ROYALSPrincess Diana's Brother Shares A Childhood Picture Amid BBC Panorama Controversy
The late Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, shared a rare picture of the siblings as children on Twitter amid the recent drama surrounding her infamous "three of us in this marriage" Panorama BBC interview.
Spencer shared the image of himself with his sister on Saturday, November 7, without a caption. In the snap, his older sister wore a pink dress with her arm draped over her brother's shoulder. Spencer is one of four siblings — he has two sisters, Sarah and Jane, in addition to the late Princess.
"Many people are, quite understandably, asking why I’ve waited till now to come forward with the truth about how the @BBCPanorama with my sister came about. While I knew that Martin Bashir used fake bank statements and other dishonesty to get my sister to do the interview ..." he tweeted on Sunday, November 8, about the drama.
"What I only found out 2 weeks ago, thanks to journalist Andy Webb’s persistent use of the Freedom of Information Act, is that the BBC also knew. Not only knew about it, but that they covered it up," he added.
Recently, he also released a letter sent to the head of the BBC, which accused the network of a "whitewash" due to unethical methods used to get the 1995 interview with his sister.
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Last month, The Sunday Times revealed that journalist Martin Bashir made fake bank statements beforehand to convince him that a member of staff was leaking information about the family. BBC’s internal investigation in 1996 claimed that the fabricated documents had "no bearing" on the interview. Diana had allegedly written to the BBC to confirm that the documents "played no part in her decision" to be interviewed. A 2007 Freedom of Information request claimed there was no written record and that it was all on a "need-to-know basis."
"BBC records from the period indicate Martin had explained to the BBC the documents had been shown to Earl Spencer and that they were not shown to the princess," a recent statement read. "The BBC’s internal records from the time indicate that Martin had met the Princess of Wales before the mocked-up documentation existed."
Spencer accused the outlet of "sheer dishonesty."
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"The BBC have yet to apologize for what truly matters here: the incredibly serious falsification of bank statements suggesting that Diana’s closest confidants were spying on her for her enemies," Spencer told PEOPLE earlier this month.
"This was what led me to talk to Diana about such things. This in turn led to the meeting where I introduced Diana to Bashir, on 19 September 1995. This then led to the interview," he added. "The BBC have so far refused to acknowledge the above. They claim Diana wasn’t misled. They have ignored my inquiry as to whether the apology over their false bank statements extends to the ones that actually persuaded Diana to meet Bashir."
Last week, the BBC told PEOPLE that they had apologized for their actions. "And while this was a quarter of a century ago, we absolutely will investigate — robustly and fairly — substantive new information. We have asked Earl Spencer to share further information with the BBC. Unfortunately, we are hampered at the moment by the simple fact that we are unable to discuss any of this with Martin Bashir, as he is seriously unwell. When he is well, we will of course hold an investigation into these new issues."
