Editing Martin Bashir (section)

===Princess of Wales interview===
{{Main|An Interview with HRH The Princess of Wales}}
In November 1995, Bashir interviewed [[Diana, Princess of Wales]] about her failed marriage to the [[Charles III|Prince of Wales]] for the [[BBC]]'s ''[[Panorama (British TV programme)|Panorama]]'' programme.<ref>{{cite web|title=Transcript of the BBC1 Panorama interview with the Princess of Wales|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/politics97/diana/panorama.html|work=Great Interviews of the 20th century|publisher=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=3 October 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Neophyte reporter makes journalistic coup|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=F5MVAAAAIBAJ&pg=3998,2764955&dq=martin-bashir&hl=en|access-date=3 October 2010|newspaper=Manila Standard|date=18 November 1995}}</ref> The programme was seen by nearly 23 million viewers in the UK.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54793572|title=Princess Diana's brother demands BBC inquiry over Panorama interview|work=[[BBC News]] |date=4 November 2020|access-date=7 November 2020}}</ref> At the time, the BBC hailed it as the scoop of a generation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/03/why-is-princess-dianas-panorama-interview-back-in-the-news|title=Why is Princess Diana's Panorama interview back in the news?|work=[[The Guardian]] |last=Davies|first=Caroline|date=3 November 2020|access-date=7 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="NYT20201111">{{cite news|last=Kwai|first=Isabella|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/world/europe/bbc-martin-bashir-diana-interview.html|title=BBC Orders Inquiry Into Diana Interview After Claim Princess Was Misled|work=The New York Times|date=11 November 2020|access-date=12 November 2020}}</ref>  The interview was an international sensation, and catapulted Bashir, a little-known reporter for a BBC investigative programme, to global fame.

Five months later, two reporters for the ''Mail On Sunday'' broke the story that Bashir had secured the interview using falsified documents to manipulate the princess's family. Nick Fielding and Jason Lewis wrote that Bashir approached Diana's brother [[Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer|The Earl Spencer]] with bank statements which he said were proof that Spencer's former head of security, Alan Waller, secretly received money from a tabloid newspaper, presumably to spy on Spencer and his family.<ref>"Diana's BBC Man And Fake Bank Statements," by Nick Fielding and Jason Lewis, ''Mail On Sunday'', April 7, 1996</ref>
 
A BBC freelance graphic designer named Matt Wiessler told the ''Mail on Sunday'' that he had created the bank statements in about nine hours on Bashir's orders, and Bashir had used them to win the trust of the Spencer family and connect, through Charles Spencer, to Diana. Wiessler said he was told the documents would be used as filming props. When he began to suspect they were used to deceive the Spencers, he spoke to Fielding and Lewis.<ref name="NYT20201111"/>

The article, which called Bashir's deception "an extraordinary breach of BBC journalistic ethics,"<ref>"Diana's BBC Man And Fake Bank Statements," by Nick Fielding and Jason Lewis, ''Mail On Sunday'', April 7, 1996</ref> prompted the BBC to announce an internal investigation headed by BBC news chief [[Tony Hall, Baron Hall of Birkenhead|Tony Hall]].  Hall interviewed neither Wiessler nor Spencer himself, and the BBC quickly announced that it was clearing Bashir of all wrongdoing because the fake documents—which it did not deny had been created—were not used to secure the interview.<ref>{{cite news|last=Tobitt|first=Charlotte|url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/mail-on-sunday-journalists-who-exposed-martin-bashir-diana-fakery-24-years-ago-say-story-was-ignored/|title=Mail on Sunday journalists who exposed Martin Bashir Diana fakery 24 years ago say story was ignored|work=Press Gazette|date=11 November 2020|access-date=12 November 2020}}</ref>

According to internal BBC documents that came to light later, Hall said that Bashir was “an honest man” who was “deeply remorseful”. By contrast, he punished  Wiessler by cancelling the designer's contract with the BBC. Hall later became the BBC's director-general.

In 2020, 25 years after the famous interview, ITV aired a documentary about the case examining Bashir's manipulations and the BBC's response. In the programme, Wiessler said that work dried up for him after the 1996 inquiry cleared Bashir, and that he (Wiessler) had been made the [[scapegoat]].<ref name="BBC20201110">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54886395|title=Princess Diana interview: Designer Matt Wiessler 'angry' at BBC treatment|work=[[BBC News]] |date=10 November 2020|access-date=12 November 2020}}</ref>

The documentary reignited the controversy, and BBC director-general [[Tim Davie]] apologised to Earl Spencer,<ref>{{cite news|last=Tobitt|first=Charlotte|url=https://pressgazette.co.uk/mail-on-sunday-journalists-who-exposed-martin-bashir-diana-fakery-24-years-ago-say-story-was-ignored/|title=Mail on Sunday journalists who exposed Martin Bashir Diana fakery 24 years ago say story was ignored|work=[[Press Gazette]]|date=11 November 2020|access-date=12 November 2020}}</ref> who rejected the apology and demanded an inquiry.<ref name="Gdn20201104">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/04/diana-brother-earl-spencer-demands-inquiry-deceit-bbc-interview|title=Diana's brother demands inquiry over 'deceit' that led to BBC interview|work=[[The Guardian]]|last=Waterson|first=Jim|date=4 November 2020|access-date=7 November 2020}}</ref> “I knew that Martin Bashir used fake bank statements and other dishonesty to get my sister to do the interview,” he said, adding that the BBC had not only known of Bashir's manipulation, but had “covered it up.” Spencer told Davie he had records of all his contacts with Bashir which apparently implied the journalist gave the princess false information to gain her trust.<ref name="STimes20201101" /> He said that Bashir made false and defamatory claims about senior members of the royal family and, were it not for the faked documents, he would not have introduced Bashir to his sister. Davie announced on <!-- "on Monday", date as indicated. -->9 November that the BBC was commissioning an independent inquiry.<ref name="Grade comments">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54872352|title=Princess Diana interview: 'Dark cloud over BBC journalism' says Lord Grade|work=[[BBC News]] |date=9 November 2020|access-date=9 November 2020}}</ref> [[Michael Grade]], a former BBC chairman, said that the allegations left "a very dark cloud hanging over BBC journalism".<ref name="NYT20201111" /><ref name="Grade comments" />

At the time of the revelations, Bashir was seriously ill,<ref name="BBC20201110" /> which the BBC said had required a full investigation to be postponed.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Parveen|first1=Nazia|last2=Waterson|first2=Jim|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/03/princess-diana-brother-charles-spencer-calls-for-bbc-inquiry-into-faked-bank-statements|title=Martin Bashir to face questions over Diana interview when he recovers from Covid|work=[[The Guardian]] |date=3 November 2020|access-date=12 November 2020}}</ref>

On 13 November 2020, it was reported that the BBC had found the note from the Princess of Wales which cleared Bashir of pressuring her to give the interview.<ref>{{cite news|last=Waterson|first=Jim|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/nov/13/bbc-finds-princess-diana-note-clearing-martin-bashir-wrongdoing|title=BBC finds Princess Diana's lost note that it says clears Martin Bashir|work=[[The Guardian]] |date=13 November 2020|access-date=14 November 2020}}</ref> Former BBC royal correspondent [[Jennie Bond]] wrote in ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' that the princess told Bond, in a private meeting in late 1996, that she did not regret the interview. Diana said she feared a [[Gag order|gagging order]] in her imminent divorce settlement, and that the interview might be her only chance to speak openly.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bond|first=Jennie|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-family/article/jennie-bond-on-princess-diana-just-between-us-and-these-four-walls-she-bared-her-soul-to-me-first-0drprghrn|title=Jennie Bond on Princess Diana: just between us and these four walls, she bared her soul to me first|work=The Sunday Times|date=15 November 2020|access-date=15 November 2020}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

On 18 November 2020, the BBC announced an independent investigation into how the interview was obtained, to be headed by former [[Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom|Supreme Court judge]] [[John Dyson, Lord Dyson|John Dyson]].<ref name="Gdn20201119" /><ref name=RTE2020-11-18-01a /> 

On 4 March 2021, the [[Metropolitan Police]] announced that they would not begin a criminal investigation into the allegations after a "detailed assessment" and consultation with the Metropolitan police lawyers, independent counsel and the Crown Prosecution Service.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/mar/04/police-rule-out-inquiry-into-martin-bashirs-1995-diana-interview|title=Police rule out inquiry into Martin Bashir's 1995 Diana interview|work=[[The Guardian]] |last=Rawlinson|first=Kevin|date=4 March 2021|access-date=6 March 2021}}</ref> Later that month Bashir told the BBC inquiry that he was not responsible for spreading smears about the royal family to convince the princess to sit for the interview, and it was probably Diana herself who was the source of those claims.<ref name="Telegraph-Smears">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/03/19/princess-diana-source-smears-accused-claims-martin-bashir/|title=Princess Diana is the source of 'smears' I am accused of, claims Martin Bashir|work=The Telegraph|first=Robert|last=Mendick|date=19 March 2021|access-date=21 March 2021}}</ref> Among the smears were allegations of [[Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex|Prince Edward]] being treated for AIDS, the Queen suffering from cardiac problems and her intention to abdicate, and that the Prince of Wales was having an affair with his children's nanny, [[Tiggy Legge-Bourke]].<ref name="Telegraph-Smears"/> Bashir argued that bringing up such allegations in front of Diana would have exposed him as a "complete fantasist" and narrowed down the chance of doing any interviews with her.<ref name="Telegraph-Smears"/> He added that Diana had revealed to him that she spoke with mystics and clairvoyants, who could have been sources of the false information she received.<ref name="Telegraph-Smears"/>

In May 2021, Dyson's inquiry found Bashir guilty of using "deceitful methods" and breaching BBC editorial conduct to obtain the interview.<ref name="Dyson-Inquiry"/> The Dyson report maintained that Bashir was "unreliable", "devious" and "dishonest".<ref name="BBC20210615" /> After the conclusion of the inquiry, with which the BBC said that Bashir had co-operated fully, a broadcast of ''Panorama'' dedicated to the interview and the inquiry was scheduled for 17 May 2021, but was postponed when Bashir resigned.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Princess Diana: BBC postpones Panorama film on interview with Martin Bashir |last=Lee |first=Dulcie |work=[[BBC News]] |date=16 May 2021 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57135567}}</ref>

The Metropolitan Police stated: "Following the publication of Lord Dyson's report we will assess its contents to ensure there is no significant new evidence."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Martin Bashir's Diana interview: PM 'concerned' by inquiry report as police to assess findings|url=https://news.sky.com/story/martin-bashirs-diana-interview-police-to-assess-report-for-significant-new-evidence-12312427|access-date=2021-05-22|website=Sky News|language=en}}</ref> In September 2021, they announced that they would not launch a criminal investigation into the interview.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.sky.com/story/princess-diana-no-criminal-investigation-into-martin-bashirs-panorama-interview-say-police-12408806|title=Princess Diana: No criminal investigation into Martin Bashir's Panorama interview, say police|work=Sky News|first=Rebecca|last=Speare-Cole|date=15 September 2021|accessdate=15 September 2021}}</ref>

In July 2022 the BBC apologised to the ex-nanny in the High Court, and agreed to pay an undisclosed amount of damages, thought to be in the region of £200,000,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/tiggy-legge-bourke-williams-former-nanny-wins-200-000-for-bbc-smears-7nchcmtfd | title=Tiggy Legge-Bourke: William's former nanny wins £200,000 for BBC smears }}</ref> over the unfounded claims that she had had an affair with the Prince of Wales.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62250479|title=BBC to pay damages to former royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke|work=[[BBC News]] |date=21 July 2022 }}</ref>