'Drive for truth': Prince Harry welcomes investigation into Diana's 1995 interview

Britain’s Prince Harry has welcomed an investigation into Martin Bashir’s interview with Princess Diana as a “drive for truth”. According to Times, Prince Harry has been closely following developments around the growing scandal over the 1995 edition of BBC Panorama. A person close to Prince Harry told the media outlet that the Prince is getting regular updates and is “aware of everything” that is happening. Princess Diana’s second son has also joined his brother Prince Willian in welcoming the independent investigation into the interview. 

Days after the British media outlet vowed to “get the truth” about the controversy-triggering events around the Panorama interview three years before Princess Diana died in 1997, the Duke of Cambridge reportedly said in a statement that the investigation 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.”

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This comes after Diana’s younger brother Earl Spencer alleged that BBC’s Martin Bashir, who is reportedly sick with COVID-19, used forged bank documents to convince the royal to participate in the interview that was at the time one of the biggest television scoops. Several bombshell revelations were made in 1995 Panorama interview including Princess Diana describing Camilla Parker as the “third person” in her marriage with Prince Charles and her confession of infidelity with army captain James Hewitt. In the same TV appearance that was reportedly watched by 23 million people, Prince William’s mother expressed doubts over Prince Charles’ suitability to become the UK monarch. Prince Charles and Diana divorced in 1996, a year before she died in a car accident.

Even though the controversy was roiled up just a few days after the 1995 interview was aired, BBC announced on November 18, 2020, that Lord Dyson who is one of the nation’s most senior retired judges and a former Supreme Court judge, will be leading the inquiry. BBC’s director-general Tim Davie said in a statement that the outlet is “determined to get to the truth about these events and that is why we have commissioned an independent investigation.” 

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Earl Spencer’s letter to Tim Davie

As reported by the Daily Mail, Earl Spencer in a letter to Time Davie said that Bashir used the bank statements, that wrongly purported to show that two senior courtiers were being paid by the security services for information on Diana. Earl Spencer wrote: “If it were not for me seeing these statements, I would not have introduced Bashir to my sister.”

In a separate interview with Daily Mail, Diana’s brother alleged that the 1995 Panorama reporter made a range of untrue and defamatory claims about other senior royals during a meeting with him in a bid to gain the trust as well as access to his sister. Currently 57-year-old, Martin Bashir is BBC News religion editor and is recovering from a heart surgery among other complications due to COVID-19. Therefore, there has been no comment from Bashir on Spencer’s allegations.

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