British broadcaster BBC has launched an independent investigation into the course of events surrounding an explosive interview with Princess Diana in 1995. The broadcaster wants to know how the conversation came about. A former chief justice will conduct the investigation. In the interview, Diana talks in detail about her troubled marriage to Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth’s son and heir to the throne.
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The Princess’s brother, Charles Spencer, who died in 1997, had called for an investigation. He is said to have been misled by the BBC when he convinced his sister to participate in the much-watched program Panorama. He had been approached by the interviewer, who showed him documents to persuade Diana. But those documents turn out to be forged. Interviewer Martin Bashir claimed, among other things, that members of the princess’s staff were paid to spy on her.
The interview, which aired in November 1995, attracted a record 22.8 million British viewers. The conversation was the breakthrough for Bashir. And Diana and Charles broke up shortly afterwards.
The investigation will also find out what exactly the BBC knew and whether the broadcaster had protected its journalist. The BBC’s board of directors has appointed a former Supreme Court judge, John Dyson, to lead the investigation.
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