An Interview with HRH The Princess of Wales

"An Interview with HRH The Princess of Wales"
Panorama episode
A still from the interview
Episode no.Season 43
Episode 35
Presented byMartin Bashir
Produced byMike Robinson
Cinematography byTony Poole
Editing bySteve Hewlett
Original air date20 November 1995 (1995-11-20)

"An Interview with HRH The Princess of Wales" is an episode of the BBC documentary series Panorama which was broadcast on BBC1 on 20 November 1995.[1] The 54-minute programme saw Diana, Princess of Wales, interviewed by journalist Martin Bashir about her relationship with her husband, Charles, Prince of Wales, and the reasons for their subsequent separation.[2][3][4] The programme was watched by nearly 23 million viewers in the UK.[5] The worldwide audience was estimated at 200 million across 100 countries.[6] In the UK, the National Grid reported a 1,000 MW surge in demand for power after the programme.[6] At the time, the BBC hailed the interview as the scoop of a generation.[7][8]

In 2020, BBC Director-General Tim Davie apologised to the princess's brother Lord Charles Spencer because Bashir had used forged bank statements to win his and Diana's trust to secure the interview.[9] Former Justice of the Supreme Court Lord John Dyson conducted an independent inquiry into the issue.[10][11] Dyson's inquiry found Bashir guilty of deceit and of breaching BBC editorial conduct to obtain the interview.[12][13] A year after the inquiry's conclusion, Tim Davie announced that the BBC would never air the interview again and would not licence it to other broadcasters.[14]

  1. ^ "Princess Diana Interview". BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  2. ^ "50 Facts about Panorama". BBC News Online. 29 October 2003. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  3. ^ "Transcript of the BBC1 Panorama interview with the Princess of Wales". Great Interviews of the 20th century. BBC. Archived from the original on 15 November 1999. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  4. ^ "Neophyte reporter makes journalistic coup". Manila Standard. 18 November 1995. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  5. ^ "Princess Diana's brother demands BBC inquiry over Panorama interview". BBC News. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  6. ^ a b Montalbano, William D. (21 November 1995). "Princess Diana, in TV Interview, Vows a 'Fight to the End'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  7. ^ Davies, Caroline (3 November 2020). "Why is Princess Diana's Panorama interview back in the news?". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  8. ^ Kwai, Isabella (11 November 2020). "BBC Orders Inquiry Into Diana Interview After Claim Princess Was Misled". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  9. ^ Urwin, Rosamund (1 November 2020). "BBC says sorry to Diana's brother Earl Spencer for interview 'deceit'". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 7 November 2020. Spencer is understood to have told Davie that he has records of all his meetings and conversations with Bashir. These are alleged to show that Bashir told Diana fantastical stories to win her trust and that he used the fake bank statements to garner his first meeting with her. (subscription required)
  10. ^ Waterson, Jim (19 November 2020). "Prince William welcomes BBC's investigation into Diana interview". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  11. ^ "BBC announces investigation into 1995 Diana interview". RTE. AFP. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  12. ^ Mendick, Robert; Yorke, Harry; Ward, Victoria (19 May 2021). "Princess Diana interview probe to find BBC's Martin Bashir guilty of deceit". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  13. ^ Booth, William (20 May 2021). "BBC reporter used 'deceitful behaviour' to secure 1995 Princess Diana interview, investigation concludes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 May 2021. The former judge found that Bashir carried out a sophisticated ruse and lied to his bosses about it, and that the BBC, having been alerted to his behavior, mostly papered over it and sought to evade scrutiny on the topic.
  14. ^ Frost, Caroline (21 July 2022). "BBC Will "Never" Screen Diana 'Panorama Interview' Again, Urges Other Broadcasters To Follow". Deadline. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

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