WHAT HAPPENED?
• Shocking details revealed via a research by journalist Andy Webb on BBC's Panorama interview with Princess Diana who wrote and directed “Diana: The Truth Behind the Interview,” a documentary that was aired on UK broadcaster, Channel 4, on the 21st October 2020.
• The trigger kickstarted when Webb had requested 13 years ago, documents pertaining BBC’s Panorama interview under Freedom of Information (FOI) in 2007, was finally granted access just 48 hours before his documentary aired.
• This follows allegations that Diana's brother, Charles Earl Spencer was shown false bank statements by Martin Bashir.
• Spencer has been demanding for weeks for the BBC to re-investigate the episode and is in touch with BBC's Studios current boss Tim Davie.
• He claimed Bashir used these statements to gain access to the Princess.
“SCOOP OF THE CENTURY”
• In the 1995 Panorama interview that took place in Kensington Palace, Diana spoke openly about her failed marriage to Prince Charles, verified rumors of his infidelity with his subsequent second wife Camilla Parker and also confirmed her own five-year affair with a former lover, James Hewitt.
• She disclosed her past struggles with depression and the misery of an uncontrolled battle with bulimia.
• Diana also articulated her disappointments with the palace and the media.
• She spoke about her doubts on whether Prince Charles could fit "the top job" as future king but she was sure about how she saw her own future.
WAS DIANA TRICKED INTO GIVING THE INTERVIEW?
• A two-part documentary aired earlier this week by UK broadcaster ITV titled, "The Diana Interview: Revenge of a Princess", featured interviews alleging that Bashir asked graphic designer Matt Wiessler to create fake bank statements, as to trick Diana into thinking she was being spied on by royal employees in order to convince her trust toward Bashir for an interview on BBC’s Panorama program.
• The documentary also saw Paul Burrell, Diana’s butler describe how he sneaked in Bashir into Kensington Palace under a blanket in his car.
• The Channel 4 documentary also re-aired claims that the reason the princess decided to speak was because her brother had been shown fake bank statements created by someone working for the BBC.
• The documents showed payments worth £10,500 (about RM56, 876) from two companies, one of which was News International, and the other was from a company with an invented name.
• Spencer tweeted on the 8th of November 2020, acknowledging that he was aware about the bank statements.
• He said Bashir tried to solicit him to convince Diana to do an interview, and that he also kept a record of his dealings with Bashir
• The BBC acknowledged via a statement that a document was shown to Spencer, but said it had a letter from Diana confirming this did not mislead her into taking the interview.
• But a handwritten note from Diana verified to the fact the Princess had not seen the 'forged’ bank statements and that they played no part in her decision to give the interview.
THE BLAME GAME
• The game changer was when, BBC investigated the Panorama interview after it got aired, though Bashir was questioned for accusations regarding his journalistic ethics but former news chief Lord Hall of Birkenhead as revealed in the ITV documentary, blamed Wiessler for the episode and cleared Bashir of wrongdoing in 1996, despite him spearheading the whole interview.
• Weissler however maintains that he was clueless to what the fake bank statements would be used for until after the interview was aired and he is outraged that the blame was placed on him instead.
• Apparently, Bashir is currently recovering from heart surgery and complications due to COVID-19 and has yet to speak publicly about the new accusations and information made public by the documentary.
• But Bashir was photographed over one of the weekend walking in the street with a takeaway and a bottle of wine.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
• The BBC, who aired the interview is undertaking a "robust and independent investigation" on Bashir and his questionable tactics to secure Diana's trust at the time.
• The UK broadcaster is also facing a parliamentary inquiry into the growing scandal of the Panorama’s interview as Members of Parliament (MPs) demand Bashir to explain his use of forged bank statements and his recent ‘take-away’ sighting has raise
• They will also investigate any alleged cover-up by the corporation.
• Cross-party MPs on the powerful digital, culture, media and sport select committee will meet next week to consider launching their own investigation.
• The BBC has been pressured into starting its own inquiry, but MPs will discuss running a parallel investigation.
• Newly obtained memos and minutes from 1995 and 1996 suggested that Lord Hall was among those who shushed up the scandal.
• This raises the prospect of Lord Hall, being required to give evidence in public in front of MPs about accusations of a cover-up.
