Princess Diana’s brother Earl Spencer says he is ‘not at all satisfied’ with BBC Panorama inquiry
Prince Harry is ‘getting regular updates’ about Panorama inquiry and slams critics for ‘using it to drive a wedge between him and William’ as Princess Diana’s brother Earl Spencer savages BBC probe into the interview
- Prince Harry is understood to be in close contact with his uncle Earl Spencer
- Earl Spenser alleged he was shown ‘false bank statements’ by Martin Bashir
- Bashir allegedly hoped the statements would win him an introduction to Diana
- Since then, the broadcaster has launched an investigation into the interview
- Source said Prince Harry gets ‘regular updates and is aware of everything’
Prince Harry sees the BBC’s inquiry into Martin Bashir’s Diana interview as a ‘dive for truth’, sources claim, as the Princess’s brother says he is ‘not at all satisfied’ with the probe so far.
Prince Harry is understood to be in close contact with his uncle Earl Spencer, who has accused the BBC of ‘sheer dishonesty’ for showing him falsified bank accounts ahead of the 1995 interview that sent shockwaves through the royal family.
The statements purport – entirely wrongly – that two senior courtiers were being paid by the security services for information on Diana, in the hope it would win Bashir an introduction to the princess.
Since the accusations, the broadcaster has launched an investigation into the interview with retired judge, Lord Dyson, former master of the rolls, to spearhead the probe.
While Prince William has come out in support of the investigation – calling it a ‘step in the right direction’ – Prince Harry has kept largely quiet.
But now, sources have revealed that the Duke of Sussex – gets ‘regular updates and is aware of everything that is happening’ while he remains in his $14 million Santa Barbara mansion.
Prince Harry (pictured) sees the BBC’s inquiry into Martin Bashir’s Diana interview as a ‘dive for truth’, sources claim, as the Princess’s brother says he is ‘not at all satisfied’ with the probe so far
Prince Harry is understood to be in close contact with his uncle Earl Spencer (pictured), who has accused the BBC of ‘sheer dishonesty’ for showing him falsified bank accounts ahead of the 1995 interview that sent shockwaves through the royal family
Sources have revealed that the Duke of Sussex (pictured with his mother) – gets ‘regular updates and is aware of everything that is happening’ while he remains in his $14 million Santa Barbara mansion
A source told the Daily Telegraph: ‘Harry is getting regular updates and is aware of everything that is happening.
‘You do not need a public statement to imagine how he is feeling privately, people know how much his mother means to him.’
Hitting out at critics who perceived Harry’s lack of official statement as a sign of a rift between the brothers, the insider added: ‘Sadly, some people are not just seeing this as a drive for truth, but also trying to use this as an opportunity to try to drive a wedge between the brothers.’
The news that Harry is being kept up to date on the inquiry’s developments, his uncle Earl Spencer has said he is ‘not at all satisfied’ with the scope of the BBC inquiry, claiming that Lord Dyson should be able to ‘examine every aspect of this matter’. He has also written a letter to Mr Davie condemning the inquiry’s scope.
He earlier claimed that had it not been for the bank statements, he would not have ‘introduced Bashir’ to his sister, the then-Princess of Wales.
He took to Twitter to say he was ‘not at all satisfied’ with the scope of the BBC inquiry into the interview
He tweeted: ‘As I’ve told the BBC this evening, I’m not at all satisfied with the parameters they’ve set around their enquiry into the @BBCPanorama interview with Diana of 25 years ago tonight.
‘Lord Dyson must be free to examine every aspect of this matter, from 1995 to today, as he sees fit.’
The BBC has insisted that investigation has a sufficiently broad scope.
A spokesman for the corporation said: ‘The review is fully independent and the terms are suitably broad and wide-ranging.
‘We hope that everyone will support Lord Dyson’s work in establishing the truth.’
It was announced with great fanfare on Wednesday that Lord Dyson, an eminent former Supreme Court judge, was the person to ‘unearth the truth’ by leading the inquiry.
It is understood that Earl Spencer has the utmost respect for Lord Dyson, a former Master of the Rolls, but does ‘not believe he has been given the tools to do the job’ properly.
He believes the inquiry’s ‘terms of reference’ are too tightly drawn to enable the retired judge to uncover the truth.
Earl Spencer is also understood to question the BBC’s insistence that Bashir is ‘too ill’ to answer questions – given he was allegedly spotted dining at the Reform Club in London last month.
A source close to Princess Diana’s brother said last night: ‘He is not going to sign up to this, in its present form.
‘He is impressed by Lord Dyson, who is one of the country’s most eminent former judges, but he does not believe he is going to be able to uncover the criminality involved because of the way the BBC has – very concerningly – tightly drawn up the terms of reference.
‘He wants to know if this is truly a public inquiry to get to the bottom of what happened, or if this whole thing has been dressed up to ensure the inquiry is hamstrung from the start. He is not going to endorse an investigation that lets anyone get away with what he clearly thinks is criminal action.’
Announcing Lord Dyson as head of the inquiry this week, Mr Davie said: ‘The BBC is determined to get to the truth about these events and that is why we have commissioned an independent investigation.
‘Formerly Master of the Rolls and a justice of the Supreme Court, Lord Dyson is an eminent and highly respected figure who will lead a thorough process.’ It drew immediate – and unprecedented – praise from the Duke of Cambridge.
Determined to protect his mother’s legacy, William made an unusual intervention to say he welcomed the appointment of Lord Dyson.
But since then, the BBC has stonewalled questions about exactly how its inquiry would operate.
A press officer assigned to answer questions failed to take calls or respond to emails.
Earl Spencer’s letter to Mr Davie has blasted apart any semblance of cooperation. It is understood that the peer has demanded to know whether the BBC is controlling the inquiry, which he could not go along with.
The peer has made it clear he would not wish to be put through the pain and stress of helping any inquiry that was less than a ‘forensic fact-finding mission’ – with potential criminality the key to the investigation.
Earl Spencer has revealed 32 jaw-dropping royal smears the BBC man fed Diana about how her staff were betraying her, her husband Prince Charles was cheating on her and MI5 spying on her – all to gain her trust.
Her close friend Rosa Monckton has accused the BBC of deploying ‘criminal’ tricks to clinch its historic Panorama interview which rocked the royal family when it aired in November 1995.
Miss Monckton says Bashir’s dishonest methods changed the course of history. Two years later, Diana was killed in a car crash, long after she had lost her Scotland Yard protection.
Despite the enormous pressure on the BBC to fix the scandal – and the clear resolve of its new director-general Mr Davie to decisively resolve it – the Mail understands that Lord Spencer claims he was not even consulted on the terms of reference of the new inquiry.
Had he been, he would have made it abundantly clear to Mr Davie they were not sufficient.
The five tasks the BBC has set Lord Dyson all refer to events ‘at the time’ of Diana’s decision to give Panorama her explosive claims that ‘there were three of us in this marriage’, prompting the Queen to demand an urgent divorce with heir to the throne Prince Charles.
But Earl Spencer wants the inquiry to examine 1995 to 2020 to fully encompass the alleged cover-up mounted by chiefs including former director-general Lord Hall, who fully exonerated the BBC in a ‘whitewash’ 1996 inquiry.
On Thursday, TV watchdog Ofcom said it will not launch its own investigation into the BBC Panorama controversy, but will follow the independent inquiry ‘closely’.
The interview was watched by 23 million people and sent shockwaves through the Royal Family
The Princess of Wales, during her world exclusive Panorama interview with Martin Bashir for the BBC on November 20, 1995
Earlier this month, Earl Spencer accused the BBC of a ‘whitewash’ over faked bank statements said to have helped land the 1995 historic interview.
In a devastating letter, Charles Spencer expressed his outrage at the institution’s ‘sheer dishonesty’ and accused Mr Bashir of ‘yellow journalism’.
Earl Spencer also told director-general Tim Davie that Bashir showed him falsified bank accounts purporting to show – entirely wrongly – that two senior courtiers were being paid by the security services for information on his sister, in the hope it would win him an introduction to the princess.
He said the corporation owes both himself, the viewing public and, most importantly, the late princess a posthumous apology for the wholescale deception by a journalist working for its flagship news programme.
Bashir’s interview with Diana, in which she told him ‘there were three people in the marriage’ – a reference to her estranged husband’s relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles – attracted 23million viewers and was hailed as the greatest tell-all scoop of the 20th century.
But 25 years after she bared her soul, fresh allegations have emerged that the BBC obtained the scoop under a false pretext.
Earl Spencer said in an email on October 23: ‘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.’
Bashir has also been accused of exploiting the princess’s fears that her private conversations were being bugged by the secret services to garner a meeting.
The journalist first contacted Diana’s brother three months before the interview saying he was looking into ‘media ethics’. The earl went on to arrange a meeting between himself, his sister and Bashir at a friend’s apartment in London in September 1995.
He kept notes of the discussion and eventually warned his sister against dealings with Bashir over the sensational allegations he was making.
But by that time it was too late – and Diana was hooked.
The BBC eventually launched its own investigation into the faked document which concluded in April 1996 that: ‘The BBC has been able, independently, to verify that these documents were put to no use which had any bearing, direct or indirect, on the Panorama interview with the Princess of Wales.’ The review was overseen in part by Tony Hall, then head of news and current affairs, who retired as director-general in August.
But renewed publicity around the 25th anniversary of the interview and the airing again of the claims against Bashir, has prompted Earl Spencer to take up the cudgels again.
Following the news of Lord Dyson’s appointment as head of the inquiry, the Duke of Cambridge called the move ‘a step in the right direction’.
He 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.’
Lord Dyson, 77, has said he will start his inquiry ‘straight away’ by interviewing corporation staff and having access to available records.
He also promised Mr Bashir a ‘thorough and fair’ investigation.
The BBC approved Lord Dyson’s appointment on Wednesday after new Director General Tim Davie ordered an independent inquiry into allegations Mr Bashir fed Diana a string of lies and smears to obtain his exclusive interview with her.
Lord Dyson will also probe how much BBC bosses knew at the time and whether there was a cover-up and said: ‘This is an important investigation which I will start straight away. I will ensure it is both thorough and fair’.
Rosa Monckton, one of Princess Diana’s closest friends, last night accused the BBC of ‘making a lot of money’ from a ‘criminal offence’. Pictured: Miss Monckton with Diana in 1993
Prince William was in contact with BBC for TWO WEEKS to make sure they ‘establish the truth’ with probe into Panorama interview with his mother as reporter Martin Bashir – the man who is ‘too ill’ to help inquiry – breaks cover
By Faith Ridler and Martin Robinson Chief Reporter For Mailonline and Sam Greenhill and Paul Revoir For The Daily Mail
Prince William has spent the past fortnight in contact with the BBC to ensure they hired a top judge who will ‘establish the truth’ about Martin Bashir’s interview with Princess Diana, it was revealed this week.
The Duke of Cambridge called Lord Dyson’s appointment ‘a step in the right direction’ after the former Supreme Court judge was unveiled as the eminent head of a probe into allegations of forgery, deceit and cover-up surrounding Mr Bashir’s scoop.
Mr Bashir, who is signed off work with illness but was pictured this week charging his electric Mercedes SUV, allegedly peddled 32 lies and vile smears to the vulnerable princess to clinch his explosive 1995 Panorama exclusive in which she famously said: ‘There were three of us in this marriage’ when asked about Camilla Parker-Bowles.
MailOnline understands William, who was 13 when the interview took place, has maintained channels of communication with the BBC over the past fortnight. This has kept pressure on the broadcaster to ensure it found an authoritative enough figure to probe his concerns about how his mother was treated.
A source close to the Duke of Cambridge added: ‘Well of course this is in part about protecting his mother’s legacy, so it is a very personal matter for William. He has kept a close eye on what’s unfolded but believes things are moving in the right direction.
‘The BBC has kept him informed appropriately. In the end, what he wants is the same as everyone else – for the truth to be unearthed and any appropriate action taken.’
Prince William said last night: ‘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.’
The Duke of Cambridge (pictured this week) dubbed the independent investigation into whether Martin Bashir conned his mother into their notorious 1995 Panorama interview ‘a step in the right direction’
The Mail’s exclusive photographs show Mr Bashir charging his SUV at a petrol station while on sick leave from work after being struck by coronavirus in the summer and later undergoing a quadruple heart bypass operation
Princess Diana watches the Women’s Singles final at Wimbledon with a young Prince William, who was 13 when the Panorame interview was released
The interview, in which Diana also admitted her infidelity with army captain James Hewitt, was watched by 23 million people and sent shockwaves through the Royal Family.
It led to the Queen demanding that Charles and Diana swiftly divorce in 1996, a year before the princess died following a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris in August 1997.
Lord Dyson, 77, who stood as Master of the Rolls between 2012 and 2016, has said he will start his inquiry ‘straight away’ by interviewing corporation staff and having access to available records.
He also promised Mr Bashir a ‘thorough and fair’ investigation following sensational claims the journalist secured the Princess of Wales’s trust by faking two bank statements.
The BBC approved Lord Dyson’s appointment on Wednesday after new Director General Tim Davie ordered an independent inquiry into allegations Mr Bashir fed Diana a string of lies and smears to obtain his exclusive interview with her.
Lord Dyson will also probe how much BBC bosses knew at the time and whether there was a cover-up and said: ‘This is an important investigation which I will start straight away. I will ensure it is both thorough and fair’.
Diana’s brother Earl Spencer – who has been demanding an inquiry into the ‘sheer dishonesty’ – has told friends he was pleased such a senior retired judge had been appointed.
Mr Davie added: ‘The BBC is determined to get to the truth about these events and that is why we have commissioned an independent investigation.
‘Formerly Master of the Rolls and a Justice of the Supreme Court, Lord Dyson is an eminent and highly respected figure who will lead a thorough process.’
Bashir, who is now religion editor at the BBC, is currently signed off from work.
A statement from the corporation said: ‘He is currently recovering from quadruple heart bypass surgery and has significant complications from having contracted Covid-19 earlier in the year.’
Diana, Princess of Wales, during her world exclusive Panorama interview with Martin Bashir for the BBC on November 20, 1995
Retired judge Lord Dyson (left) will run the independent inquiry into whether Mr Bashir used dirty tricks to con Princess Diana into the 1995 Panorama interview. Mr Bashir won a Bafta for the show (right)
BBC children’s show Celebrity Supply Teacher where scandal-hit Martin Bashir teaches children how to be journalists will remain available on iPlayer, corporation says
BBC chiefs say a children’s show where scandal-hit reporter Martin Bashir (pictured during the show) teaches children about the fundamentals of journalism will remain on iPlayer
BBC chiefs say a children’s show where scandal-hit reporter Martin Bashir teaches children about the fundamentals of journalism will remain on iPlayer.
The corporation says it will not remove an episode of Celebrity Supply Teacher featuring the correspondent, who is at the centre of a probe relating to his bombshell 1995 interview with Princess Diana.
The Celebrity Supply Teacher episode, which features a still image from the famous Panorama interview, centres on the journalist discussing the historical influence of civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King.
He also also gives advice to young viewers about being a journalist, saying: ‘Journalism is about telling stories, real stories so that people can understand the world around them.’
Veteran BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell is among the journalists expected to appear before the inquiry having been ‘deeply disturbed’ by their colleague’s alleged dirty tactics.
Mr Witchell, 67, who worked on Panorama in the 1990s, and several other senior BBC staff are said to have been ‘deeply disturbed’ by claims Mr Bashir allegedly spun an outlandish web of deceit to win Diana’s trust – and secure the bombshell interview.
The BBC’s current royal correspondent had reportedly arranged to meet Diana to discuss a TV interview about the changing role of the monarchy and how her children William and Harry would fit in.
The plan was ‘put on ice’ when Mr Witchell was sent away on assignment and promoted diplomatic correspondent – but it was handed to Mr Bashir who is alleged to have used unscrupulous tactics to secure the interview.
To secure his interview, Mr Bashir allegedly said her bodyguard was plotting against her, her friends were betraying her and MI6 had taped Charles and his private secretary planning the ‘end game’.
He is said to have falsely claimed Charles and nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke went on a secret holiday together and that the heir to the throne was ‘in love’ with her.
Mr Bashir allegedly lied that Prince Edward was having treatment for Aids and the Queen was a ‘comfort eater’ with ‘heart problems’.
Earl Spencer kept meticulous notes which are expected to form key evidence in the inquiry.
At an earlier meeting, Mr Bashir showed him fake bank statements he ordered a blameless BBC graphics artist to forge, purporting to show Earl Spencer’s security head was in the pocket of a newspaper group.
Mr Witchell is said to have been ‘furious’ when Mr Bashir’s alleged deceit emerged, and is now set to give evidence to the inquiry into it, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Michael Jackson was lured into his disastrous interview with Mr Bashir because he thought ‘if Princess Diana trusted him, [he] could too’, it was claimed on Tuesday.
The journalist was seen returning home this month carrying an Indian takeaway and wine. Mr Bashir, 57, the BBC’s religious affairs editor, has not responded to requests for comment.
In February 1996 Bashir was feted at the Royal Television Society’s annual journalism awards ceremony for the interview that made headlines around the world
Top British retired judge chosen to lead BBC’s Bashir inquiry once called Boris Johnson a risk-taker who ‘chances his arm’ in love child case
Lord Dyson was Master of the Rolls – the name Britain’s top Court of Appeal judge – for four years until he retired in October 2016.
Famously in 2013 he ruled that the public had the right to know about the Prime Minister’s love child has now described him as a risk taker who ‘chances his arm’.
Lord Dyson was one of three judges who decided that the press had the right to reveal that Boris Johnson had fathered a daughter outside of his marriage.
The judges rejected an argument from Helen Macintyre, Mr Johnson’s former lover and the mother of the child, that the girl’s existence should be kept secret.
He was a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from April 2010 until October 2012.
And before that he was a Lord Justice of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales from 2001 until 2010 after stints at the High Court.
Lord Dyson was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1968.
The pop star’s lawyer said Jackson would never have done the documentary with Bashir unless he believed it would be ‘positive’.
The 2003 expose turned into a public relations disaster for the troubled singer and culminated in him facing child molestation charges in 2005.
Tom Mesereau, who successfully defended the musician at the trial, claimed Jackson – who died in 2009 – had told him the journalist promised to portray him positively like the famous Diana interview.
From his office in Los Angeles, Mr Mesereau told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘I have always been troubled by how Mr Bashir managed to get into Michael Jackson’s graces and gain his trust.
‘He thought if Princess Diana trusted him, Michael could too. Michael told me he was led to believe this would be a very positive interview, and he trusted Mr Bashir to follow through [with this] but he was greatly disappointed.’
The British journalist spent eight months with the Thriller star before making the ITV documentary ‘Living with Michael Jackson,’ in which the entertainer admitted sharing his bed with children.
Bashir and former BBC chiefs are now facing an inquiry into a string of alleged lies and smears he reportedly fed Diana to obtain his 1995 exclusive interview with her.
Former director-general Lord Hall welcomed his successor Tim Davie’s decision to commission the ‘robust and independent’ investigation.
Lord Hall was head of news when Diana gave her interview, and he presided over an inquiry at the time that was dubbed a ‘whitewash’.
But he told the Sunday Times he was ‘pleased’ allegations Mr Bashir used dishonest methods would be investigated, adding: ‘I want these things to be looked at.’ There is also a growing clamour for a police investigation, after the BBC acknowledged Bashir had shown ‘mocked up’ bank statements to Earl Spencer when trying to persuade him to introduce him to his sister Diana.
Matt Wiessler, who was sacked from the BBC after details of his role in making the bank statements emerged. Mr Bashir is the BBC’s religious affairs editor
Bashir clinched his access to the princess via her brother, Earl Spencer, who says the journalist showed him copies of bank statements (pictured) which purported to be from the private account of his head of security, Alan Waller. They apparently showed – falsely – that he was receiving money from a newspaper group and a mysterious offshore company
Former police officers including Dai Davies, ex head of royal protection, say Scotland Yard should run the new probe. And Peter Bleksley, a founder member of Scotland Yard’s undercover unit, backed the idea, saying: ‘They have to establish criminal intent. Was there an intention to trick someone or persuade someone to do something because of these documents?
‘Earl Spencer is absolutely crucial to any criminal inquiry because he may be the person who was coerced into doing something. There would have to be some kind of financial advantage proven.’
The innocent graphics designer who unwittingly helped Mr Bashir create the phoney bank statements – and was fired while Mr Bashir collected awards – believes the BBC journalist’s historic interview helped set her on a fateful path culminating in her death.
At her funeral, Matt Wiessler stood in The Mall. He said: ‘I felt like I needed to pay my respects because somehow I contributed.’
BBC veteran Jonathan Dimbleby, one of the targets of Bashir’s smears, welcomed the inquiry, describing the Panorama affair as ‘the bizarre and awful story of Martin Bashir’s insinuating himself into the confidence of a troubled woman’. He said getting an interview ‘should never involve deception and lies’.
Mr Bashir, 57, the BBC’s religious affairs editor, has not responded to requests for comment.
A BBC source told the Mail: ‘At no stage has anyone at the BBC admitted forgery or any other criminality.’
The man ‘too ill’ to help BBC inquiry: Martin Bashir is pictured out and about after broadcaster said he’s off work with ‘significant complications from having Covid’
By Sam Greenhill, Chief Reporter for the Daily Mail and Paul Revoir for the Daily Mail
Martin Bashir was looking ‘fit and well’ as he charged up his electric-powered Mercedes after fleeing London.
The under-fire journalist spent half an hour re-charging his SUV at a petrol station.
An onlooker said: ‘He looked slim and fit, and was walking around no problem. He was with his wife and she got some coffees and they sat talking for a while as the car got its charge. He didn’t seem to have a care in the world.’
Bashir and his family left London last Friday. Removal men packed up their £2million home in Maida Vale.
Martin Bashir was looking ‘fit and well’ as he charged up his electric-powered Mercedes after fleeing London
The under-fire journalist spent half an hour re-charging his SUV at a petrol station. Bashir and his family left London last Friday. Removal men packed up their £2million home in Maida Vale
The house is in the process of being sold, according to filings at the Land Registry.
The 57-year-old BBC religion editor has privately told his work colleagues that the Princess Diana scandal is a ‘sad way to retire’.
A source at the BBC said: ‘He is obviously never going to report for us again.’
Bashir is currently on sick leave from his post, after being struck by coronavirus in the summer and later undergoing a quadruple heart bypass operation.
The BBC said it was unable to ask him any questions about the Diana claims because of his ill health, but he is expected to take part in Lord Dyson’s inquiry.
Asked for an update on Bashir’s health, a BBC spokesman said yesterday: ‘Martin Bashir is signed off work by his doctors – he is currently recovering from quadruple heart bypass surgery and has significant complications from having contracted Covid-19 earlier in the year.’
