A damning 2020 report found that Bashir forged bank statements to gain access to the royal family and showed them to Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer.
Wednesday 31 January 2024 00:57, United Kingdom
In newly released emails, it has been revealed that Martin Bashir told colleagues that “professional jealousy” was the reason for his alleged deception in securing an interview with Princess Diana.
The journalist wrote this message in 2020 – months before the scandal surrounding her infamous 1995 interview with BBC Panorama was exposed, in which she said of her relationship with then-Prince Charles: “This marriage… There were three of us in our lives.”
The damning report found that bashir To gain access to the princess, he forged bank statements and showed them to Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer.
“I am disappointed to hear that this so-called ‘fabrication’ story is making headlines again,” Bashir said in an email dated July 20, 2020.
“It didn’t help the interview, but professional jealousy, especially within the company, allowed allegations of wrongdoing to be tipped.
“It was also clear that there was some frustration at the time that a second-generation immigrant with non-white, working-class roots had to have the courage to enter the palace and give an interview.”
He added that if a “dynasty” journalist like Dimbleby had been involved, there would not have been as much controversy.
Bashir was born in London to Pakistani parents and attended comprehensive school in Wandsworth.
His comments were revealed among thousands of emails and documents published by the BBC about how it secured the interview with Princess Diana and the subsequent alleged corporate cover-up of his actions. ing.
Mr Bashir was asked to make a statement after the BBC’s head of history, Robert Seeter, asked him to “publish an archived interview about the event, in which he referred to a fabricated article in which he had been implicated”.
This comes ahead of the November 2020 broadcast of the ITV documentary Diana Interview: The Princess’s Revenge, in which graphic designer Matt Wiesler talks about mocking up Bashir’s documents.
The BBC later apologized and reached a financial settlement with Mr Wiesler.
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the judge had ordered from BBC Last month’s ruling required the emails to be made public following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from journalist Andy Webb.
In a lengthy statement released today, the BBC said: ‘Throughout this process we have taken our responsibility to comply with the court’s instructions very seriously.
“Therefore, today we released approximately 3,000 documents, approximately 10,000 pages, to Mr. Webb. This latest disclosure includes hundreds of pages of reproductions and material unrelated to the 1995 Panorama. However, they were still captured by electronic searches.
“As necessary, redactions are being made in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.”
Andy Webb said the email showed the BBC was withholding important internal evidence about the interview investigation.
In one email, dated Oct. 19, 2019, a lawyer told a former Panorama editor that the company “is not releasing all internal investigation documents at this time.”
After the emails were published, Mr Webb said: “The BBC has clearly acknowledged that the documents have been withheld. In my book, that’s a cover-up.”
“And while it was clear at first glance that this material was highly relevant, the BBC assured the judge that it was completely unrelated.”
Mr Webb said the emails were heavily redacted and would have to be challenged again in court.