Martin Bashir is slimy and unethical, no doubt. He was able to score the Panorama interview with Princess Diana partly because he forged documents and showed them to the Earl Spencer (Diana’s brother), blackmail-style. The Dyson Report condemned Bashir’s actions and lies, but the Dyson Report also claimed that Diana likely still would have done an interview with someone else had Bashir not forged documents. Given Diana’s penchant for working with people outside of the institutional power structures, I’m not entirely positive that Diana would have been happy to sit down with just another powerful white, male journalist who would have, say, peppered her with follow-up questions. The Panorama interview was theater, and Diana wrote the play herself and rehearsed her answers and organized it just so. Following the Dyson Report’s findings last week, Bashir has given an interview:
Journalist Martin Bashir is speaking out after an official BBC inquiry found he used “deceitful methods” to secure his controversial 1995 interview with Princess Diana. In his first interview since the results of the inquiry were released on Thursday, Bashir said he is “deeply sorry.”
“I never wanted to harm Diana in any way and I don’t believe we did,” he said in an interview with The Sunday Times. “Everything we did in terms of the interview was as she wanted, from when she wanted to alert the palace, to when it was broadcast, to its contents.”
“I can’t imagine what their family must feel each day,” he continued in reference to Diana’s sons Prince William and Prince Harry.
In his interview with The Sunday Times, Bashir also spoke out against a statement William made after the report was released, in which the royal criticized the BBC. In his statement, the Duke of Cambridge — who did not mention Bashir by name — said that “the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her.”
Bashir has denied this. “Even in the early 1990s, there were stories and secretly recorded phone calls. I wasn’t the source of any of that,” he told the newspaper. “I don’t feel I can be held responsible for many of the other things that were going on in her life, and the complex issues surrounding those decisions.”
While speaking with The Sunday Times, Bashir specifically said that showing Spencer the forged bank documents “was wrong” and something he “deeply regrets” — although he claimed that “had no bearing” on his 1995 sit-down with Diana.
Asked if he will be able to forgive himself, Bashir replied, “that’s a really difficult question because it was a serious error. I hope that people will allow me the opportunity to show that I am properly repentant of what happened,” he added.
Two big points here and they’re both true, from where I sit. One, “Everything we did in terms of the interview was as she wanted.” Yes. Diana stage-managed the whole thing. She knew what she wanted to say, she organized it and it was on her terms. For Diana, Bashir was a means to an end and that end was telling her story in the way she wanted. Two, “I don’t feel I can be held responsible for many of the other things that were going on in her life.” This is also true, or true-ish. Bashir probably did feed into her paranoia, but be fair to Diana and Bashir – she had every reason to be paranoid and there were a lot of people watching her and listening to her and plotting against her. She was being sabotaged from within, by the institution, and Bashir was only one small part of the larger picture.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
The attempt to erase her truth and drown out her voice is so sickening.
Even if she wasn’t who she was, as women in this world we all know collectively how it feels to be dismissed and gaslighted.
…let me go renew this passport so I can egg Charles at his coronation when the time comes
For me, it’s the audacity to do it publicly after chasing one of her sons away. If this is what they do in public, everything that’s been said about how they behave in private has to be true.
@ Elizabeth Regina, yes!!! They are much more devious than we know since it’s all behind a curtain of deceit and gas lighting. We have seen what happened to Diana and they are trying to do the same with Harry and Meghan. It doesn’t erase their disgusting and underhanded misdeeds.
As for Baldimorts statement, I found it to be reprehensible and offensive all accounts. He is not a king in the making, he is a deceitful, angry and manipulative man-child that is exactly like his father. Willing to throw anyone under the bus and not take responsibility for his own actions. And for Baldimort to make that hurtful statement against his mother is appalling and should be condemned from here on out.
Isn’t them being pedophiles enough to know that they are blatantly evil? It’s beyond gasslighting and being malicious, they are evil and they know what they are doing
Diana wanted to give that interview. She would have done so with someone else anyway despite the horrible way Bashir got it. One question though. Was her brother equally deceived? There is something seriously amiss. And for Cain to betray his own mother for the crown? I am so glad the Sussexes are miles away.
Cambridge stans give a free pass to William for using Paranoid in his statement. When Harry speaks warmly of her the bots slam him, he gave a much better statement than William did.
@Elizabeth Regina, ITA, there is something seriously amiss with Diana’s brother. He has always seemed to be a smarmy, skeevy, opportunistic adulterer and those are my nice opionions. Earl of Flings. We only have his word about his “32 notes of lies”. It’s not that hard to make a a new document to appear old. Kids in art class can do it. Diana didn’t need persuasion or convincing from an outside source…she was ready to go..she had her own knowledge and connections to gossip or confirmation bias outside of Bashir. Diana seemed to be a cash cow for her brother after her death. There are question’s if the monies received from the tours of her collections($2 million annually I believe) after her death (and before Harry turned 30 and the collections went to her sons as per her will) went to to Diana’s charities as her brother stated. There is belief that the money went to the care of Althorp and his living expenses. It came out during his 1st divorce-he’s on marriage #3 and has 6/7 kids-that Earl Spencer’s net worth might be a lot but has cash flow problems-his money is mostly tied up in properties. His euology at the service wasn’t so much of a surprise because he attacked the media, the surprise was that he euoligized her when they weren’t getting along at that time and it all seemed phoney. Lol Elizabeth Regina, you opened a Pandora’s Box and a conspiracy theory for me.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/travel/destinations/dianaland071198.htm?travellede=y
https://www.forbes.com/sites/trialandheirs/2014/09/16/as-remainder-of-princess-dianas-estate-passes-to-harry-troubling-questions-remain/?sh=5840c27e5f05
Dyson’s report also found from Earl Spencer’s contemporaneous notes that Bashir told no less than 32 separate lies to Diana and he as part of the interview process. Some of those lies led to her directly falling out with friends and firing/alienating people who hadn’t done the things they were accused of.
Yes, Diana wanted to do the interview and said what she planned but the fallout of Bashir’s poison spread wider than that.
Oh, that’s terrible. I can see where she had every reason to already feel paranoid about courtiers and others within the palace/royal family, but if Bashir was lying to her to undermine her (very necessary) relationships with true friends, that’s unforgivable.
Agreed. She was going to talk no matter who it was. And didn’t she basically just reiterate everything she told Andrew Morton for his book, but this time putting her face and name to it? If it wasn’t Martin Bashir, I could see her going to a renowned American journalist at the time like Barbara Walters or Diane Sawyer.
Plus over a year earlier Charles let the cat out of the bag so to speak by admitting his affair with Camilla. ANd the PBs were divorcing as a result.
Every time something comes up about how The Royals treated(or rather mistreated) Diana, I’m glad she had the foresight to know how important it is to get her story out whether through Bashir or the then secret recordings. It was the best move she ever made because she put herself on the record and the Royal Family can’t completely control the narrative through bullshit “sources.”
Yes, can you imagine what we would be hearing now about Diana if we didn’t have the Bashir interview, the Morton tapes, etc? It was def the best move she made in retrospect.
I think Harry is doing something similar now. There’s a reason he’s putting so much out there.
Diana modeled how to try to escape.
The only real way to fight abuse and bullying is to push back if you can’t get away. It’s all you have. It was costly and messy, but she had no choice at that point. How sad that William can infantilize his mother this way. Harry understands her now because of Meghan.
Very true Xantha.
I didn’t know about this book until today. It came out Feb. 1999. Written by Beatrix Campbell.
Diana, Princess of Wales: How Sexual Politics Shook the Monarchy
https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-7043-4585-0
The author was part of an article in the Washington Post regarding the Oprah interview. Pretty interesting and timely.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/03/07/princess-diana-harry-meghan-oprah-interview/
I don’t believe Bashir caused Diana harm.
None of this would still now be happening if the BRF would not have gaslighted and treated her so shabbily in the first place.
I’m looking at you Charles.
Her brother is trying to absolve himself of any guilt he might feel regarding her death. I’m not sure pursuing the BBC is going to give him that. They all act like she had no reason to be paranoid and that’s what pissing me off.
Oh, I definitely think Earl Spencer is trying to absolve himself of some guilt. Diana apparently had asked for use of a cottage at Althorp, a place to escape on the weekends away from the paparazzi, but he refused.
He refused one specific cottage because of its vicinity to the perimeter fence and the house. It would not have been private for her and the paps would have intruded on his young family. It would also have complicated the open house days when paying guests come. He reportedly offered a different one that’s more secluded but it would have needed renovation and I don’t think she wanted the isolation
They say it’s the winners who write the history books in their favor. That is what they are attempting here. But it’s become increasingly difficult to do so in this day and age with the Internet and social media. They might succeed in cracking down on and controlling the BBC but there are thousands of other outlets big and small that they can’t control. The Royals ain’t gonna win this one.
It’s also increasingly difficult to do so right now when Harry is out there talking and showing the parallels and that nothing has changed.
The royals want to blame the Bashir interview because it absolves them of all guilt when it comes to diana. Same for the press, thats why so many in the tabloids are hanging their hats on this.
Was Bashir shady and just flat out wrong in how he obtained the interview? yes. Did it increase Diana’s distrust in the Firm? Yes.
But was Diana determined to give an interview? Yes. Did Diana already distrust the Firm and her royal security etc? Yes.
Bashir made it worse, but he wasn’t the sole cause.
I agree. Bashir may have increased Diana’s distrust in people and he will forever be wrong and unethical for that but like you said, it was already there.
And as people have repeated, she was going to do an interview Bashir or no Bashir.
“The royals want to blame the Bashir interview because it absolves them of all guilt when it comes to Diana.” I guess this is true, but I’m confused why they would think so – is it the implication she was paranoid to think the palaces were working against her? Never saw the interview, or read Morton’s book, but read the interview transcript last week (so not influenced by tone/body language). My takeaways:
Despite the oft-shown “there were three of us in this marriage” clip, Camilla takes up very little of the interview.
Differences in issues aside (bulimia, postpartum depression, marital status), if you told me Meghan gave this interview last week, I’d believe it; that’s how current it still sounds, how much Diana’s treatment by the Firm, especially after the separation, track with what Meghan, and Harry, have said the last few months.
Diana is more respectful of Charles, and their marriage, than I expected. They were separated almost three years by then. She was sad, didn’t want a divorce, but knew the marriage was over, and took some responsibility; presents the separation as a mutual relief, they’d tried, but both had run out of steam. At the end, she objectively discusses the limitations in terms of his work Charles would face as king vs POW. (Bashir tried to get her to say they should skip Charles and go to William, but she only says “my wish is that my husband finds peace of mind.”)
It may be part theater, but she sounds much more mature and thoughtful than I expected. As far as paranoia goes, didn’t Melissa Toubati, Meghan’s PA early on who was, I think, fired for some kind of misconduct, turn out to be a good friend of Jason Knauf? What’s the saying? Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you?
Finally, IMO Charles made a big PR mistake making this a bone of contention, as well as previously trying to shut down those Crown episodes. CBers said at the time he should have done a mea culpa, said he regretted past behavior, etc. There’s several sentences in this interview he could have quoted. I just don’t get these people at all.
Yes, its the implication that the royals can now just say “Diana was paranoid because of what Bashir told her, it didn’t have anything to do with US, our hands are clean, she dismissed her RPOs because she was so paranoid after Bashir, etc.” Obviously the palace was definitely working against her, but this gives the palace an out, as we saw in William’s statement.
I’ve seen the interview and I agree, when I watched the Oprah interview with Meghan and Harry I was struck by how similar it was, and by the fact that the royal family has not changed one iota since Diana.
Diana was betrayed in so many ways before Bashir. She found out her alleged “friends” were really only Charles friends, they provided safe houses for C and C. Also, the Queen Mother even provided a Scottish residence for C and C (pictures of them there to prove it). Hewitt sold her out for $$$ by cooperating with a writer and also did some other “get rich quick” schemes using Diana. Camilla pretended to be Diana’s friend. Her own Grandmother (Ruth Fermoy) who helped promote the match with Charles turned on Diana and backed Charles. And she tried to get help from the QUeen who just said Charles is impossible. And did nothing to help. And after the marriage she realized her husband would keep on being involved with Camilla.
If she knew that her phones were bugged, then she was not paranoid. In fact, there are tapes to prove that her phone was hacked. The Palace and the media are using Bashir’s misdeeds to discredit and to silence Diana.
Which is where Williams betrayal is most evident. Let’s not forget that the reason that the News of the world hacking scandal broke was because William realised that a story about his injured arm that only he and one other person knew had ended up in the paper. He privately requested an investigation and it was that investigation that led to the unfurling of the entire celebrity hacking operation. So he knows damn well that the hacking was real. He also knows damn well that palace plotting to take down Royal members in order to build others is real since he’s just participated in one such event.
Is it just the fate of the heir to turn into a self-involved gaslighter?
Meet the new king of denial, people.
Holy smokes, this is a new standard of denial and a** covering.
Diana was victimized in so damn many ways! R.I.P.
I believe otherwise! Harmful
If only….
Charles had loved and been faithful to Diana.
Diana had been more mature and did not have ‘filthy rows” with her husband.
Charles and Diana had kept their negative feelings and words away from their children.
Charles went into therapy to fix his issues instead of relying on syncophants and mistresses.
Diana would have had a ride or die support network.
William and Harry would have two still living parents that got along.
The Firm would really take care of their members instead of siding and abetting factions.
The Queen would really have the power and emotional intelligence to be a leader and ruler of that family.
It might not be sunshine and roses, but maybe it would have been less toxic for the family.
Maybe Diana would not have been chased to her death in the backseat floorboard of previously stolen Mercedes owned by an entity belonging to the someone who wanted to use her fame for his own benefit. Maybe Charles would be readying himself to be a respected future King with a capable much loved by the public Queen by his side instead of a selfish, tarnished, little man who thinks that he can spin any take to build himself up.
I thought its way more complicated than that. It’s not just Charles and Diana, if it wer, the problem wouldn’t be repeating itself. It’s about a sick family, an unethical press, and a toxic establishment that reflects on its society.
The one thing that sticks in my craw about this Bashir story is that it takes away Diana’s agency to own herself. She was surrounded by lies and manipulations as a young young person. She was finally reaching an age where she could own herself to try make her own choices. Maybe she was manipulated to grant the interview, but does that invalidate what she said, her answers to the questions? It’s erasing her voice all over again.
Bashir is such a GD parasite. The audacity to claim his lies and grifting, his weasel “reporting” did nothing to harm Princess Diana? What a narcissistic cowardly $hit he is.