Prince William seeks truth about Princess Diana’s 1995 BBC interview: author

Prince William has endured the pain of knowing how deeply betrayed his mother was and is now determined to find the truth.

“I was cautious because I went as far as I was advised,” Andy Webb said. Author of “Dianarama” he told Fox News Digital. “I describe William as having a wound that will not heal. I was made clear that he needed to know what happened. I think the impact on William must have been absolutely traumatic. He decided it was time. He needs to know. He really wants to know what happened 30 years ago.”

In November 1995, Princess Diana secretly gave an explosive interview to journalist Martin Bashir for the BBC investigative program “Panorama”. The 34-year-old, who had split from her then-husband Prince Charles, told how her marriage failed because the future king, then 47, was still in love with his mistress Camilla Parker Bowles.

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Diana’s many revelations, including her struggle with bulimia and how she deliberately harmed herself in a desperate attempt to help, shocked millions. The Princess never realized that she was being directed to speak openly; His loved ones believed this decision led to his death.

Investigative journalist Webb spent 20 years uncovering what he described as the network’s cover-up. It was later revealed that Bashir used forged documents and other dishonest tactics to persuade Diana to agree to the interview.

“Dianarama: Deception, Entrapment, Cover-Up: The Betrayal of Princess Diana” by Andy Webb is available now. (Pegasus Books)

Speaking to Diana’s brother, Earl Charles Spencer (who had been duped by Bashir’s tactics), Webb claimed that the journalist had forged bank statements, claimed that William’s watch was a bugging device, claimed that palace staff were watching Diana, and even claimed that Charles wanted the children’s nanny murdered so that he could marry her and take her children away.

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Bashir even produced a false document claiming that nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke had an abortion paid for by Charles.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Bashir for comment on Webb’s book. The 62-year-old, who resigned from the BBC in 2021 citing health reasons, said he was deeply sorry for falsifying bank statements and said it was a “stupid thing to do”. He added that he felt this “had nothing to do with Princess Diana’s personal choice to participate in the interview.”

Andy Webb is the author and award-winning filmmaker who first obtained the secret files that revealed the story of Princess Diana’s betrayal by journalist Martin Bashir. (Enver Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images)

Webb said the consequences of Bashir’s deception were disastrous. Exhausted by isolation and distrust, Diana began purging her inner circle and letting go of trusted aides, including her longtime chauffeur, after Bashir reportedly convinced her that even he was an informant.

Martin Bashir interviews Princess Diana at Kensington Palace for the television program “Panorama”. (© Pool Photo/Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

“Diana had been trained to believe that the people around her, the people closest to her, could not be trusted, that they were actually receiving very large sums of money (£40,000 in one case) to spy on Diana,” Webb said.

“He couldn’t trust these people anymore. He got rid of all the people he had ever trusted in his life up to that point. So 18 months later, a different group of people emerged. Apparently, these are not the people you would want in charge of your safety.”

Princess Diana came to distrust many of her close aides, including Patrick Jephson, who tried to protect her. (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

“The most heartbreaking thing was the very strong allegation that if administrators at the time had informed Princess Diana of fraudulent activities – the forgeries and lies she was told – her life could have gone in a different direction,” Webb said.

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The investigation concluded that Martin Bashir used “deceptive conduct” to secure Princess Diana’s most explosive TV interview in 1995. (Fiona Hanson – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)

The fallout from the interview was swift and devastating. Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth instructed Charles and Diana to proceed with the formal divorce proceedings. Following this, Diana was stripped of many royal privileges and became distrustful of those closest to her, including her private secretary Patrick Jephson. Just two years later, tragedy struck when the princess was killed in a car crash in Paris while being relentlessly pursued by paparazzi.

“They said Diana was paranoid,” Webb said. “And I always think to myself: ‘This is really rude’ because you have to remember, the BBC was telling her that they had definitive information and documentation proving that people were trying to get her. That’s what Diana acted on.”

Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s divorce was finalized in 1996. (Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)

“At this point in his life, he knew his phone was tapped, private conversations were recorded, and even made public. This was very embarrassing for him. He was also worried that an old friend he was in a relationship with who had died in a motorcycle accident might have been targeted. He thought to himself, ‘Is this a coincidence?’ he asked.

Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Charles Spencer, had previously repeated complaints that journalist Martin Bashir had used forged documents and other dishonest tactics to persuade the royal family to agree to the interview. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

“This was material that Martin Bashir knew he was working on; he suspected Diana was already under surveillance,” Webb said. “He knew that this particular man was worried about his death. Then he came with his papers and was very convincing.”

The interview and its aftermath continue to be a sadness that has weighed on William for decades.

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Prince William was just a teenager when his mother’s explosive interview was watched by millions. (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

“I think it was hard for William to realize that things could have been different,” Webb said. “I wish they had been told what really happened to Diana, what Martin Bashir did. It’s hard to live with that knowledge.”

In 2020, the Sunday Times published new evidence showing Bashir used deceptive tactics to reach Diana through her brother. This prompted the BBC to launch an independent investigation led by senior judge Lord Dyson.

Prince William and Prince Harry are seen at Balmoral with their nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke. (Mathieu Polak/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)

The 2021 report concluded that Bashir had breached BBC rules by producing fake bank statements and showing them to the count to gain access to the princess. Believing that there were forces within the palace seeking to silence her, Diana agreed to tell her side of the story; She was unaware that Bashir was exploiting her fears.

The entrance of the British Broadcasting Corp.’s (BBC) Broadcasting House in London on May 28, 2021. That year the BBC came under fire for its handling of an explosive interview with Princess Diana that journalist Martin Bashir was revealed to have obtained through forgery. (Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The report also criticized the BBC for concealing what it knew about Bashir’s actions, noting that the company’s internal investigation fell short of usual standards of honesty and transparency.

“The interview contributed greatly to the further deterioration of my family’s relationship and has harmed countless others since,” William said in a statement. “It gives me indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures have contributed significantly to the fear, paranoia and isolation I remember from my final years with him.”

Princess Diana died at the age of 36 due to the injuries she suffered in a car accident in Paris while being followed by paparazzi in 1997. (Jayne Fincher/Getty Images)

William’s younger brother, Prince Harry, said in his own statement that the problem was bigger than just the BBC and that “the ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices eventually claimed his life”.

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Alexandra Pettifer, formerly Tiggy Legge-Bourke, former nanny to Prince William and Prince Harry, is before the High Court in London after the BBC agreed to pay her significant damages for false claims used to secure Martin Bashir’s 1995 “Panorama” interview with Princess Diana. (Aaron Chown/PA images via Getty Images)

“To those who have taken some kind of responsibility, thank you for owning it. This is the first step towards justice and truth,” he wrote. “But what concerns me deeply is that practices like these, and worse, are still common today.”

William was 13 years old when his mother spoke. Harry was 11 years old.

During her “Panorama” interview, Princess Diana famously said, “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a little crowded.” (Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)

“Which teenager is watching television and asks her mother, ‘Did you have sex with this boyfriend?'” Webb said. “He would like to see questions being asked,” he said.

According to loved ones, Princess Diana regretted the “Panorama” interview when she realized how it affected her sons. (Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)

“In the interview, Diana asked William’s father, ‘Do you think he should be king?’ she is encouraged to effectively humiliate him when asked. And he says: ‘No, I don’t think he has that talent.’ 13-year-old William sits there watching this. What do his schoolmates think the next morning? “You don’t have to be a prince to be terribly embarrassed by this.”

BBC Chairman Richard Sharp said the company accepted the findings of the investigation, adding that “there were unacceptable failures”. The broadcaster also wrote to the royal family to apologize.

The late mother of Prince William, heir to the British throne, does not want her “Panorama” interview to be shown again, writer Andy Webb told Fox News Digital. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

“William does not want this interview to be shown again,” Webb said. “She calls it illegitimate. What’s particularly sad is that, yes, some parts were valuable – but in reality Diana gave this interview in horror and fear.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.