Prince William backs investigation into his mother’s 1995 BBC interview

Britain's Prince William speaks with service users during a visit to the Garden House part of the Light Project in Peterborough, England, Thursday, July 16, 2020. The Garden House offers information, advice and support to the rough sleepers in Peterborough.

Last week, we touched on the somewhat manufactured controversy over in the UK. There was a documentary called The Diana Interview: Revenge of a Princess, which delved deep into what went into Princess Diana’s iconic 1995 Panorama interview with Martin Bashir. Many of the headlines currently around this are just repackaged from 25 years ago, but the biggest controversy in British papers is that Bashir likely falsified some documents about Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer (the Earl Spencer), which Bashir then used to blackmail Diana into giving him the exclusive interview. That’s a massive simplification of what really went into it, and it doesn’t address the fact that Diana wanted to give a tell-all television interview to *someone*. She feared that she would be given a gag order once the divorce negotiations began.

Still, this idea that Bashir somehow conned Diana or blackmailed her has become quite a thing (even though many people knew about it years ago). The Earl Spencer has been demanding a thorough and independent investigation, and now Prince William is seemingly backing a larger investigation too?

Prince William last night welcomed a probe into Martin Bashir’s Panorama interview with his mother Princess Diana, saying ‘it should help establish the truth’ over the BBC’s decisions. The Duke of Cambridge dubbed an independent investigation into whether Mr Bashir conned his mother into their notorious 1995 Panorama interview ‘a step in the right direction.’

William, who was a teenager when the interview took place, said: ‘The independent investigation is a step in the right direction. It should help establish the truth behind the actions that led to the Panorama interview and subsequent decisions taken by those in the BBC at the time.’

Former Supreme Court judge Lord Dyson was unveiled by the BBC as the eminent head of a probe into allegations of forgery, deceit and cover-up surrounding Mr Bashir’s bombshell scoop with Diana. The journalist allegedly peddled 32 lies and vile smears to the vulnerable princess to clinch his explosive 1995 Panorama interview in which she famously said: ‘There were three of us in this marriage.’

Lord Dyson, 77, who stood as Master of the Rolls between 2012 and 2016, has said he will start his inquiry ‘straight away’ by interviewing corporation staff and having access to available records. He also promised Mr Bashir a ‘thorough and fair’ investigation following sensational claims the journalist secured the Princess of Wales’s trust by faking two bank statements.

A source close to the Duke of Cambridge said: ‘Well of course this is in part about protecting his mother’s legacy, so it is a very personal matter for William. He has kept a close eye on what’s unfolded but believes things are moving in the right direction. The BBC has kept him informed appropriately. In the end, what he wants is the same as everyone else – for the truth to be unearthed and any appropriate action taken.’

It is understood Prince William has maintained channels of communication with the BBC over the past fortnight amid a series of bombshell allegations about the circumstances of his mother’s interview. This has kept pressure on the broadcaster to ensure it found an authoritative enough figure to probe his concerns about how his mother was treated.

[From The Daily Mail]

I mean… *shrug*. It is what it is. I’m not going to cape Martin Bashir, he’s always been a shady, slimy character and I believe he did forge documents to convince Diana to give him the interview. An investigation is warranted, I guess, and William has every right to back the investigation. But… it’s almost as if some people seem to think that Diana was, at that point in her life, still the innocent victim, still a pawn in a man’s world, still a naif being manipulated by the people around her. No. She wanted to speak, it was just a matter of who got the interview. I always thought that Bashir really didn’t even need to forge the documents – Diana wanted to give the interview to Panorama, and Bashir basically promised to give her the space and time to speak about whatever she wanted. They even rehearsed it, right?

Kate Middleton

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73 Responses to “Prince William backs investigation into his mother’s 1995 BBC interview”

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  1. Elizabeth Regina says:

    Diana also spoke to Andrew Morton. She was always going to spill at some point. I’m not sure he is that concerned about how low life Bashir got the interview. He is being used for a very political right wing agenda to discredit the BBC. Plus it focuses attention on him without him having to do any actual work.

    • Digital Unicorn says:

      There has been problems with/at the BBC for many many years – look at how they protected a prolific pedo, Jimmy Saville and on top of the financial mismanagement of public funds for years. It as an organisation is not fit for purpose and needs to restructure itself and look for funding beyond fleecing the tax payer to fund the obscene salaries it pays its senior staff and talent. It’s not the broadcaster it once was, hasn’t been for a loong time.

      • Elizabeth Regina says:

        That may very well be true but Jimmy Saville was Prince Charles’ marriage counsellor. He was also knighted by the queen so the RF is very much complicit. The salaries the executives and talent get may be obscene by certain standards but some are actually underpaid compared to what TV stations pay their staff. The truth is the palace and the BBC had a horrible break up after the Diana interview and the relationship has never recovered.

      • Amy Bee says:

        The BBC just needs to get out the news business because all they do now is tow the tory party line and their world service was/is a tool of empire and neo-colonialism.

      • Pink says:

        Absolutely. This isn’t just about the Diana interview for me, the BBC prides itself on being impartial and at the end of the day is tax payer funded. If they’re forging documents to get interviews what else have they done? Apart from protecting paedophiles of course. This is why I don’t pay for a TV license.

      • February-Pisces says:

        I used to work at the bbc just over 10 years ago and jimmy saville was a regular contributor at the time. Even though he lived locally, he never actually came in and did segments over the phone. I actually phoned him up once. That was back when I didn’t know that he was a peado. Anyway no one at my workplace knew he was an actual peado, if they did everyone would have known cos my workplace was rife with gossip. We weren’t based in London, so regional BBC didn’t get much showbiz gossip. So I have no idea how well known his antics were in London, my guess is, is that he was an open secret amongst very powerful people and those with showbiz connections. I think the idea that everyone at the BBC knew about it may be misleading, cos I certainly didn’t. But I guess those in power were well aware and did cover for him. Also the salaries at the BBC are crap. Not to mention everyone is on short term contracts. If you get a staff (permanent) contract it like you’ve struck gold.

    • Totally agree with you, Elizabeth Regina, and Kaiser. Diana wanted this interview. I remember an article several years after she died where Richard Attenborough (he of Jurassic Park) talked about working with her over several meetings on how she presented herself on camera as she wanted to show as much sorrow and pain as possible to garner as much sympathy as she could. Attenborough even claimed that he came up with the line……”Well there were 3 of us in the marriage so it was a bit crowded”.. There were no winners in the War of the Wales in my opinion; but the biggest losers were her children. Diana doing this interview — which hurt both her sons enormously according to the headmasters and house leaders at both their schools, perfectly shows how she was great at short term strategy, but horrible at taking the long view of her own actions. If she had a need, she just lost sight of how it might affect anyone else. Both she and Charles were very broken and pathologically needy and are almost mirrors of each other in their crazy behavior at this period in time. I do not think every action Diana took can be excused as her being a victim. She had a very strong personality, an unforgiving temper — according to many friends and family — and certainly was responsible for a great deal of her own behavior. Her private secretary as so disgusted with how she had kept all this hidden from him and lied and used him that he quit. And Jepson was very much Team Diana, but he just couldn’t believe how sneaky and manipulative she was over this.

      • Tessa says:

        Charles gave his abominable interview the year before. Why is it that Diana’s interview “upset” William and assumed that his father’s did not. Diana said that she went to William and Harry and assured them that she and their father love each other but could not live together anymore. Charles book caused much outrage, his trashing his parents and admitting he never loved his first wife. Even his siblings came forward and complained. Diana learned from two people the art of sneakiness and Manipulation from Charles and Camilla. Camlla was sneaking in calls to Stuart Higgins, Sun Editor for 10 years–he said this himself. Camilla IMO got where she is today by being a sneak and putting down Diana.

  2. Becks1 says:

    So for this 1995 interview, Diana was innocent and naïve and easily manipulated?? Oh really? Well how about the 15 years before that, royal family? Looking at you, Queen Petty and Charles.

    • Elizabeth Regina says:

      They want to be the only ones doing the manipulating of course. Diana spoke out a whole 18 months after her husband went on ITV and admitted to adultery in full public view. He also got all his friends to gaslight her. I remember it very well and have never looked at that family the same way.

      • MsIam says:

        You know I always thought that Charles did his interview first but I couldn’t remember. So where is the outrage at him? Why isn’t he condemned for being a bad father? Oh right, The Crown…….

      • Elizabeth Regina says:

        MsIam, that is what I find astounding. Charles did his interview a full 18 months before Diana but just as we are seeing today with the Sussexes, no one was incandescent with rage about his admission on camera to adultery. People keep saying her interview hurt her children but what about his interview? What about his kids being forced to accept Camilla as their step mother? The hypocrisy stinks to high heavens.

  3. mynameispearl says:

    I watched a channel 4 program delving into how this interview came about, and Bashir really did mess with Diana’s head to have it come about. He asked a graphic designer to knock up some fake bank statements to make it look like palace staff were leaking stuff about her to the press. He also made her believe that 12 year old prince William was wearing a watch that recorded everything she said. There was an investigation at the BBC the year after the interview where they exonerated Bashir, but sacked the graphic designer (who maintains that he did not know what the intended use of the document he created would be). He never worked for the bbc again.

    Her split with the royal family only came after this interview, and it was as a result of this that she started forgoing the royal protection officers. I’m not saying you can draw a direct line from the interview to her getting into a car with a drunk driver in Paris, but it did set off a chain of events that potentially could have been avoidable.

    It probably doesn’t help Bashir that last week when everyone was calling for him to answer questions on this it was claimed he was very unwell after heart surgery and covid to be fit to answer anything, but was photographed picking up takeaway food near his home. He seems like a creep, and that he potentially gaslit a vulnerable princess Diana into doing an interview that ultimately only benefited Bashir and the BBC

    • Darla says:

      Wow, I never connected these dots. If William and Harry have then they must really despise him and the BBC.

    • janey says:

      I watched it too, and although I agree she wanted to talk and would have talked, Bashir really fed in to her paranoia. such a shame.

    • Myra says:

      Did the split from the family come because of the shady way the interview was planned or did it come because of the things she said in the interview? I agree that the investigation must be held but Diana said what she said with a clear mind. Now, I want to say that the actions of Bashir are symptoms of the tabloidesque nature of the UK media. There is no duty of care, no ethics, no accountability, no objectivity or fairness. The UK media really leaves a lot of victims in its wake and they rarely counter each other.

      • Amy Too says:

        Now I’m wondering if she wouldn’t have said quite so much and gone full on Burn It All Down if she wasn’t being manipulated into believing that they were all spying on her, leaking about her, and even putting recording device watches on her child. She wanted to talk, she wanted to get her side out. But would she have been less explosively scandalous in the way she worded things and what she chose to share if she didn’t think that the whole RF and their officers and courtiers were actively being paid to spy on, record, and smear her? The interview would’ve happened but maybe the contents would have been much different. I think that’s something we should consider. Everyone always says “she wanted this interview, she was ready to talk anyways, even if he didn’t fake statements” but did she actually want this exact interview and was she actually ready to say these exact things?

      • Myra says:

        It’s possible, @Amy Too. She might have given an unfiltered account of her experience in the BRF or perhaps would not have even said anything at all. Does it discount what she revealed? I don’t think so. I think she spoke her true feelings of the situation and it was a good comparison to what Meghan is currently going through. She was not supported, she was undermined and they actively campaigned against her. This is from the snippets I’ve seen as I have never watched the interview in full but It sounds eerily similar to what Meghan went through during those few years.

    • Elizabeth Regina says:

      Yes he did mess with her head and documents were faked to convince her to talk. Her brother I believe may also have been manipulated too so Bashir got the interview under false pretences. The RF split with the BBC after this and lost their exclusivity on the Queen’s Christmas speech. However, Diana did not forgo her protection officers. This was removed when her title was taken from her, hence the anti H and M people wanting the same for them so they will be unprotected. No one is totally innocent in all this. But we must remember that it started with a man who could not man up and marry the woman he truly wanted and a young girl who was used as a pawn and a breeder.

      • Elizabeth Phillips says:

        Actually, they did offer her protection, but she turned it down because she thought they were spying on her.

    • Betsy says:

      Is this a recent program, (maybe) easily findable on youtube?

      • Talia says:

        In regard to the protection officers allegedly spying on Diana, I find it interesting that The Crown has Charles arranging for them to do exactly that. I know it’s not a documentary but it appears that there is at least some evidence that was the case. I’m amazed it wasn’t raised more in the reviews since Diana refusing to have police bodyguards may well have been one of the factors leading to her death.

      • Becks1 says:

        Oh yeah, I think it might even be on Netflix. Its the Panorama interview. It’s definitely out there.

      • Becks1 says:

        @Talia – good catch in the Crown. I’m surprised that’s not whats getting more pushback from the palace because THAT could be a direct link to Diana’s feeling of paranoia (i.e. she should be paranoid because she’s right, they’re spying on her). Even the part about Margaret telling Anne and Anne telling her mother about the men visiting Diana at KP.

      • Elizabeth Regina says:

        That’s right @Talia. The protection officers WERE spying on her and a recent documentary said that she thought she was being followed. Andrew Morton’s office was broken into a few times and ransacked and a couple of other people also reported being broken into. Coincidence? I think not.

      • mynameispearl says:

        @Betsy I’ve just realised it was an ITV 2 part docu. Channel 4 did a similar program a few weeks ago. Not sure if it’s on YouTube, it was very interesting though. I’m a big fan of the BBC normally but they dont come out of this well at all.

  4. Sofia says:

    I agree that William can back whatever investigation he wants. It’s his mother so I’m not going to pass negative judgement. That’s all I’ll say on that matter

    But I also agree that Diana wanted to give her story to *someone*. Bashir probably knew that. Heck maybe Diana knew that some of the documents weren’t accurate but she was desperate and again, wanted to tell someone her story.

  5. Digital Unicorn says:

    If it wasn’t Bashir it would have been someone else – I think one of the biggest issues is that he fed her paranoia over being spied on etc.. (the forged bank statements over money being given to her friends etc. in exchange for info on her).

    She wanted to tell her side of the story and to give an interview like this, I guess for her it was a matter of finding someone trustworthy and you’d think she could trust the national public funded broadcaster.

    I wonder if Harry will make a statement on this.

    • MsIam says:

      I think this plays into Harry’s concerns and his statements about the press. He was derided for bashing the press treatment of his mother and wanting to get away but now you have a lot of the same people calling for an investigation. Ironic, huh.

  6. Lizzie says:

    I think someone is trying to conflate this with the fact Diana was honest and told the truth. No matter what Bashir did Diana still said there were three of them in the marriage.

  7. Amy Bee says:

    It’s interesting that William’s statement came out the same day it was revealed that two senior royals advised Meghan on the letter to her father. Just something to think about. Plus, over the weekend palace aides attacked Harry for appearing on the BBC. I think it is safe to assume that it was KP who was behind this attack.

    • Becks1 says:

      They’re attacking Harry for that? Lordy. So no Netflix, no BBC. What, is only ITV acceptable?

      (wasn’t the Mary Berry special on BBC last year? So BBC was okay then?)

    • ABritGuest says:

      100% this. KP were clearly the source for that complaint about Harry appearing on BBC strictly come dancing which is hypocritical as Will is doing a documentary with them and Sophie did a cooking segment for BBC Children in Need the night before Harry’s appearance.

      I think Bashir is awful and where he’s manipulated & presented doctored documents etc he should and others involved should be held to account. I don’t blame William, Harry and Earl Spencer etc for wanting that. I heard it was devastating for William when the interview was broadcast. I will always feel for them growing up in the midst of their parents stabs being played out in the news.

      That said I do find timing suspect after all the bellyaching over depictions in the Crown. Does Bashir’s machinations totally delegitimise what Diana said in the interview? That kind of seems to be the motive for some. And other motive is right wing press want to destroy the BBC which they hate. I don’t doubt William has strong feelings about the Panorama interview . but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he’s been lent on by the press to say something.

    • Beach Dreams says:

      Yup, and virtually all the papers ran with this piece as the front page story rather than any of the Meghan news, which is highly unusual for them. Very interesting (suspicious really).

      • Becks1 says:

        I think this is twofold – one, William probably does still carry a lot of anger over that interview and we also know he hates the press in general (he works with them, but hates them.) But also, the only real thing William has going for him is that he’s “Diana’s oldest son.” The stories of him protecting her, being her confidante, etc (how true they actually are isn’t the point) – this feeds into that – William protecting his mother’s legacy, William, DIANA’S SON, still fighting for his mother’s legacy, even now.

        Some of it is genuine, I definitely think, but some of it is definitely about his image.

      • February-Pisces says:

        @beck1 I think royalists will use this to say that because Diana was manipulated into giving an interview, what she actually said must have been manipulated too. This is just a tactic to discredit what Diana said without actually trashing her. Remember it was KP that rolled Willie out and told him to say whatever he said. No royal households give AF about Diana’s memory.

      • Becks1 says:

        @Feb-Pisces – I do think that’s also part of this – this is about discrediting the actual interview, especially in light of the Crown airing which makes it perfectly clear that there WERE three people in that marriage, etc. It’s just more of an attempt to gaslight Diana and to make people think that she didn’t actually say what she said.

  8. Nyro says:

    Martin Bashir is a slime ball. Who knows if Diana actually believed the forged documents and lies he told her. But if she did, it’s only because the royal family was treating her so horribly and threatening her anyway. The stuff he was telling her likely sounded plausible to her ears. She was worried about things like tracking devices on her car and her house being bugged long before Bashir came along. And there’s also the chance she knew it was all bullcrap and she was just ready to say what he had to say, be it with Bashir or some other journalist.

    • Tessa says:

      I found an old Majesty Magazine and in it a story was reported at Diana’s car hit by a Fiat Uno, just damage to t he car. It creeped me out.

  9. Nyro says:

    Also, Williams going to drop BBC as sponsors for his Earthshot prize, right? Or is it just Harry who’s not allowed to work with or appear on platforms that humiliate the family?

    • Elizabeth Regina says:

      You know the answer to that. If Harry as much as says anything, the haters will bleat about how he is exploiting his mother. This will be interesting to watch.

      • February-Pisces says:

        They already condemned harry for his strictly appearance on Saturday. Harry was getting a lot of love on twitter after that. That probably made it easier for Willie to press the nuke button on the BBC.

  10. February-Pisces says:

    I don’t really know what happened in order to get the interview, but I do believe that Diana would have done it anyway, whether it was with Bashir or someone else. I don’t doubt shady moves were pulled to secure the interview. But She was itching to get her side of the story on record.

    But what I’m really interested in is why this is being brought up now, this wouldn’t have been new information if there was an investigation at the time. I think something bigger is going down. It’s very out of character for a royal to go on record like Willie did yesterday and basically wage a war with the BBC. William has since worked with the bbc and even collaborated on the earth shot prize and given interviews etc.

    I think relations between the bbc and KP/Willie have broken down and they were gonna drop an expose on Willie. William publically condemning the BBC first, means that any tea spilt now, KP can say the BBC were just being petty.

    I don’t really know. Also I think that all the people saying what a wonderful son William is really need to look at the context of this. If people believe Diana was manipulated, then that means they will discredit her words and what she actually said against the firm. Regardless of how the interview came about, she said what she said and meant it. The Andrew Morton book and Diana Tapes confirm that. Meaning the palace are putting William out there to question Diana’s own words, because they know people would never question him going against his mother. Imagine for one second that it was Charles going on record to back this investigation, he would have got trashed.

    Season 4 of The Crown Really brought attention to the parallels between Meghan and Diana to a whole new generation. I think the palace are attempting to discredit Diana’s own words, as a way to discredit the palaces treatment of Meghan. I’ve actually seen Cambridge’s stans trashing Diana on twitter.

    There’s more to this, and I’m interested to see where it goes. I might have to do a tarot to see what’s really going on.

  11. Beach Dreams says:

    Part of me is cynical that William actually gives a damn about this and wonders if this is more of him dancing to the tune of the right-wing government and media (which have already placed a target on the BBC’s back). Not excusing the means by which BBC may have procured the interview, just food for thought.

  12. LucyLee says:

    If baldy want investigation that means there is stuff about him that needs to be kept hidden since there is no spare to catch the crap. Father and son are now engaging in a fight for control.

  13. Untamed says:

    IMO Diana had the right to give the interview. Charles had already spoken out via Dimbleby. Three years had passed since the announcement of separation. And Charles was too much of a wimp to proceed with divorce. The Queen had to step in. There was no way around it.
    So many crucified Diana for the interview, but I believe Diana needed to speak out. If Jephson, her private secretary at that time had known and guided her through the process, then perhaps this Bashir scandal would’ve been avoided. I don’t know.
    William willing to speak out publicly now 25 years later? Well it may be guilt from shutting out Diana as an angry teenager in 1995. He was so upset at Diana about that interview.

    • JT says:

      So William was upset about Diana’s interview, but not upset about Charles admitting to cheating on her in his own interview a year before? What about tampongate? Was William upset about that too?

      • Tessa says:

        JT, I am wondering the same thing, Did Will give his Dad a free pass for his embarrassing phone call to Camilla and his interview and what was in his book.

      • Nyro says:

        William is such a disgusting sellout. He really is all Windsor down to his bones. I’ve said before, he’s always spoken about his mother in a way that made me side eye him. Not blatantly disrespectful but dismissive in a way that made it clear to me, as someone who knew a little bit about how F’d up the royals are, that he stood firmly on the side of the crown instead of his mother.

    • February-Pisces says:

      Nothing about what William is doing is for Diana’s benefit though. Diana is a thorn in every royal household side, so for KP to roll Willie out on camera and press the nuke button on the BBC in her ‘honour’? Nah, there must be an ulterior motive.

      Summat is going down between the BBC and KP. But also the palace knows that if they say Diana was ‘manipulated’ in to giving an interview, then that will comprise what she actually said. If William supports that, then he’s the worst son in history.

      • Becks1 says:

        I am starting to think that other commentators are right, that this is more about discrediting the BBC in general than about this particular interview, which then begs the question “why” which makes me think the BBC has something big on the Windsors and they are getting ready to drop it.

      • February-Pisces says:

        I definitely sense the BBC were going to drop something explosive on Willie, hence why he has publicly made the first move.

        If the bbc drop whatever tea they were going to, KP can just say it was revenge because Willie spoke out against them.

        I don’t think William would ever WANT to discredit Diana in anyway, but he will do whatever he has to do in order to save himself. He has a kill or be killed mentality. I feel bad for Diana cos no one seems to be speaking up for her. She’s the most talked about woman in history, and yet that one interview where she spoke for herself with her own words, will now be compromised and discredited.

      • ABritGuest says:

        February Pisces I did read recently that the BBC are doing a two part documentary on that young royals..I can’t see the Beeb exposing a future king of anything though & his earth shot doc & awards show with them has been announced

        I agree with comments above – several factors to Will’s involvement: genuine upset with the Beeb over the Panorama interview, being the protective son, create room for doubt over what Diana said as a result which helps the monarchy, help right wing press who have the Beeb in sight

  14. Shoshone says:

    I also think that Charles had better watch his back. William may have found the perfect storm (The Crown season 4 and the circumstances surrounding the Diana/Bashir interview ) to publicly excoriate Charles and eventually force him to abdicate his position as PoW.

  15. Ainsley7 says:

    I can definitely see William really wanting this. He was very upset about the interview at the time and really angry at his mother. I can see him wanting to believe she was tricked. They were in a fight when she died and I think he’s got a lot of unresolved anger and guilt about all of it. There was an article the other day saying that the interview basically lead to her death. I can see William trying to connect those dots.

    She also came to regret the interview as well. Diana often said things without thinking them through. Saying that Charles wasn’t cut out to be King and they should skip to William was definitely one of those things. It didn’t just hurt her relationship with William, but also William’s relationship with Charles. William started siding with Charles more, but Charles started to see William the same way he saw Diana. A rival who was stealing his spotlight.

    • Tessa says:

      Diana said what others have said that the top job would put limitations on Charles to speak out on issues. As King, he would not be able to do this. Wasn’t William upset over Charles’ Dimbleby Interview and Why Charles admitted adultery plus in the authorized biography said he never loved Diana. SO sick of William.

  16. DS9 says:

    So The Crown can’t dredge up old shit but the royals themselves can?

    Look, just do what you do when it comes to poor people and racism and pretend it isn’t happening. Good grief.

  17. Nic919 says:

    I think it’s easier for William to blame the BBC and Bashir than admit his mother wanted to give that interview. She was ready to talk and did to many sources. At the time of the panorama interview she was divorced and a full on adult. Bashir may have been shady about inducing her to do the interview with him, but it’s hard to see where there is criminal activity going on.

    It should also be a concern that William can throw his weight around to control and investigate the media, especially the BBC, over a personal issue. None of the UK media has been open about the media blackout imposed over his issues, which is not what happens in a democracy. Maybe there should be an inquiry in the types of injunctions that even bans the mere mention that they exist.

    • JT says:

      Do British people care how much control the royals have over the media? Or do they just accept it because questioning them isn’t how things are down over there? I find it disturbing hearing about the media blackouts over personal matters and nobody seems to have a problem about it. William’s habit of threatening journalists every time they right something unfavorable to him is a problem and yet, nobody talks about this abuse of power. The British media is reckless, borderline criminal and they leave so much heartbreak in its wake and the royals benefit so much from this.

      • February-Pisces says:

        They don’t question it because it suits them. People who hate Meghan know there’s a smear campaign against her, and that it’s spear headed by the Cambridge’s/ KP, but they love to say “what smear campaign? Where’s the evidence?” They know but love to deny as a way to enable it, because they love that they trash her. Just like racist don’t care how racist the media is, if it suits their own believes they are perfectly fine with how corrupt they are.

  18. Tessa says:

    William as “defender” of Diana is a joke and hypocritical considering the nasty way he treated Harry and Meghan. Diana would have been horrified at the Flybe stunt William and family did to put down Harry and William “advising” Harry about Meghan. I am very cynical about his motives.

  19. tcbc says:

    I’m not sure Diana’s motives are relevant. She was lied to. A news organization and a journalist colluded in fabricating documents to manipulate her into giving them information. Even if she wanted to give that information anyway, they still lied. As supposed truth-tellers, they ought to be held accountable.

    • Lisel says:

      Bashir´s lies were also pretty big and numerous and he did not just lie to Diana but also initially to the Earl Spencer, like the one about Tiggy Legge-Burke having an affair with Charles and a miscarriage, the Queen suffering from a terminal illness, M16 installing listening devices on her car, William wearing a watch that was a listening device etc etc… and these are just the ones we know about. Diana`s friend Rosa Monckton`s article in the Daily Mail is shocking reading! The reason all this is coming out now is not William but the Freedom of Information Act and Earl Spencer. It is also 25 years since the interview aired.

  20. betsyh says:

    What is forgotten about this interview was Diana’s frank discussion of her supposed “unstableness.” She talked about her self-injury and bulimia. These types of mental health issues were NOT discussed at that time and were not well understood. She was known throughout the world and her openness helped to push these health concerns out of the shadows and took some of the stigma away and helped many people. I remember watching this and admiring her unapologetic description of what she went through.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlxs_JG1dDA

  21. cherriepie84 says:

    Im curious as to what is the end game here? If BBC wants to “investigate” anything, they can start with pedo Andy’s connections to a dead pedophile.

  22. Mads says:

    I think this is just a PR exercise to take attention away from the furore over The Crown and the piece on Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) on Andrew acting as “an unofficial door opener for a secretive Luxembourg bank, helping woo sketchy clients”. I’m not saying William doesn’t love his mother, however he is invested in the survival of the monarchy at any cost. He encourages and participates in smearing his brother and sister-in-law and his own father so I would not put it past him to fully co-operate with damage control and release an “official” comment on the Bashir/Panorama situation. The political establishment are just as tied up with the monarchy with the unelected House of Lords being flooded with peers so any government can create a majority of Lords etc favourable to their policies in the Upper House and get legislation passed. It’s a cesspit.

  23. starryfish29 says:

    These people are so stupid. Even in their attempts to deflect from Charles being a monstrous a-hole on the new season of the Crown, they mess it up by drawing people’s focus to the exact thing which reinforces that narrative. The existence of this interview in the first place & its content drives home just how terrible her marriage was & what that family put her through. Encouraging renewed discourse around this interview doesn’t do the royals the favor that they seem to think it does. Add in the inevitable comparisons that people are drawing to what Meghan has gone through and it’s even worse for them. It’s truly amazing how myopic these people and their staff are.

  24. Tessa says:

    William playing the DIana card and the “good son.” If Diana had lived I think she’d be disgusted with William’s behavior.