Martin Bashir told colleagues “professional jealousy” was to blame for allegations that he secured an interview with Princess Diana through deceit, newly uncovered emails reveal.
The journalist wrote the message in 2020 – months before a BBC Panorama interview exposed the scandal surrounding his infamous interview, where she said of her marriage to Charles: “There were three of us in this marriage.”
A damning report found that Bashir had faked bank statements and showed them to Earl Spencer, Diana’s brother, in order to gain access to the princess.
In an email dated 20 July 2020, Bashir had written: “I am sorry to hear that this so-called ‘forgery’ story has reared its head again.
“It played no part in the interview but did allow professional jealousy, particularly within the corporation, to hang its hat on alleged wrongdoing.
“At the time, it was also apparent that there was some irritation that a second-generation immigrant of non-white, working class roots should have the temerity to enter a Royal Palace and conduct an interview.”
Bashir added that it would have caused less controversy if a “dynastic” journalist such as a Dimbleby had been involved.
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A judge had ordered the BBC to release the emails in a ruling last month following a freedom of information (FOI) request from journalist Andy Webb.
In a lengthy statement released today the BBC said: “Throughout this process we have taken our responsibilities to comply with the directions of the Tribunal extremely seriously.
“Therefore we’ve today released approximately 3,000 documents – some 10,000 pages – to Mr Webb. This latest disclosure includes many hundreds of pages of duplicates and material that was not related to the 1995 Panorama, but was nevertheless caught by the electronic searches.
“We have made redactions, where necessary, consistent with the Freedom of Information Act.
“There is nothing to support the allegations that the BBC acted in bad faith in 2020 and we maintain this suggestion is simply wrong.”
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