Prince William is speaking out about Princess Diana’s famous 1995 BBC interview

Last month, an explosive exposé published in The Sunday Times alleged that BBC reporter Martin Bashir, the former host of the popular show Panorama, had used doctored and fraudulent bank statements to convince Lady Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, that people in the princess’s inner circle were being paid off to leak information and spy on her. According to Spencer, this information is what convinced him and Diana to agree to do the now-infamous 1995 Panorama interview with Bashir, where she revealed intimate details about her life – including Prince Charles’ infidelity with Camilla Parker-Bowles, the breakdown of her marriage to Prince Charles, her struggle with bulimia, and some scathing critiques of the Royal Family.Now, her eldest son Prince William is speaking out about the current investigation into the tactics used to gain Diana’s trust 25 years ago, and his statement is a rarity for the notoriously private Duke of Cambridge. In a statement to People, Wills said, “The independent investigation is a step in the right direction. It should help establish the truth behind the actions that led to the Panorama interview and subsequent decisions taken by those in the BBC at the time.”

 

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At present, the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, has not issued a statement.Since The Sunday Times’ revelations, the BBC has announced that it is conducting an investigation into the matter, and has appointed the Right Honourable Lord John Dyson to lead the team. Lord Dyson has said, “This is an important investigation which I will start straight away. I will ensure it is both thorough and fair.”The BBC has said that host Martin Bashir, who contracted the COVID-19 virus, was too ill to participate in the investigation, despite photographs of him a couple weeks ago going shopping and eschewing quarantine. Meanwhile, Charles Spencer has slammed the BBC’s “sheer dishonesty,” calling its investigation a “whitewash” of unethical tactics and for giving him a “piecemeal apology.”“[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.“This was what led me to talk to Diana about such things. This in turn led to the meeting where I introduced Diana to Bashir, on 19 September 1995. This then led to the interview," he continued. "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.”This isn’t the first time Martin Bashir’s reporting tactics have come under fire. After agreeing to be interviewed by Bashir for the documentary Living With Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson insisted he was betrayed by the reporter and misled about the scope of the interview, saying he was “unfairly treated.”[video_embed id='2068936']Before you go: Prince William kept his COVID-19 diagnosis a secret[/video_embed]