|
 William's astonishing rebuke to
the public broadcaster comes after a report
published Thursday said the inquiry found that
BBC journalist Martin Bashir used deceit to win
a sensational 1995 interview with Diana, and
that the broadcaster covered up the deception.
During the "Panorama" interview, watched by more
than 20 million viewers in Britain, Diana
shocked the nation by admitting to an affair and
sharing details of her marriage to the heir to
the throne and William's father, Prince Charles.
Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997 at the
age of 36.
"It is my view that the deceitful way the
interview was obtained substantially influenced
what my mother said. The interview was a major
contribution to making my parents' relationship
worse and has since hurt countless others,"
William, 38, said in a statement.
"It brings indescribable sadness to know that
the BBC's failures contributed significantly to
her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember
from those final years with her."
In a separate statement issued at the same time,
William's brother Harry did not mention the BBC
by name, but drew broader aim at the media and
the "ripple effect of a culture of exploitation
and unethical practices (which) ultimately took
her life."
"To those who have taken some form of
accountability, thank you for owning it. That is
the first step towards justice and truth,"
Harry, 36, said.
"Yet what deeply concerns me is that practices
like these - and even worse - are still
widespread today. Then, and now, it's bigger
than one outlet, one network, or one
publication."
Harry and his wife Meghan quit their duties as
members of the royal family and moved to
California last year. Harry, who has sued
several British tabloids, has spoken out
previously about his worries that his mother's
experience of the intense glare of the press
would be repeated with his wife.
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|
 LET MY MOTHER DOWN'
The BBC set up the investigation, headed by
former senior judge John Dyson, in November
following allegations from Diana's brother
Charles Spencer that he had been tricked into
introducing her to Bashir.
Dyson's report found that Bashir, then a
little-known reporter, had shown Spencer fake
bank statements suggesting that Diana was being
bugged by the security services and that two
senior aides were being paid to provide
information about her. After it
was aired, Bashir repeatedly lied to his bosses
about how the interview was obtained, the report
said. As questions continued, BBC managers
failed to scrutinise his version of events
properly and covered up facts about how Bashir
had secured the interview.
The inquiry found that the BBC had fallen short
of the "high standards of integrity and
transparency which are its hallmark," and the
BBC has written to Buckingham Palace to
apologise.
Bashir apologised for the fake statements, but
said he stood by his evidence from 25 years ago
and he did not believe they had prompted Diana
to give the interview.
William said that the BBC should have properly
investigated when concerns were first raised in
1995.
"(Diana) 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," he said.
"These failings, identified by investigative
journalists, not only let my mother down, and my
family down; they let the public down too."
(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Michael Holden;
editing by Jonathan Oatis and Rosalba O'Brien)
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