With November 20 marking the 30-year anniversary of Princess Diana's bombshell BBC Panorama interview, the 1995 TV special has once again been making headlines. But Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, has taken issue with how the network covered the anniversary, and has reached out with a formal complaint in conjunction with the author of a new book about the BBC's Panorama coverup.
In 1996, Earl Spencer was approached by journalist Martin Bashir in an attempt to gain access to Diana. The disgraced broadcaster's tactics included showing Spencer false bank statements and other documents in order to lure Diana into speaking with him for Panorama—an interview that had devastating effects on the princess.
Earl Spencer spoke with author Andy Webb for his new book Dianarama, and the two reached out to the BBC last week after an article falsely claimed that Spencer "waited 25 years before revealing the truth" about Bashir.
Princess Diana is pictured with Martin Bashir during her 1995 Panorama interview.
Diana's siblings Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes and Earl Spencer are pictured with Queen Elizabeth II at the opening of a fountain built in memory of the late princess in 2004.
According to the Times, Webb wrote, "Earl Spencer has confirmed that he shares my sense of astonishment at the BBC’s actions." The documentary filmmaker continued that the earl "formally associates himself with my complaint to you," adding, "Your allegation that Earl Spencer 'waited 25 years before revealing the truth’ is utterly outrageous.'"
On Friday night, the BBC corrected its article, which stated that Earl Spencer never spoke out about Bashir's actions decades ago. However, as documented in Dianarama, Spencer did contact the BBC's then-director, Mark Thompson, in 2005 expressing that he had documents and notes taken in his "own hand" that "prove Panorama’s role in this matter to have been less than honest."
Thompson claims to have never received the letter, which was released in 2022 and, per the Times, contains "a BBC stamp that said 'Governance and Accountability correspondence,' indicating that it was, however, read by senior staff at the corporation."
Per the outlet, "A BBC insider said the false claim was 'a mistake, not a conspiracy,' and that the complaint had been 'looked at very quickly.'"
