📺 Martin Bashir used fake bank statements, Dyson report finds
The BBC accepted the findings. Bashir calls the fake statements 'a stupid thing to do' but says they did not sway Diana. 🗣️
By MissesSlay, royals desk · Desk editor Kristaps Siliņš · · 6 min read
FINDINGSPhoto: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA (Archived link) · CC BY-SA 2.0What we know
- Per BBC News, Lord Dyson's inquiry found Bashir acted in a 'deceitful' way and faked documents to obtain his 1995 Diana interview, and called the BBC's 1996 internal probe 'woefully ineffective'.
- The Washington Post reports the inquiry found Bashir showed Earl Spencer fake bank statements, then used that access to persuade Diana to give the interview.
- Bashir said in a statement that making the false documents 'was a stupid thing to do' but that they had 'no bearing whatsoever' on Diana's decision, per The Washington Post.
- BBC director general Tim Davie said the BBC could make 'a full and unconditional apology', per Sky News; the BBC also said it would return the awards the interview won, per The Washington Post.
- In written answers to Radio 4, the BBC said of Bashir's exit: 'There has been no pay off', per BBC News.
Lord Dyson's report concluded that Martin Bashir used 'deceitful behaviour' and fake documents to secure his 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, according to The Washington Post. BBC News reports that the inquiry also called the BBC's own 1996 investigation into the affair 'woefully ineffective'. The headline is the forgery. The sequel is the paperwork around it.
Bashir has answered the findings. In a statement quoted by The Washington Post he said creating false documents 'was a stupid thing to do', but that 'the bank statements had no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview'. He added that he was still 'immensely proud' of the interview. The BBC's chairman, Richard Sharp, said the corporation 'unreservedly accepted' the report's findings.
Now the money, such as it is. The New York Times reported that the BBC sold international rights to the interview for $1.6 million. The Washington Post reports the BBC said it would return all the awards the interview won. And on the question of a payout for Bashir, the BBC told Radio 4's The World at One in writing: 'There has been no pay off.'
By the numbers
- 2 mofrom first to latest entry on record
- 11receipts behind this story
- #2in biggest cheating scandals
The timeline
19 September 1995: the first meeting, in Earl Spencer's notes
The Telegraph reported that it had seen Earl Spencer's handwritten notes of a first meeting between Bashir and Diana on 19 September 1995, about two months before the interview. The notes list 38 claims attributed to Bashir. The Telegraph reported that Bashir has argued many of the smears attributed to him were in fact claims being made by Diana.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)20 November 1995: the interview airs
Per BBC News, Bashir's Panorama interview with Diana was watched by 22.8 million people in the UK. It won him a Bafta TV award and the Royal Television Society's journalist of the year title. The BBC said at the time that 'in no way were the documents used to gain the interview'.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)April 1996: the Mail on Sunday publishes the story
Press Gazette reports that Mail on Sunday journalists Nick Fielding and Jason Lewis revealed Bashir had asked a BBC graphic designer to create bank statements purporting to show Earl Spencer's former head of security was paid by News International. The BBC confirmed the documents had been created, per Press Gazette, but played down their significance after an internal investigation.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)1996: the BBC clears Bashir and sidelines the designer
BBC News reports that Tony Hall, then BBC head of news, concluded Bashir 'wasn't thinking' when he commissioned the graphic and was an 'honest man'. Hall also said the designer, Matt Wiessler, 'will not work for the BBC again'. Hall told MPs in 2021 that, in hindsight, not sacking Bashir was the wrong judgement.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)4 November 2020: Earl Spencer rejects the BBC's apology
After the 25th-anniversary documentaries, Diana's brother Charles Spencer demanded an independent inquiry, The Guardian reported. He said the BBC had apologized only for showing him false bank statements 'relating to a lesser, unrelated, matter' and had not apologized for the fake statements and other deceit that led to him introducing Bashir to his sister. The BBC said it would consider any new information he provided.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)18 November 2020: a former Supreme Court judge is appointed
The Guardian reported that the BBC asked Lord Dyson, a former Supreme Court judge, to investigate whether the BBC swept Bashir's use of fake bank documents under the carpet when its original inquiry cleared him. Prince William called the investigation 'a step in the right direction'.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)4 March 2021: no criminal investigation
London's Metropolitan Police said it took advice from its own lawyers, independent counsel and the Crown Prosecution Service (England's prosecution service) and decided it was 'not appropriate to begin a criminal investigation'. It added that it would assess any significant new evidence, The Guardian reported.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)14 May 2021: Bashir leaves the BBC
BBC News reported on 14 May 2021 that Bashir had stepped down as the BBC's religion editor and was leaving the corporation. The BBC said Lord Dyson had concluded his investigation and the report would be published 'very soon'.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)20 May 2021: the Dyson findings on Bashir
The Washington Post reports that Dyson found Bashir showed Earl Spencer fake bank statements, then arranged a meeting with Diana. The report states: 'It is likely that these statements were created by Mr. Bashir and contained information that he had fabricated.' Dyson also wrote that Diana 'would probably have agreed to be interviewed by any experienced and reputable reporter in whom she had confidence even without the intervention of Mr. Bashir'.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)20 May 2021: the findings on the BBC
BBC News reports the inquiry found the BBC fell below its 'high standards of integrity and transparency'. The Washington Post reported that the former judge found the BBC, once alerted, mostly papered over Bashir's behavior and sought to evade scrutiny. Sharp said the BBC 'unreservedly accepted' the report and that management should have made more effort to get to the bottom of what happened. The BBC wrote personal apologies to Diana's sons, to Prince Charles and to Earl Spencer, per The Washington Post.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)"While the BBC cannot turn back the clock after a quarter of a century, we can make a full and unconditional apology. The BBC offers that today."
Tim Davie, BBC director general, quoted by Sky News
21 May 2021: the BBC on payments
Asked by Radio 4's The World at One how Bashir came to be rehired in 2016, the BBC answered in writing that the post was filled after a competitive interview process, and that it now had the Dyson report and did not then. It added: 'He has resigned from the BBC. There has been no pay off.'
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)"effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others"
Prince William, video statement on the Dyson report, quoted by Sky News
15 June 2021: Hall and Davie face MPs
BBC News reports that Tony Hall told a committee of MPs: 'We trusted him and we clearly shouldn't have.' Davie told the same hearing an employee would be fired today for forging documents, and that Bashir's 2016 rehiring 'would never have been made' with what the BBC knows now.
See the receipt (opens in a new tab)What the BBC said, side by side
| When | What the BBC said | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1996, after the Mail on Sunday story | 'In no way were the documents used to gain the interview with Princess Diana.' | BBC News timeline |
| 1996 internal inquiry | Bashir an 'honest man' who 'wasn't thinking'; the designer 'will not work for the BBC again'. | BBC News timeline |
| November 2020 | A 'robust and independent investigation' is promised. | BBC News timeline |
| 20 May 2021 | 'A full and unconditional apology.' | Sky News, quoting Tim Davie |
Both sets of words are on record, and the dates are not in dispute. If you want the gap between them measured, the Dyson report did it, and the BBC signed off on the result.
Quick quiz · 3 questions
Earlier on file: Biggest cheating scandals ranked: Clinton's $90,686 fine tops
The Martin Bashir file
- Admitted
Bashir said making false documents 'was a stupid thing to do' but they did not sway Diana, per The Washington Post. This story
- Reported
Lord Dyson's inquiry found Bashir used deceitful behaviour and faked documents for the 1995 interview, BBC News reported. This story
- Reported
Metropolitan Police said it would not begin a criminal investigation into the Bashir interview, per The Guardian. This story
On file: The Martin Bashir file · The BBC file · The Diana, Princess of Wales file
The Ledger
On the record
- Lord Dyson's report, published 20 May 2021, found Bashir used deceitful behaviour and fake documents; the BBC accepted the findings and apologized.
- The BBC said Bashir left with no pay off and that it would return the interview's awards.
Still rumour
- Whether the documents shaped Diana's decision: Bashir says no, Earl Spencer says he would not have made the introduction, and Dyson said she would probably have agreed to an interview anyway.
- Any payment figure tied to the affair: none appears in the documents read.
That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MissesSlay
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