The BBC has postponed its broadcast of the Panorama investigation into journalist Martin Bashir’s interview with Diana, Princess of Wales in 1995.
Panorama was expected to investigate allegations that Bashir used fake bank statements to convince Diana to do an interview.
Why The Delay?
The film was supposed to be aired on BBC One on Monday but the broadcaster said it was delayed due to “an important issue of care”.
Bashir left the company earlier this week due to ongoing health problems.
The new date for the program has not yet been confirmed.
Martin Bashir Leaves
The 58-year-old was a BBC News religion segment editor and was seriously ill with Covid-19 when the allegations surfaced late last year.
He has had four major heart operations and a recent heart operation.
The decision to pospone the awaited Panorama episode comes shortly after the completion of a separate investigation into the interview – led by Lord Dyson -.
The BBC said Bashir was fully cooperating with the investigation and would not comment publicly during the process.
Lord Dyson, the former Master of the Rolls – the second highest judge in England and Wales, was tasked with overseeing the steps taken by Bashir and the company to secure an interview.
The Panorama Interview
His report was submitted to the BBC, which the broadcaster said would be published “soon”.
Nearly 23 million people watched the Panorama interview, which was recorded 25 years ago.
In the interview, Diana famously said that “there were three of us in this marriage”, referring to Prince Charles’ relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles. At the time she was separated from Prince Charles but not yet divorced.
The princess also spoke openly about her plight through postpartum depression and bulimia.
Diana’s son, Governor of Cambridge, welcomed the launch of the investigation late last year and his brother, Governor of Sussex, reportedly supported the move.
Why The Investigation?
Questions emerged late last year about the interview, which was one of the BBC’s most watched programs of all time and won Bashir a Bafta TV award.
Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, said Bashir had used fraudulent bank statements to lure the princess into an interview.
It was reported by the Daily Mail that the statements were improperly alleged to indicate that two senior officials were being paid by security to obtain information about their sister.
Earlier the BBC apologized for the use of the statements, but stressed that they did not play “neutral in her decision to take part in the interview”.
In March, police released a criminal investigation after the interview.
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