The BBC on Thursday issued an apology after an inquiry concluded that the media corporation had covered up the tactics used by journalist Martin Bashir to secure his famous 1995 interview scoop with Princess Diana. The late Princess of Wales had opened up about her troubled marriage to Prince Charles in the interview.
The probe by a retired judge concluded that the BBC "fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency" and noted that Bashir, who recently left the BBC, "deceived and induced" Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer to obtain the interview.
The probe found that Bashir commissioned faked bank statements that falsely suggested some of Diana's closest aides were being paid by the security services to keep tabs on her. He then used those document to convince Diana for the interview.
During the famous interview, Diana sensationally claimed there were "three of us" in her marriage to Prince Charles – referring to Camilla, now his wife and Duchess of Cornwall.
The BBC issued a full and unconditional apology and admitted “clear failings” on its part.
Diana and Charles formally divorced in 1996. She died aged 36 in a high-speed car crash while being chased by paparazzi photographers in Paris the following year.