Lady Di, the soap opera continues. Asked by the Sunday Times, the journalist Martin Bashir, implicated for deception within the framework of the explosive interview of Lady Diana in 1995, apologized, Sunday, May 23, to the princes William and Harry. “I never meant to harm Diana in any way, and I don’t believe we did. ” The journalist assured that this interview had been conducted under the conditions set by the young woman, and that the two had both remained very good friends. He also denied having helped feed the “Paranoia” of the princess.
More than twenty-five years after this interview, which had been watched by nearly 23 million viewers in the United Kingdom alone, an independent report on Thursday denounced the methods “Misleading” employed by this journalist to obtain it. At the time, Diana’s brother Charles Spencer claimed Martin Bashir had shown her account statements – which turned out to be false – proving that the security services were paying two people in court to spy on his sister. This is what had pushed him, according to him, to introduce the journalist to the princess. Today, Mr. Bashir says he regrets the false account statements but argues that they did not ” nothing to see “ with the revelations made during the interview.
However, according to Prince William, the interview had contributed to further deteriorate the relationship between his parents and “Fueled the fears, paranoia and loneliness of recent years” of Diana’s life. Harry, for his part, had gone so far as to establish a link between his mother’s death and “The ripple effect of this culture of exploitation and unethical practices”. Diana died in a car accident in Paris in 1997, at the age of 36.
“I don’t think I can be held responsible for the many things that were going on in his life., Bashir told the Sunday Times, sto claim that I am individually responsible is unreasonable and unfair. “” My family and I loved it “he continued, revealing that Diana had visited his wife and their newly born child in hospital and that the princess had hosted a birthday party for one of her children at Kensington Palace.
The reputation of the BBC has been ‘compromised’
The interview shook the British monarchy, and the report on Thursday proved almost as explosive for the BBC. Former British Supreme Court justice John Dyson sharply criticizes the public broadcasting group for its handling of the case. Tony Hall, who was managing the editorial staff of the BBC at the time of the interview, resigned on Saturday as chairman of the London Museum of the National Gallery. The Dyson report notably underlines that, during the internal investigation carried out in 1996, the BBC did not ask Charles Spencer to provide his version of the facts.
The BBC officially apologized on Thursday, and its new boss, Tim Davie, admitted that the editorial staff “Should have made much more effort to find out what really happened at the time”. Asked this Sunday on SkyNews, the Minister of the Interior, Priti Patel, said that “The reputation of the BBC – one of the great [du pays] – has been compromised. It’s time for the BBC to absolutely reflect on the findings of this report and rebuild [un climat de] trust “. According to the London-based television station, Charles Spencer asked the British capital’s police chief to investigate the conditions of the interview again.
In 1995, Mr. Bashir was little known. But his career had taken a considerable step forward which had allowed him to interview Michael Jackson in particular. The pop star, now deceased, had complained to the British audiovisual regulator, accusing Martin Bashir of having given a biased image of his behavior and conduct as a father.
The journalist then worked for the BBC as a correspondent for religion, until his resignation last week for health reasons shortly before the delivery of the Dyson report.
