“I’ve been discreet because I’ve gone as far as I was advised to go,” Andy Webb, author of “Dianarama,” told Fox News Digital. “I describe William as having a wound that will not heal… He needs to know what happened. He really wants to know what went down 30 years ago.”
His mother, Princess Diana, secretly gave an explosive 1995 interview to journalist Martin Bashir for the BBC’s Panorama, unaware she had been manipulated into doing so. Many who loved her believe that decision ultimately altered the course of her life — and death.
The Interview That Changed Everything
In the interview, Diana openly discussed the collapse of her marriage, famously revealing, “There were three of us in this marriage,” referring to Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. She also spoke about her struggle with bulimia and episodes of self-harm.
But the princess didn’t know that Bashir had gained her trust through deceit. Webb has spent two decades investigating what he says was a BBC cover-up. Speaking with Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer — himself misled by Bashir — Webb learned the extent of the journalist’s tactics.
Bashir used forged bank statements, claimed William’s watch was a listening device, alleged palace staff were spying, and even suggested Charles wanted Diana killed. He also produced a falsified document implying nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke had an abortion paid for by Charles.
Bashir later admitted falsifying bank documents, calling it a “stupid thing to do,” but insisted it had “no bearing whatsoever on Princess Diana’s personal choice” to participate.
The Devastating Fallout
The consequences were immediate and severe. Diana, already isolated, became increasingly distrustful. She dismissed long-serving aides, including her chauffeur, after Bashir allegedly convinced her they were informants.
“Diana had been schooled to believe that the people closest to her were taking money to spy on her,” Webb said. “All the people whom she’d relied upon… she got rid of.”
Webb believes that if BBC executives had warned Diana about Bashir’s lies, “her life could have gone in a different direction.”
The interview contributed to Queen Elizabeth II’s decision to order a formal divorce. Diana lost key royal privileges and felt further abandoned. Two years later, in 1997, she died in a Paris car crash while being chased by paparazzi.