty
While a 1996 BBC internal investigation concluded that the faked papers had “no bearing” on the interview, it is a finding Spencer dismissed while accusing the BBC of “sheer dishonesty”.
“[The BBC] have yet to apologize for what truly matters here: the incredibly serious falsification of bank statements suggesting that Diana’s closest confidants were spying on her for her enemies,” Spencer told PEOPLE in Nov 2020.
“The BBC have so far refused to acknowledge the above. They claim Diana wasn’t misled. They have ignored my inquiry as to whether the apology over their false bank statements extends to the ones that actually persuaded Diana to meet Bashir.”
Princess Diana and Prince William.Getty
“Diana changed from being very concerned with day-to-day matters, just like any normal friend, to suddenly becoming obsessed with plots against her,“Monckton wrote.
Hasnat Khan and Princess Diana.Shutterstock; Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images
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“One of her most attractive qualities was her vulnerability. It was what endeared her to the public. I later realized that Martin picked on those vulnerabilities and exploited them,” Khan, 62, told theDaily Mail.
“He was very persuasive with Diana. It was all about him being from the BBC, being respectable and very pious even. But he filled her head with rubbish,” said Khan, who is famously private and has rarely spoken publicly about his relationship with Diana.
source: people.com
