In front of dark brick and rhododendron Prince William ernst looks into the camera. “The interview has contributed significantly to worsening my parents ‘relationship,” says the Duke of Cambridge. “And it has hurt countless others since then.«
interview. You hardly have to say much more. So legendary is the conversation that Princess Diana, William’s mother, had with the BBC reporter Martin Bashir in 1995. All her despair about life in the palace, about her marriage to Prince Charles, his and her own infidelity were revealed to an audience of millions. Her mental problems – her eating disorder – never before have there been such insights into the life of the Windsors.
However, it was only now, 26 years later, that it finally became clear what the interview really was all about. Evidence has been around for a long time, now an investigative report by former judge John Dyson finds: Bashir has accessed Diana with fake bank statements and the BBC has swept the misconduct of its reporter under the carpet. The broadcaster fully accepted the report and issued a “comprehensive and unconditional apology”.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, not a friend of the public broadcaster anyway, further increased the pressure: “I hope the BBC does everything it can to ensure that this never happens again.”The British government wants to check whether a fundamental reform of the broadcaster is necessary.
Diana and Charles were already separated at the time of the interview. Nevertheless, it was a sensation how intimately she talked about herself, her marriage and other members of the royal family. She revealed her depression, that she injured herself and suffered from bulimia. The most famous sentence is her comment on her husband’s infidelity: “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit tight.«
Why did Diana speak so openly about her problems? On two upholstered chairs, she and reporter Bashir sat opposite each other in Kensington Palace. In the conversation, it also became clear nonverbally that she was not well: her hands in her lap, eye contact often broke off, she looked at the floor, sometimes a desperate grin, then a shrug of the shoulders or a sigh.
“I am of the opinion that the fraudulent way in which the interview was conducted has significantly influenced my mother’s statements,” says Prince William today.
How it came to the interview
In his 127-page investigation report, John Dyson writes that Princess Diana was impressed by the idea of a TV interview. “Even without Mr. Bashir’s intervention, she would probably have agreed to be interviewed by any experienced and serious reporter she had confidence in.«
“Diana didn’t know who she could trust,” says her brother, Earl Spencer. According to the report, he brought Diana and the reporter together after Bashir made him believe with forged bank documents that allegedly employees of the royal house spied on Diana and sold information to the press.
Bashir is said to have deliberately told untruths during a meeting with Diana and her brother in September 1995 in order to unsettle the princess. For example, he claimed that an opponent of Diana had been bribed with prostitutes, and that an intelligence service was monitoring the princess.
Dyson writes that he thinks it is likely that Bashir wanted to exploit Diana’s vulnerability. “He must have intended to play with their fears in order to arouse their interest in him,” says the report. “She was vulnerable and had paranoid Fears.«
The report is based on information provided by Earl Spencer, who took notes that Dyson believes are authentic. For example, these alleged statements of the reporter: “Edward has AIDS? Royal Marsden Hospital. Queen sick: heart. Eat for comfort.”Bashir denies having said such things, it would be illogical to claim something that Diana could simply verify. Then his call would have gone immediately. But Dyson thinks Spencer’s version is more credible.
He thinks it is unbelievable that there was already a relationship of trust between Diana and Bashir before he showed her brother the bank documents. Months after the interview, the BBC man had already defended himself against the accusation that he had wanted to impress or manipulate Diana.
Diana’s condition in the weeks leading up to the interview is also said to be evidenced by a note from her lawyer made after the meeting in September and before the interview was broadcast. It states that Princess Diana received information from reliable sources that she wanted to be rid of. She was convinced that there was a conspiracy against her.
“Our mother has lost her life and nothing has changed«
Prince William also laments that his mother’s paranoia and her fears have been played with. Prince Harry, who now lives in the USA with his wife Meghan and distances himself from the royal family, even blames the interview on his mother’s death: “The culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately cost her her life. Our mother has lost her life and nothing has changed.«
The BBC has a handwritten note from Diana: Bashir did not show any documents and did not tell her anything she had not known before. Dyson considers the “Diana Note” to be genuine, but she only proves that the princess did not see the documents herself. Martin Bashir was clear that Earl Spencer told his sister about it.
According to the BBC, Bashir himself has apologised for the forged documents. But they had nothing to do with Diana’s personal decision to do an interview. He was still immensely proud of the conversation itself.
This year, on 1 July, Princess Diana would have turned 60. A statue in her honour is to be unveiled in London on this day.
