She was, according to her brother, ‘in a fragile psychological state’, unhappy after the separation from Prince Charles and convinced that courtiers were conspiring against her. It was a vulnerable time in the princess’s life. He conveyed the allegations and described the bank statements. I have a theory as to why: because Bashir may have drawn up the Coutts ‘bank statement’ himself.Īfter the meeting, Earl Spencer telephoned Diana. These claims were untrue, and it seems that Bashir brandished the Coutts documents in front of the earl without actually handing them over. Bashir also allegedly waved what appeared to be a Coutts bank statement in front of Earl Spencer, with details of what he said were payments from MI5 to Aylard and Patrick Jephson, private secretary to the princess. Encouraged by the response, Bashir relayed other outlandish claims, according to Earl Spencer’s notes at the time, which suggest the reporter told him that Commander Richard Aylard, former private secretary to Prince Charles, was spying on Diana, reporting on her movements and receiving secret payments from MI5, who were tapping her phone. (Penfolds was in fact owned by a business associate of the former England football manager Terry Venables, and there is no suggestion that Waller, Penfolds or Venables were involved in any way in Bashir’s alleged plan.)ĭiana, Princess of Wales with Martin Bashir during the Panorama interview Panorama: Princess Diana Interview / BBC Bashir is thought to have chosen Penfolds because he knew that Earl Spencer could not check its veracity, as it is extremely difficult to identify the owners of offshore companies. At the meeting at Althorp, Bashir produced the bank statements drawn up by Wiessler, which purported to show that Alan Waller, the earl’s former head of security, had received £4,000 from News International (the owner of the News of the World and The Sun) and a further £6,500 from an offshore company called Penfolds Consultants, registered in Jersey. At that moment, Charles Spencer was unhappy about the tabloids’ intrusion into his family’s personal life and may well have been vulnerable to claims that people close to him were being bribed to leak secrets. The BBC said the report identified "clear failings" and that while it now has better procedures in place, "those that existed at the time should have prevented the interview being secured in this way".Bashir’s mission was to persuade the earl to introduce him to his sister Diana in the hope that it might result in an interview. In it, the princess famously said "there were three of us in this marriage", referring to the then Prince of Wales's relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, whom he later married.įollowing the publication of Lord Dyson's report last year, which strongly criticised the corporation, the BBC made an "unconditional apology" over the way the interview had been obtained. More than 20 million people watched the programme. What is Lord Dyson’s Diana inquiry all about?Įarl Spencer: Still questions over Diana interviewīBC pays damages to Martin Bashir whistleblowerīashir's interview with Princess Diana was broadcast by Panorama in late 1995, when she was separated from Prince Charles but not yet divorced.
Key dates in the Martin Bashir interview controversy Mr Waller said his business ventures suffered when his name was linked to the scandal. Mr Waller was left "deeply distressed" by Bashir's tactics, according to documents filed at the High Court.
"The BBC hopes that Mr Waller is now able to draw a line under this chapter, and we wish him the best for the future." "The BBC has agreed to pay Mr Waller an agreed sum in damages and to pay his reasonable costs, and apologises to him for the false information included in the fabricated bank statements used to procure the 1995 Interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.
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