Where is Martin Bashir now? What former BBC journalist did after Diana interview
Martin Bashir blamed “professional jealousy” for the controversy surrounding his landmark 1995 interview with Diana, it has been revealed.
He added that allegations that he secured the interview through deceit were due to him being “non-white” and “working-class” and would not have been made had he been a Dimbleby.
His comments come as the BBC has released around 3,000 emails relating to the interview following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
In a 2020 email to a journalist, Mr Bashir wrote: “I am sorry to hear that this so-called ‘forgery’ story has reared its head again.
“It played no part in the interview but did allow professional jealousy, particularly within the corporation, to hang its hat on alleged wrongdoing.
“At the time, it was also apparent that there was some irritation that a second-generation immigrant of non-white, working class roots should have the temerity to enter a Royal Palace and conduct an interview.
“It would have been so much easier if one of the dynastic families (Dimbleby et al) had done it!”
In 2021, an inquiry found that Mr Bashir had secured the Panorama interview through deception and faking documents.
What has Martin Bashir done since the Diana interview?
Following Mr Bashir’s exclusive interview with Diana, the journalist became a household name.
He went on to secure major interviews with George Best, Michael Barrymore, Louise Woodward, and Michael Jackson.
The journalist continued to work for the BBC until 1999, before moving to ITV.
Between 2004 and 2016, Mr Bashir worked as a news anchor for ABC’s Nightline in New York.
In 2016, he returned to the BBC as a religious affairs correspondent.
In May 2021, an inquiry found Mr Bashir guilty of using “deceitful methods” and breaching BBC editorial conduct to secure the Diana interview. It concluded that he lied to several people, including at the BBC.
At the time, Mr Bashir resigned from his role at the BBC, citing health issues. It was reported that he had been seriously unwell due to complications from Covid-19 and following heart surgery in 2020.
The Diana interview scandal explained
Martin Bashir’s 1995 interview with Diana was a huge scoop for the BBC. More than 20 million people watched it, which caused enormous controversy.
In the interview, Diana admitted to having an affair, said that then Prince Charles’s affair with Camilla Parker Bowles had made her feel worthless, revealed she had bulimia and had self-harmed, spoke of there being “three of us” in her marriage, a reference to Camilla Parker Bowles, and suggested that Prince Charles’s staff were waging a campaign against her.
A serving member of the Royal Family had never spoken so openly about their life. Shortly after the interview aired, the Queen wrote to the couple telling them to divorce.
Following the interview, questions were asked about how Mr Bashir had gained access to the Princess of Wales.
This eventually led to an official inquiry known as the Dyson report, which was published in 2021. This was headed by former Supreme Court judge John Dyson and began in 2020.
It found that Mr Bashir commissioned false bank statements by a graphic designer who worked for the BBC.
These appeared to show payments from the newspaper group News International to a former staff member of Earl Spencer, Diana’s brother.
The Dyson report concluded this was to gain Earl Spencer’s confidence, so he would introduce Mr Bashir to Diana.
Earl Spencer told Lord Dyson: “It hooked me in. I was duped… he very cleverly came to me on my number one bugbear: the bad behaviour of the press, which is of course ironic.”
According to the inquiry, Mr Bashir exploited Diana’s vulnerability and “paranoid fears”, making several allegations, including that Diana was being watched by MI6 and that there was a plot to kill her.
“He must have been intending to play on her fears in order to arouse her interest in him,” the Dyson report found.
It also said the BBC covered up facts about how Mr Bashir secured the interview, stating “without justification, the BBC fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark”.
Mr Bashir apologised for the forged documents, stating “it was a stupid thing to do and was an action I deeply regret”, but insisted that “the bank statements had no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview”.
