Martin Bashir news - live: PM says BBC must never repeat scandal as police consider criminal probe
Follow the latest on the fallout after an inquiry found ‘serious’ breaches were committed in the BBC’s explosive 1995 interview with Princess Diana
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world
Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he is “very concerned” by Lord Dyson’s report finding major failings in the BBC’s handling of Martin Bashir’s explosive 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.
The PM said he hopes the BBC “will be taking every possible step” to ensure that such a scandal never “ever happens again”.
His comments come as Scotland Yard has vowed to “assess the contents” of the report, which accused the BBC of covering up “deceitful behaviour” by Mr Bashir, who had fake bank statements created to mislead Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, and gain access to the princess of Wales.
Previously, police had decided against pursuing a criminal investigation into the controversy. However, now they say they will review the report “to ensure there is no significant new evidence”.
Meanwhile, both Prince William and Harry have condemned the BBC over the independent inquiry’s findings, with the elder brother saying he believed the interview fed directly into the “fear, paranoia and isolation” his mother endured in her final years, while, Harry said that he believed it was “the ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices” that ultimately took Diana’s life.
- Prince William launches scathing attack on BBC ‘lies’ over Bashir’s Diana interview
- Martin Bashir: Who is the BBC journalist at the centre of the Princess Diana interview scandal?
- Princess Diana: Why is controversial Martin Bashir interview being investigated?
- Prince Harry used alcohol and drugs to 'mask' feelings after his mother's death
Former Panorama producer brands Bashir ‘dishonest reporter’ who ‘lied and lied’
A former Panorama producer has branded Martin Bashir a “dishonest reporter” who “lied and lied” following the release of the Dyson report on the BBC’s failings in its now-infamous 1995 interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, former Panorama producer Mark Killick said: “I think (the report) makes it very clear that Martin Bashir was a dishonest reporter, that he not only forged a number of documents but he lied and lied.
“But I think more importantly, is what it says about the BBC itself, it says the BBC investigation in 1996 was incompetent, it says the BBC ran a smear campaign against some of its own employees, and it ultimately says the BBC covered it all up as well,” he said.
“It’s a pretty damning indictment of the BBC at that time,” Killick asserted.
Harry says Meghan struggled with suicidal thoughts while pregnant, but worried about impact on him
The Duke of Sussex has said that his wife, Meghan Markle, struggled with suicidal thoughts during her pregnancy, but did not go through with killing herself because she was concerned about him “losing another woman”.
In his Apple TV docuseries The Me You Can’t See, Harry tells Oprah Winfrey that Meghan cried at a charity event at the Royal Albert Hall in London while pregnant with Archie.
“Meghan was struggling, and people have seen the photograph of us squeezing each other’s hands as we walked into the Royal Albert Hall in London for a charity event - she was six months pregnant at the time.
“What perhaps people don’t understand is earlier that evening, Meghan decided to share with me the suicidal thoughts and the practicalities of how she was going to end her life.
“The scariest thing for her was her clarity of thought, she hadn’t lost it, she wasn’t crazy, she wasn’t self-medicating, be it through pills or alcohol, she was absolutely sober, she was completely sane.
“Yet in the quiet of night, these thoughts woke her up.”
Harry said the suicidal thoughts began less than a year into their marriage.
“The thing that stopped her from seeing it through was how unfair it would be on me,” he said.
“After everything that had happened to my mum, and to now be put in a position of losing another woman in my life, with a baby inside of her, our baby,” he said.
Harry said he was “somewhat ashamed” of how he dealt with the situation because the couple could only have a “quick cuddle” before being called to perform their royal duties.
“There wasn’t an option to say, ‘You know what? Tonight we’re not gonna go’,” he said.
“Because just imagine the stories that come from that.”
Anyone struggling can contact the Samaritans, free at any time on 116 123 or by emailing josamaritans.org or visiting Samaritans.org.
Additional reporting by PA
Princess Diana: Key findings of report into how Martin Bashir secured interview
Lord Dyson’s inquiry found that Martin Bashir used “deceitful behaviour” to secure his BBC interview with Princess Diana.
It also found that a subsequent internal BBC investigation “fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark”.
Here, Clea Skopeliti takes a look at the key findings from the independent inquiry:
Key findings of report into how Martin Bashir secured interview
Previous BBC investigation ‘fell short of its high standards of integrity and transparency’
BBC media editor says inquiry’s findings show ‘appalling betrayal’ of broadcaster’s principles
The BBC has been left “severely injured and scarred” after the findings of Lord Dyson’s inquiry into the broadcaster’s 1995 Princess Diana interview came to light, BBC media editor Amol Rajan has said.
“The BBC as an organisation is found to have withheld information from the public which funds it and which it was set up to serve,” Mr Rajan told BBC News presenter Sophie Raworth in an interview.
“I think that is an appalling betrayal of the principles on which it was founded,” he said.
Watch the exchange here:
Watch: BBC ‘severely injured and scarred’ following inquiry into Diana interview, Media Editor Amol Rajan says
BBC Media Editor Amol Rajan says the broadcaster has been left “severely injured, probably scarred” by an independent inquiry that found it covered up “deceitful behaviour” by journalist Martin Bashir to obtain an explosive 1995 interview with Princess Diana."The BBC as an organisation is found to have withheld information from the public which funds it and which it was set up to serve,” Rajan tells BBC News presenter Sophie Raworth. “I think that is an appalling betrayal of the principles on which it was founded.”
Harry says one of Archie’s first words was ‘grandma'
The Duke of Sussex has said that one of his son’s first words was “grandma” as he described his sadness at nothing having his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, there to see Archie grow up.
Speaking in the fifth episode of Apple TV’s The Me You Can’t See, Prince Harry’s new mental health documentary series with Oprah Winfrey, the duke said he was “really sad” that his mother never got to meet Archie.
Harry said that Archie had learned the word “grandma” because of a picture of Diana in the nursery at their Los Angeles home.
Of Archie, Harry said: “We’ve got a beautiful little boy who keeps us busy, who keeps us running around.
“He makes us laugh every day which is great.
“We got two dogs and then another little baby girl on the way, I never dreamt that,” he said.
The duke said he had “no doubt” that his mother would be “incredibly proud” of the life he is living.
Additional reporting by PA
Graphic designer commissioned to create false documents says BBC apology did the ‘absolute minimum'
Graphic designer Matt Wiessler, who was commissioned by Martin Bashir to create fake-up documents in the effort to secure the BBC’s 1995 interview with Princess Diana has said an apology offered to him by the BBC did the “absolute minimum”.
Mr Wiessler was asked to create fake documents suggesting payments had been made into the bank account of Alan Waller, a former employee of Earl Spencer, Diana’s brother, Patrick Jephson, Diana’s private secretary and Richard Aylard, private secretary to the Prince of Wales.
The documents were meant to suggest that all three individuals were being paid to surveil the princess.
Speaking on the Today programme, Mr Wiessler said his business folded after it was blacklisted by the BBC after he said he blew the whistle on Mr Bashir’s tactics.
Friday that his business had folded as a result of being blacklisted by the BBC, after blowing the whistle on Mr Bashir’s tactics.
He said he received a “well-crafted letter” from the BBC at 10pm on Thursday apologising for the scandal.
The graphic designer was not impressed, however, asserting that the letter did the “absolute minimum” to acknowledge the impact the incident had on his life.
“Only under duress do we get some sort of apology and some sort of acknowledgement,” he said.
Young British people want to abolish monarchy, poll shows
A recent poll has suggested that young people in Britain are ready to do away with the monarchy.
The YouGov survey found that at least 41 per cent of people aged 18 to 24 prefer an elected head of the state as compared to 31 who want a king or a queen.
The findings represent a reversal of what the majority wanted two years ago, when at least 46 per cent said they preferred the monarchy and only 26 per cent wanted it gone.
Maroosha Muzaffar has more on the survey’s findings:
Young British people want to abolish the monarchy in dramatic shift of public opinion, survey shows
The young would rather have an elected head of state
Harry says his family did not speak about Diana’s death
Prince Harry has said that his family did not speak about Diana’s death.
Speaking in an interview for his new docuseries with Oprah Winfrey called The Me You Can’t See, the Duke of Sussex also suggested that he was expected to simply cope with his suffering on his own.
“My father used to say to me when I was younger, he used to say to both William and I, ‘Well it was like that for me so it’s going to be like that for you’,” Harry said.
“That doesn’t make sense. Just because you suffered doesn’t mean that your kids have to suffer, in fact quite the opposite - if you suffered, do everything you can to make sure that whatever negative experiences you had, that you can make it right for your kids,” he added.
Harry said his family told him to “play the game” and things would get better.
But, he said that simply was not his path, telling Oprah: “I’ve got a hell of a lot of my mum in me.
“The only way to free yourself and break out is to tell the truth.”
Additional reporting by PA
Harry does EMDR therapy with Oprah - what is it and how does it work?
In his new docuseries with Oprah Winfrey, The Me You Can’t See, Prince Harry shows how EMDR - or Eye movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing therapy, works.
The therapy employs a series of eye movements to aid in the process of coming to terms with repressed traumatic experiences.
“EMDR is always something that I wanted to try and that was one of the varieties of different forms of healing or curing that I was willing to experiment with, and I never would have been open to that had I not put in the work and the therapy that I’ve done over the years,” he told Oprah.
Read on to find out more about EMDR and what Harry had to say about the approach:
Harry does EMDR psychotherapy on camera with Oprah - what is it and does it work?
New documentary series sees Harry showcase EMDR therapy but what is it?
The biggest revelations from Harry’s interview with Oprah
Prince Harry has sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a second time in a candid discussion about his mental health struggles.
In his interview, which was filmed for a docuseries released today on Apple TV+, titledThe Me You Can’t See, Harry also opens up about his experience losing his mother.
Here, Chelsea Ritschel looks at the biggest revelations to come out of the interview:
13 of the most explosive revelations from the Harry-Oprah interview
Duke of Sussex speaks of his and Meghan Markle’s mental health struggles and how he learned to cope
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies