Princess Diana 1995 BBC interview report expected today

An inquiry into how the BBC secured a 1995 interview with Britain’s Princess Diana, in which she disclosed details of her failed marriage, is expected to release its report on Thursday.

The BBC set up the investigation, headed by former senior Court judge John Dyson, in November following allegations from Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer that forged documents and “other deceit” were used to persuade him to introduce Princess Diana to journalist Martin Bashir.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that the inquiry would conclude that Bashir deployed deceitful methods and criticize BBC bosses at the time.

During the interview, watched by more than 20 million viewers in Britain, Princess Diana shocked the nation by admitting to an affair and sharing intimate details of her marriage to the heir to the throne, Prince Charles.

Last week, the BBC announced that Bashir was leaving his current job as the publicly-funded broadcaster’s religious affairs editor because of ill health. He has made no comment on the matter.

The interview with Princess Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997, came at a nadir for the royal family and was the first time she had made public comments about her doomed marriage.

Her remark that “there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded” – a reference to Charles rekindling his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, now his second wife – was particularly damaging to the Windsors.

Spencer says Bashir had told him to tell Diana that she was being bugged by security services and that two senior aides were being paid to provide information about her, in order to get her to agree to the interview.

He says Bashir provided fake bank statements to back up the claim.

Both Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry have welcomed the investigation as a chance to find out the truth of what had happened.

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