Princess Diana’s television interview in 1995 in which she claimed that there were ‘three people’ in her marriage to Prince Charles was fueled by rumors that Diana herself passed on, interviewer Martin Bashir claims.
The BBC reporter is now being investigated for alleged lies he told Diana to secure her co-operation in a scandalous television conversation, which eventually led to her divorce. He is currently the religion reporter at the BBC.
Bashir now claims that the ‘smears’ attributed to him actually come from Princess Diana. A BBC investigation into the allegations was launched in November after Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, made notes he made public.
Spencer’s notes, taken during a meeting with Bashir and his sister, claim that the queen was ill and about to abdicate, that Prince Charles was in love with the babysitter of his children, and that Prince William was a Wearing swatch watch containing a fault device.
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But Bashir now claims that the smear meeting mistakenly attributed it to him instead of Diana.
The BBC investigation, led by a former judge, is expected to be completed next month. A negative outcome is likely to affect Bashir’s continued tenure at the BBC.
It is understood the royal family will not pursue Bashir with a criminal investigation.
Bashir, also a former MSNBC anchor, has his name on the back of the Panorama maintenance.
But his actions to gain access to the princess, and the subsequent handling of the BBC, 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 being released by the broadcaster in 1996 for wrongdoing.
Spencer called on the new director general Tim Davie to investigate, and now the BBC has appointed Lord Dyson to get answers. “The BBC is determined to know the truth about these events, which is why we have launched an independent inquiry,” Davie said.
Jake Kanter contributed to this report.