PRINCE William has reacted to the BBC Panorama scandal as Princess Diana’s interviewer Martin Bashir is found to be “deceitful.”
The future king tonight slammed the national broadcaster after they “let my mother down, my family down and let the public down too.”
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The Duke of Cambridge said in a statement tonight: “I would like to thank Lord Dyson and his team for the report.
“It is welcome that the BBC accepts Lord Dyson’s findings in full – which are extremely concerning – that BBC employees: lied and used fake documents to obtain the interview with my mother.
“Made lurid and false claims about the Royal Family which played on her fears and fuelled paranoia.
“Displayed woeful incompetence when investigating complaints and concerns about the programme.
“And were evasive in their reporting to the media and covered up what they knew from their internal investigation.
“It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said.
It comes as…
- Martin Bashir blamed for Princess Diana’s death by Earl Spencer in shock new interview
- Never-seen-before Princess Diana letter to Earl Spencer says ‘it makes complete sense’ after revealing Bashir spy claims
- Read Prince William’s reaction to the BBC probe in full
- Martin Bashir disguised himself as a tradesman to interview Princess Diana at Kensington Palace, Panorama reveals
- Royal insiders blast The Crown for pushing narrative mum Princess Diana was ‘unstable and a schemer’
- Bashir faked bank statements and used “deceitful behaviour” to trick Diana into giving the infamous interview
- Diana’s brother Earl Spencer says he takes ‘full responsibility for introducing her to Bashir but was ‘reeled in’
- The Earl revealed that Bashir’s strategy was to make “everyone untrustworthy” as a way of getting close to him and his sister
- William’s ‘indescribable sadness’ that BBC failures sparked Diana’s fear & paranoia – and she never knew the truth
“The interview was a major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse and has since hurt countless others.
“It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her.
“But what saddens me most, is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived.
“She was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions.
“It is my firm view that this Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again.
“It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others.
“This settled narrative now needs to be addressed by the BBC and anyone else who has written or intends to write about these events.
“In an era of fake news, public service broadcasting and a free press have never been more important.
“These failings, identified by investigative journalists, not only let my mother down, and my family down; they let the public down too.”
