Princess Diana was reportedly convinced that Prince Charles was having an affair with their kids' nanny, Tiggy.
Princess Diana was manipulated into giving the 1995 BBC Panorama interview to British journalist Martin Bashir, a report claimed. A probe into the interview has been ongoing and it was found that Bashir showed some fake documents to the Princess of Wales to make her talk. Along with Bashir, BBC is also being investigated for hiding a trail of evidence to protect the journalist and their reputation.
Retired Supreme Court judge Lord Dyson has interviewed 17 witnesses for the investigation. So far, the British journalist has been accused of lying to the princess to get the bombshell interview, in which she said "there were three of us in this marriage," according to Daily Mail. Some other bizarre things about the princess were also revealed.
The mother-of-two was reportedly obsessed with the idea that Prince Charles wanted her killed so he could marry their kids' nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke. The princess reportedly believed that Tiggy had become pregnant and even an investigation was launched by Sir Robert Fellowes, the Queen's private secretary and Diana's brother-in-law.
Diana had reportedly approached the nanny at a party to say, "So sorry to hear about the baby." Perhaps, the princess was trying to suss out the nanny or get a confession from her. Bashir reportedly used Diana's insecurities against her to convince her to give him the interview.
He reportedly showed her "proof," which was fake, that the nanny had had an abortion. Diana had reportedly withdrawn from the interview before he showed her the fake receipts regarding the abortion.
Diana was "like a bull given an electric shock" and had confided in her lawyer a few days after meeting Bashir that there were "reliable sources" that warned her about an assassination plot. She said the "sources" also said that the Queen would abdicate and Prince Charles would become king. The princess had also written a letter exonerating Bashir, which was reportedly dictated "word for word" by the reporter.
In October 2020, the BBC News religion editor was accused of falsifying two bank statements to show Diana's brother, Charles Spencer. Bashir reportedly did that to convince him that one of his staff members was leaking information about their family, according to The Sunday Times. "This was what led me to talk to Diana about such things," Spencer told People in November 2020. "This, in turn, led to the meeting where I introduced Diana to Bashir, on September 19, 1995. This then led to the interview," he added.
The BBC had hired the retired judge for the inquiry in November 2020. He will be publishing his full report in the coming months. However, Bashir won't be facing criminal charges over the allegations he faked bank statements to secure the interview, the Scotland Yard said in March. "Martin won't be making any public comments while the investigation's ongoing. The BBC has no comment to make on this," the BBC told People.
The Panorama interview had far-reaching consequences for Princess Diana. After she went public with her grievances, Queen Elizabeth had ordered her eldest son and his wife to divorce, which happened in 1996. They had separated in 1992.
“I have consulted with the Archbishop of Canterbury and with the prime minister and, of course, with Charles, and we have decided that the best course for you is divorce,” the Queen wrote in a letter.
The princess reportedly reacted to it saying, "That’s rich! They get to decide whether I divorce!" However, there was nothing she could do about it and it was decided on her behalf by Buckingham Palace. The palace communicated the "decision" to the world as well, according to Mirror UK. They said in a statement that "after considering the present situation the Queen… gave them their view, supported by the Duke of Edinburgh, that an early divorce is desirable."
With the divorce, Princess Diana was also stripped of the title of Her Royal Highness, on Prince Charle's insistence. She was given a £17million lump sum and £350,000 a year to run her private office. She was allowed to have her apartments at Kensington Palace, and she shared custody of her sons with Charles.
References:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/princess-diana-stripped-title-after-13753411
Cover image source: Getty Images | Photo by (L)Hulton Archive (R)Frederick M. Brown
