Prince William: BBC scam ruined my mother
If it weren’t for that deadly interview, perhaps Diana Spencer, better known as Princess Diana, would now be preparing for her 60th birthday.
Twenty-six years ago, after the BBC’s “Panorama” program broadcast an exclusive interview with Diana, her world completely collapsed and never returned to its previous state: Queen Elizabeth II quickly agreed that she and Prince Charles divorce. Afterwards, Diana became increasingly isolated, quarreling with those closest to her, and even her son William yelled at her, “I don’t want to see you again!”
After many years, the world-renowned interview has now been exposed again out more details. “Panorama” host Martin Bashir used forged documents to deceive Diana’s trust, aroused her dissatisfaction with the royal family, and made her say the famous “There are three people in this marriage”, and even said that she has Affair privacy. Veteran royal correspondent Phil Dampier said: “That interview with Diana was the beginning of its ‘end’. If she hadn’t given that interview, she might still be here today…
” The contemptible behavior was made public, and BBC executives were accused of helping Bashir hide the truth and deceive Diana and the public. Diana’s eldest son, William, said the deceptive interview “greatly influenced what my mother said, was a major factor in the deterioration of my parental relationship and has since hurt countless people”. He said the BBC’s approach “greatly exacerbated her fear, paranoia and loneliness and brought me unparalleled sadness”. The second son, Harry, also issued a statement saying that the deceitful method of that interview led to the death of his mother in part, and this behavior is still widespread in the British media to this day.
The modern “Cinderella” is sick
Diana married Prince Charles on July 29, 1981. The wedding of the two can be called the most eye-catching wedding in the 20th century. Diana, who created the modern marriage myth, has also become the most beautiful princess from an unknown British commoner girl.
However, this “Cinderella” did not live a happy life as in fairy tales. Soon, Diana discovered that her husband did not love her, but another woman. Charles was reluctant to talk to her, or even to be in the same room with her, but went to the woman for various reasons. The estrangement between the two deepened. After giving birth to two sons, Diana suffered from postpartum depression and felt extremely disturbed, feeling that she was a “victim of the royal family” and a “replacement”. The long period of unhappiness made her begin to deny herself. She wanted to rely on food to relieve stress, and suffered from anorexia, escaping it with eating frenzy and vomiting; she also scratched her arm, but this self-mutilation makes the young princess seem grandstanding. People are talking about “the princess is mentally disturbed” and “the princess is emotionally unstable”. In order to end the unhappy relationship as soon as possible, Diana wanted a divorce. But the royal family has been keeping her.
In fact, in the early 1990s, there were various speculations about the relationship between the Charles and his wife, and both Charles and Diana tried to imply that the other party was at fault in the marriage. Even so, no one dared to bring such a scandal to the table.
Of course, the British and American media are unwilling to let go of such sudden news. They wanted the scoop from Diana, especially after her official separation from Prince Charles, and wanted her to tell the story of her marriage. A number of well-known reporters and hosts, including “First Lady of American TV News” Barbara Walters and famous mouth Oprah Winfrey, have found Diana through various connections, hoping that she can be interviewed , but were declined by Diana. Surprisingly, Diana turned around and accepted an exclusive interview with Bashir, who was a young reporter at the time. After the show aired, there was an uproar in the press. People have inquired about what “trick” Bashir used to open Diana’s heart.
Start with those closest to her
Bashir was born into a Pakistani immigrant family in Wandsworth, south London, the son of a bus driver and five children. He studied at the University of Winchester and King’s College London, where he majored in English and History, and worked as a freelance writer in the field of sports after graduation. In 1986, Bashir joined the BBC’s “Panorama” program as a reporter, and produced several TV investigative programs, but they did not stir up any big waves.
The little-known Bashir took a fancy to the popular topic of Diana’s marriage. But how do you get an exclusive interview and get Diana to tell the truth? He has crafted an elaborate deception.
At first, Bashir did not go directly to Diana herself, but chose to start with the person closest to her – Diana’s younger brother Earl Spencer. Bashir wrote to Spencer on official BBC stationery: “I have been investigating certain news for the past three months and would like to share some information with you. It may be of interest to you.” Trust in the journalists and the BBC’s big name, Spencer agreed to meet.
When the two met, Bashir handed Spencer a bank statement showing that Diana’s closest personal assistant received an unidentified transfer of more than £4,000 a quarter. Bashir also told Spencer that the aide had been hired by the royal family to monitor all of Diana’s activities. He said that “the other party has a terrible investigation result” and “the royal family is going to attack your family”. In fact, these were all fabricated by Bashir, and the bank statement was also fabricated by the BBC’s in-house designers. After Spencer listened, he was convinced of Bashir. In September 1995, Spencer took Bashir to meet his sister. “He’s short,” Diana later said. “I’m much taller than him.” She nicknamed him “Poison Dwarf.” This height difference seemed to give her some kind of confidence. At the first meeting, Bashir made a lot of absurd points. Spencer thought her sister would see through the nonsense and apologized to her for wasting her time. In fact, Diana believed Bashir’s words.
Diana chose to be interviewed by Bashir for several reasons. First, Diana felt that the BBC was the UK’s national broadcaster with a reputation for “integrity and fairness”. Second, Bashir, who is small and a minority, gives her a sense of security. “He’s a nobody, and that’s very important,” she said. “He’s not a celebrity, which reassures me.” Bashir’s industrious, gentle appearance also attracted her. The two had been driving together for about five hours, and they had been talking on the road.
Most importantly, Diana had something to say. She has always been particularly worried about her privacy and security, especially after learning that she was being followed and eavesdropped. She began to regard Bashir as a “confidant,” meeting him privately from time to time and handing him some of her letters. In Diana’s view, only by preempting herself, accepting an exclusive interview with Bashir, and telling the world the truth, can she and her family be safer. So, she agreed to an exclusive interview with the BBC without the consent of the royal family.
It is precisely because of the dissatisfaction affected by the lies that Diana will say many unknown things in the interview – the inside story of her marriage with Charles, the scandal with the army captain Hewitt, and Charles’ girlfriend Camilla. role in this royal marriage.
In front of the camera, Diana, who used to be confident, beautiful, and respected, was so vulnerable and hesitant, she tried to cover up the pain behind her statement with a calm tone.
She said: “I have always believed that I should learn to confuse your enemies.”
Bashir asked: “Who are the enemies?” Diana blurted out
: “The enemies are my husband’s gang.”
, Diana also questioned whether Charles has the ability to serve as king, she said the royal family needs to modernize reforms. But the most explosive is Diana’s words: “There are three people in this marriage, so it’s a bit crowded.”
After the show aired, it attracted more than 23 million views. The Daily Mail said the interview plunged the royal family into “the greatest crisis in history”. Dampier, a senior royal correspondent, said: “The “Panorama” interview was a watershed moment in the Queen’s final decision to ‘this is the end’. Elizabeth II directly demanded that Diana and Charles divorce immediately. Diana lost custody of her two sons and was kicked out of the royal family. In 1997, she was killed in a car accident while dodging paparazzi in Paris, France, at the age of 36.
Above: Diana is interviewed by Panorama, opposite host Martin Bashir. Small picture of Martin Bashir. Bottom left: After the show, Diana became the focus of media coverage. Bottom right picture: In the early morning of August 31, 1997, Diana and her boyfriend Dodi Fayyad were surrounded by paparazzi when they left the hotel by car in Paris, France. The car was involved in a car accident in a tunnel, and Diana was injured in the hospital. Severely incurable. The black Mercedes basically disintegrated into a pile of twisted metal.
This is the shocking stain on the BBC
Last year, the broadcast of the documentary “Diana: Her Autobiography” produced by the British Channel 4 TV station drew the outside world’s attention to the interview that year. “When Panorama aired Diana’s interview, my deepest reaction was anger,” said Patrick Jefferson, a documentary writer and former Diana’s private secretary. “I didn’t expect someone to exploit Diana like this.” Diana “later regretted giving that infamous interview very much,” he said.
The outside world has also been skeptical about Bashir’s method of interviewing Diana. In 1996, the BBC conducted an internal investigation into this, led by then news director and later BBC president Tony Hall. In that investigation, Hall skipped Spencer, a key figure in the incident, and went straight to the conclusion that al-Bashir had committed no wrongdoing and praised him for being “honest and decent.” The British “Guardian” revealed that the BBC found a handwritten note from Diana during an internal investigation, stating that Bashir’s wrongdoing in the interview, but the BBC later said the note was lost.
The BBC, who “pretends to be confused”, not only covered up Bashir’s deceptive behavior, but also touted him as the trump card of the TV station. He won several TV awards for his exclusive interview with Diana, and later got the opportunity to make a documentary for music superstar Michael Jackson, which can be said to be both fame and fortune.
The BBC, under pressure from the outside world, commissioned an independent investigation led by former senior judge John Dyson after the broadcast of “Diana: Her Narrative” last November. After nearly half a year of investigation, Dyson released a more than 120-page investigation report in mid-May this year. The investigation determined that Bashir forged bank statements and showed them to Spencer, defrauded the other party’s trust, and persuaded Diana to accept the interview, which seriously violated the BBC’s own code of conduct. Dyson’s investigation also pointed out that the BBC’s internal investigation was also flawed and failed to be impartial and transparent.
Bashir resigned on health grounds just hours before Dyson handed over the report to the BBC. BBC board chairman Sharp said the company endorsed the findings and said “this is an unacceptable failure”. Burt, the BBC chief executive, admitted that Panorama had hired a liar reporter, which was a shocking stain on the BBC.
There is no doubt that this investigation report is a great irony for the century-old BBC, which claims to be “true”, “objective” and “transparent”. On May 24, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian pointed out in response to a reporter’s question that many people believe that the BBC’s interviews and reports on royal celebrities are still like this, and the reports on geopolitics and ideology may only be more ugly and hypocritical.
Diana Spencer
was born on July 1, 1961 in Norfolk, England. On July 29, 1981, she married Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and was awarded the title of Princess of Wales. She has two sons, William and Harry. They divorced on August 28, 1996, and died in a car accident in Paris, France, in 1997.
