Earl to reflect on Diana interview at family home

Earl Spencer is to reflect on the 1995 Panorama interview with his sister Diana, Princess of Wales, at their childhood home.

The princess's brother supported journalist Andy Webb on his book Dianarama, which re-examines the interview conducted by Martin Bashir.

He said the book was about the "appalling way that some people in the hierarchy in the BBC back in 1995 conspired to get Diana to give that interview on Panorama".

The BBC appointed Lord Dyson to investigate the interview. A BBC spokesperson said: "The Dyson Report was published in 2021, [and] the BBC accepted its findings in full and publicly apologised for its part in the report's conclusions."

Earl Spencer will be in conversation with Webb as part of Althorp Literary Festival, which he hosts at his Northamptonshire family home from 8 to 10 May.

He has been highly critical of the BBC, and the circumstances of the interview, for a number of years.

Speaking to Bernie Keith on BBC Radio Northampton, he said: "I'm all for Diana giving an interview. She was entitled to and I supported it when she did.

"It was the circumstances that she was tricked into doing it that was so appalling – proper lies and deceit at the highest level."

Earl Spencer said he was "very pro-BBC", but added that "senior figures" had "let down their reputation".

"It's appalling they did this to Diana... and as a loyal brother, if I am allowed to say that, I have wanted to hold them to account ever since," he added.

Lord Dyson – the retired judge who led the inquiry – found:

• Bashir seriously breached BBC rules by mocking up fake bank statements to gain access to the princess

• Bashir showed the fake documents to Earl Spencer to gain his trust so he would introduce Bashir to the princess

• By gaining access to Princess Diana in this way, Bashir was able to persuade her to agree to give the interview

• As media interest in the interview increased, the BBC covered up what it had learnt about how Bashir had secured the interview, and this "fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are [the BBC's] hallmark"

• A 1995 letter from Princess Diana – published as evidence – said she had "no regrets" concerning the matter

Webb broke the story by obtaining secret files and has written the book with Earl Spencer's support "from the sidelines" over the past six years.

The earl said former BBC reporter Webb was "pro-BBC" but, "just like me, is appalled by a few bad apples".

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