Time.news – The BBC interview-bomb a Lady Diana – the one in which she, to explain the divorce from the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, said ‘We were three in that marriage’ – was fruit of a trap, to obtain it there were “several” irregularities and the BBC did not do enough “to respect the high standards of integrity and transparency that are its hallmark”.
These are the conclusions of the internal investigation wanted by the British public broadcaster itself to understand how its author, Martin Bashir, he managed to win the trust of the princess. And today, for how that journalist managed to get the interview, 25 years later, the BBC apologizes “absolutely and unconditionally”.
The sensational interview released in 1995 by Princess Diana the popular Panorama program of the BBC therefore continues to be talked about.
“Although the report (concluding the investigation, ed) – explains the broadcaster’s general manager – acknowledges that Diana, Princess of Wales, was enthusiastic about the idea of an interview with the BBC, it is clear that the process to obtain the ‘interview was much less than what the public has a right to expect. We are very sorry for that. Lord Dyson (the retired judge in charge of the investigation; ed) has identified obvious shortcomings “.
“The BBC should have made a greater effort to get to the bottom of what was happening at the time and be more transparent about what it knew. Even if the BBC can’t go back in time after a quarter of a century, it can offer unconditional and complete apologies. And that’s what it does today. ”
Meantime Bashir, perhaps sniffing the air, in recent days he resigned: officially for health reasons (he had been on sick leave for months) but it was now known that the investigation was coming to an end and that, for him, it contained no good news.
The interview was one sensational scoop: Diana said a phrase that went down in history (“In this marriage there were three of us, a little too crowded …”, alluding for the first time in public to the relationship of her husband, the Prince of Wales, with Camilla Parker-Bowles); and launched its author, BBC journalist Martin Bashir, to global fame.
But for a long time Earl Spencer, Diana’s brother, was convinced that her sister was deceived, that the interview was somehow extorted: he claims that Bashir used forged bank statements to prove that two elderly courtiers were being paid by the security services to spy on his sister. There would also be other evidence built ‘ad hoc’ to persuade Diana to speak.
William and Harry’s reaction
The “dishonest way” in which the BBC’s explosive 1995 interview with Lady Diana was obtained means that it should never be broadcast again. This was declared by Prince William, eldest son of Diana and Prince Charles, denouncing that what happened then contributed in a significant way to the paranoia and isolation of his mother.
“It is indescribable sadness to know that the inabilities of the BBC have contributed significantly to the fear, paranoia and isolation, which I remember from his last years of life,” William commented after the BBC, 25 years later, said apologized for the ‘trap’ set up by his journalist to persuade Diana to talk about the failure of her marriage with Carlo. “I am of the firm opinion that the Panorama program” of the BBC that broadcast the interview “has no legitimacy and should never be broadcast again”.
Prince Harry, second son of Lady Diana and Prince Charles, denounced that bad media practices are still widespread and welcomed the investigation that revealed how the BBC journalist Martin Bashir had extorted the famous interview with a trap. to Lady D on the failure of her marriage to the heir to the throne. “This is the first step into justice and truth,” Harry said in a statement.
“What worries me is that these practices, and even worse, are still widespread today”, continues the prince who with his wife Meghan Markle left the royal house to live in America also to avoid excessive exposure to the media.
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