Princess Diana: Ed Perkins on public’s reaction to funeral

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The filmmakers behind HBO’s The Princess, however, explained why they chose to include a brief clip from the now notorious Princess Diana’s interview led by Martin Bashir for BBC Panorama in 1995. A spokesperson for the documentary said: “This feature documentary tells the story of Princess Diana exclusively through archive footage from the time, without commentary from today.”

Speaking to People magazine, the spokesperson also said: “This interview is shown briefly, in context, as a moment of historical record.”

The newly-released documentary sees Diana’s life in the public eye, her relationship with the media and love story with Prince Charles narrated through a collection of archive footage.

Speaking to Mr Bashir almost three decades ago, Diana voiced her unhappiness within the Royal Family and famously referred to the extramarital relationship between Prince Charles and Camilla, the now Duchess of Cornwall, saying “there were three people” in her marriage.

Last year, an independent inquiry led by Lord Dyson looked into how Mr Bashir obtained his bombshell interview with Princess Diana and how the BBC later investigated his actions. 

The Dyson report’s findings, published in May 2021, stated Mr Bashir seriously breached BBC rules by mocking up fake bank statements that helped him gain the trust of the Princess of Wales’ younger brother, Earl Spencer.

After he gained access to Diana through her beloved sibling, Mr Bashir was able to persuade her to grant him the interview, the report said.

The findings accused the journalist of having acted in a “deceitful” way to secure the sit-down.

Moreover, the BBC was accused in the report to have covered up what it had learned during an internal probe held in 1996 about how its reporter had secured the royal interview. 

The broadcaster, the findings stated, “fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency” seen as its hallmark.

Prince William issued a blistering video statement after the publication of the report.

The Duke of Cambridge said he was “most saddened” his mother – who died in a car crash in 1997 – never learned she had been deceived.

He also said: “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.

“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.”

Diana, he added, was “failed” not just by Mr Bashir but also by leaders at the BBC.

Calling for the interview never to be shown again, the future King added: “It is my firm view that this Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. 

“It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others.

“This settled narrative now needs to be addressed by the BBC and anyone else who has written or intends to write about these events.”

Last month, the BBC vowed to never broadcast the controversial interview again or license it “in whole or part” to other broadcasters.

The BBC director general Tim Davie said: “Now we know about the shocking way that the interview was obtained, I have decided that the BBC will never show the programme again; nor will we license it in whole or part to other broadcasters. 

“It does of course remain part of the historical record and there may be occasions in the future when it will be justified for the BBC to use short extracts for journalistic purposes, but these will be few and far between and will need to be agreed at executive committee level and set in the full context of what we now know about the way the interview was obtained.

“I would urge others to exercise similar restraint.”

Accordingly, the broadcaster did not license the clip for use in The Princess, PA said to have understood.

Rather, HBO is believed to have used the extract from the Panorama programme through fair dealing.     

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