The British edition of the BBC has apologized for the use of false material during the preparation of an interview with Princess Diana, in which she confessed about the troubles in her marriage with Prince Charles.

The BBC writes about it.

It is an interview with the then little-known BBC correspondent Martin Bashir in 1995. It was then that Diana admitted that she was unhappy in her marriage with Charles. She also said her famous line: “There were three of us in that marriage,” also referring to Camilla Parker-Bowles, who was already in a relationship with Charles.

And Diana also expressed doubts that Charles would be able to become a good king. Diana’s former private secretary, Patrick Jefferson, noted that the interview destroyed Diana’s relationship with the royal family.

What was the BBC accused of?

After the interview, Diana’s brother Charles Spencer said that Bashir tricked his sister into revealing details of his personal life. He said that the journalist showed him fake statements of bank accounts, which allegedly showed that people from Diana’s entourage were talking about her personal life to the press in exchange for money.

In this way, Spencer assured, the journalist wanted to gain his trust in order to get an opportunity to meet Diana. In addition, according to the princess’s brother, Bashir lied to Diana about an alleged plot by members of the royal family against her. However, after an internal investigation in 1996, the BBC exonerated the journalist.

A new investigation

Spencer again claimed last year that the interview was dishonest. This led to a new social resonance. Then the BBC decided to do another investigation. It was entrusted to the former judge of the Supreme Court of Great Britain, Lord Dyson.

He found out that the interview was indeed obtained due to the use of fake documents. Dyson also discovered that Bashir had lied about this to management. And it in turn covered the journalist, even when it already knew about his lies.

Eventually the BBC and Bashir publicly apologized. The publication acknowledged that an internal investigation in 1996 was ineffective. The BBC also apologized to Prince Charles and wrote to Princes Harry and William.

Bashir’s career

He left the BBC in 1999. After that, Bashir worked for a number of other media outlets, including ABC and NBC. In addition, in 2003, the journalist interviewed Michael Jackson.

In 2016, Bashir returned to the BBC, where he began working as a religious correspondent. However, in May 2021, he resigned due to his health.