By Sheila Mckenzie-
The BBC has confirmed it will investigate new allegations concerning the dishonest manner it secured its historic Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.
Earl Spencer, the late Princess’s brother, has demanded a full BBC inquiry into alleged subterfuge used by Martin Bashir, the interviewer, used to win her trust.
He has handed over a “dossier” of evidence to the BBC which he said proves the underhand methods used by Mr Bashir.
They include the use of falsified bank statements showing that senior courtiers were being paid by the security services for information on the Princess and the concoction of fantastical stories about the way in which the royals were spying on her every move.
The Earl described an internal 1996 inquiry into the allegations, overseen by Lord Hall, who would go on to become director general, as a “whitewash”.
The BBC has admitted that Mr Bashir, 57, now the corporation’s religious affairs correspondent, faked bank statements but claimed they were not used in securing the interview. The admission is a serious dent in Bashir’s reputation.
Tim Davie, the BBC’s director general, apologised to the Earl about Mr Bashir’s methods last week but declined open a formal investigation.
The BBC says it cannot currently investigate further because Mr Bashir is seriously ill with complications arising from coronavirus.
The Corporation said it pursue the matter when he is better and has asked for further information.
It said in a statement: “The BBC has apologised. We are happy to repeat that apology.
“And while this was a quarter of a century ago, we absolutely will investigate – robustly and fairly – substantive new information.
“We have asked Earl Spencer to share further information with the BBC. Unfortunately, we are hampered at the moment by the simple fact that we are unable to discuss any of this with Martin Bashir, as he is seriously unwell. When he is well, we will of course hold an investigation into these new issues.”
Earl Spencer has produced a letter written by Mr Bashir in 1995, in which the reporter referenced false rumours that were swirling about Tiggy Legge-Bourke, Prince William and Prince Harry’s nanny, having an affair with the Prince of Wales.
Mr Bashir has been accused of using the forged documents to Lord Spencer, who in turn introduced Mr Bashir to his sister.
While it had already been established that Mr Bashir had produced two fake statements purporting to relate to payments made to one of the Earl’s own employees, Lord Spencer has today claimed that there are several others, falsely suggesting that two royal courtiers – Patrick Jephson, the Princess’s private secretary, and Commander Richard Aylard, former private secretary to the Prince of Wales, had also received “very large payments” from the security services.
Gravity
In a letter to Mr Davie, Lord Spencer said the BBC had failed to accept “the full gravity of this situation” and demanded a formal inquiry.
He wrote: “If it were not for me seeing these statements, I would not have introduced Bashir to my sister.
“In turn, he would have remained just one of thousands of journalists hoping that he/she had a tiny chance of getting her to speak to them, with no realistic prospect of doing so.”
He said the BBC owed both himself, the viewing public and his sister a posthumous apology for Mr Bashir’s deception.
“Why did Tony Hall’s enquiry not seek the truth from me?” he wrote.
“Why did it bend over backwards to whitewash Bashir? Who knew the extent of his yellow journalism when securing what Hall calls the interview of the decade … or of the generation?’
He added: ‘The sheer dishonesty of what I’ve seen in the BBC 25 years ago – both in Bashir and his colleague’s actions in securing the interview, and the whitewash under Tony Hall’s name – demands it.”
The BBC has claimed that the Princess wrote a letter insisting she was not misled and that the faked documents played no part in her decision to give the interview. That letter has apparently been mislaid.
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