After an inquiry found the BBC fell below its standards, Prince William said he was “most saddened” Diana never learned she had been deceived. He said his mother was failed “not just by a rogue reporter” but by BBC bosses. The Met Police said it will assess the new report, after previously deciding against a criminal investigation. The Duke of Sussex blamed a toxic media culture for his mother’s death. The BBC has written to apologise to Princes William and Harry, as well as the Prince of Wales and Diana’s brother Earl Spencer.
Prince William said the interview made a “major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse”, adding it has “since hurt countless others”. “But what saddens me most, is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived,” he said. “She was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions.” British judge Lord Dyson found that journalist Martin Bashir deceived Earl Spencer into introducing the journalist to his sister by showing him forged bank statements that falsely suggested individuals were being paid for keeping the princess under surveillance. Prince William said that, in his view, the deceitful way the interview was obtained “substantially influenced what my mother said” in response to Bashir. He said the original Panorama interview programme had “no legitimacy” and should never be aired again.
