BBC Pays Diana Aide Over Deceit That Caused William 'Indescribable Sadness'

A former aide to Princess Diana has been paid "a substantial sum in damages" by the BBC because of a scandal that Prince William said had made his parents' relationship worse.

The broadcaster announced that it had settled with Patrick Jephson 10 months after an independent investigation made damaging allegations about one of its former journalists, Martin Bashir.

In 1995, Bashir secured the interview in which Diana publicly discussed Prince Charles' affair with Camilla for the first time.

However, the investigation by Lord Dyson said it was highly likely that Bashir had used fabricated financial records to gain access to Diana, by making her brother Charles Spencer believe her staff were against her.

The Panorama reporter handed over forgeries that suggested Jephson, then her private secretary, was being secretly paid by what Spencer described as "dark forces, hostile to my sister," the Dyson report said.

These bombshell findings led Prince William to make a rare and highly emotional statement in May 2021, declaring that his mother's interview was a "false narrative."

A BBC statement, seen by Newsweek, reads: "The BBC accepts and acknowledges that serious harm was caused to Commander Jephson as a result of the circumstances in which the 1995 interview with Diana, Princess of Wales was obtained, which have become apparent as a result of the Dyson report.

"The BBC apologises unreservedly to Commander Jephson for the harm caused to him and has paid his legal costs.

"The BBC has also paid Commander Jephson a substantial sum in damages, which he intends to donate in full to British charities nominated by him."

Diana and Charles separated in 1992. In 1995, Bashir's interview with her made headlines around the world when she said: "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."

This characteristically dry reference to the affair with Camilla, now the Duchess of Cornwall, was not rivalled in the world of royal reporting until Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey 26 years later.

For many years, the Bashir interview was considered a major scoop. However, in November 2020, around the 25th anniversary of the broadcast, the BBC came under pressure to look again at the circumstances in which it was obtained.

At the time, the Daily Mail was handed a letter that Bashir had sent Charles Spencer, in which the journalist claimed that Charles was also having an affair with the couple's nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke.

Dyson was commissioned to investigate and his final report prompted the unusually strong statement from the Duke of Cambridge.

Prince William said: "It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said.

"The interview was a major contribution to making my parents' relationship worse and has since hurt countless others.

"It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC's failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her.

"But what 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 deceived."

Charles and Diana's divorce was finalized in 1996. She died in a car crash in August 1997.

William's comments in May 2021 went further than his brother's, with Prince Harry setting the BBC's conduct in the context of media ethics.

The Duke of Sussex's statement, released to Newsweek, read: "The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life. To those who have taken some form of accountability, thank you for owning it.

"That is the first step towards justice and truth. Yet what deeply concerns me is that practices like these—and even worse—are still widespread today. Then, and now, it's bigger than one outlet, one network, or one publication.

"Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed."

The Dyson report stated: "Mr Bashir also produced to Earl Spencer other bank statements which, he said, showed payments into the account of Commander Patrick Jephson (Princess Diana's Private Secretary) and Commander Richard Aylard (the Prince of Wales' Private Secretary).

"It is likely that these statements were created by Mr Bashir and contained information that he had fabricated.

"By showing Earl Spencer the fake Waller and Jephson/Aylard statements and
informing him of their contents, Mr Bashir deceived and induced him to arrange
a meeting with Princess Diana.

"By gaining access to Princess Diana in this way, Mr Bashir was able to persuade her to agree to give the interview."