Prince William, Harry condemn BBC ‘deceit’ over Diana interview

Prince William and Harry have both condemned the ldquodeceitrdquo that lay behind their late mother Princess Dianarsquos famous BBC interview over 25 years ago in which she first spoke about her troubled marriage to their father Prince CharlesIn separate statements following an independent inquiryrsquos conclusion that the BBC fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark her sons blamed the controversial 1995 interview for her ldquofear and paranoiardquo that damaged their parentsrsquo relationshipIn a rare candid intervention William said his mother was failed not just by the rogue reporter but by BBC bosses who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questionsldquoThe findings are very concerning that BBC employees lied and used fake documents to obtain the interview with my mother made lurid and false claims about the royal family which played on her fears and fuelled paranoiardquo William the Duke of Cambridge said in a video statementldquoThe BBC displayed woeful incompetence when investigating complaints and concerns about the programme and were evasive in their reporting to the media and covered up what they knew from their internal investigation It is my view that the deceitful way in which the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother saidrdquo he saidAlso ReadMeghan Markle Prince Harry planning home birth for second child reportThe 38yearold second in line to the British throne who was 15 years old at the time of his motherrsquos death in a car crash in Paris two years after the interview in 1997 recalled her final years with sadnessldquoThe interview was a major contribution in making my parentsrsquo relationship worse and has since hurt countless others It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBCrsquos failures contributed significantly to her fear paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with herrdquo said WilliamldquoWhat saddens me most is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995 my mother would have known that she had been deceivedrdquo he said branding the interview a ldquofalse narrativerdquo which must never be aired againHis younger brother Prince Harry ndash the Duke of Sussex blamed a toxic media culture for his mothers death In his separate statement Prince Harry said that the ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took his mothers lifeHe expressed concern that such practices are still widespread today adding that it was bigger than one outlet one network or one publicationOur mother lost her life because of this and nothing has changed By protecting her legacy we protect everyone and uphold the dignity with which she lived her life said Harry who stepped back as a frontline royal last year and is now based in CaliforniaDuring the BBC interview Diana sensationally claimed there were three of us in her marriage to Prince Charles ndash referring to Camilla now his wife and Duchess of CornwallThe interview with Martin Bashir who left the BBC recently was a worldwide scoop as it was the first time a serving royal had spoken so openly about life in Britainrsquos royal family But since then her brother Earl Spencer has claimed that Bashir had lied to get the interview and showed him forged bank statements in order to gain his confidence so that he would introduce him to DianaLord John Dyson the retired judge who led the inquiry delivered his findings on ThursdayldquoI am satisfied that the BBC covered up in its press logs such facts as it had been able to establish about how Mr Bashir secured the interviewrdquo his report concludedThe BBC issued a full and unconditional apology and has also written to apologise to Princes William and Harry as well as the Prince Charles and Earl SpencerThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever