The words say anger and sadness, the tone is incredibly firm: Thursday, May 20, Prince William, usually very discreet, condemned, in a message broadcast on many British channels “Incompetence” and the “Deceptions” from the BBC, after the British public broadcaster formally apologized for the conditions for obtaining the interview with his mother, Princess Diana, twenty-five years earlier.
In this event interview, carried out by the BBC’s investigative program “Panorama”, the princess revealed the infidelity of her husband, the Prince of Wales, and her deep depression. His words devastating for the royal family had precipitated his divorce. Diana Spencer tragically disappeared eighteen months later in a car accident in Paris.
Splattered reputation
An independent investigation, led by the former British Supreme Court judge, Lord John Dyson, had concluded a few hours earlier on Thursday that Martin Bashir, the journalist who had landed “the interview of the century”, had acted by “Deception”, by having fake bank accounts carried out, a behavior that constituted a “Serious violation” of the editorial principles of the BBC. During 1995, the young and ambitious journalist had approached Count Charles Spencer, Diana’s little brother and confidant, showing account statements supposed to prove that people around the princess were being paid to watch her.
BBC employees “Have claimed false and sinister things about the royal family which have accentuated [l]is afraid and [l]paranoia [de la princesse] “, regretted Prince William, second in the line of succession. But the prince reserved his heaviest charge against BBC executives, explaining that ” what [l]‘saddens the most’is that “If the BBC had properly investigated after the first complaints emerged in 1995, [s]his mother would have known that she had been deceived. She was duped not only by a rogue journalist, but also by BBC officials who looked elsewhere instead of asking tough questions ”.
Scores of voices call on the BBC to “Learn lessons” of this resounding episode. It undoubtedly splashes the reputation of excellence of the public broadcaster to 2,000 journalists, a true British institution, almost like the royal family, whose upheavals it has accompanied since 1922 – the year of its foundation.
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