Martin Bashir blamed “professional jealousy” and his background and ethnicity after allegations that he used deceit to secure an interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, it has been revealed.
The BBC has released about 3,000 internal emails relating to the scandal over the 1995 interview with Diana, after a court order issued last December.
The investigative journalist Andy Webb put in the freedom of information (FoI) request more than two years ago, after claims that BBC managers had tried to cover up Bashir’s actions.
However, the BBC said any suggestion that it had acted in bad faith was “simply wrong”.
In an email dated 20 July 2020, Bashir told the head of BBC history, Robert Seatter, that forged documents played no role in obtaining the interview and it would have caused less controversy if a “dynastic” journalist such as a David Dimbleby had been involved.
He wrote: “I am sorry to hear that this so-called ‘forgery’ story has reared its head again. It played no part in the interview but did allow professional jealousy, particularly within the corporation, to hang its hat on alleged wrongdoing.
“At the time, it was also apparent that there was some irritation that a second-generation immigrant of non-white, working-class roots should have the temerity to enter a Royal Palace and conduct an interview.
“It would have been so much easier if one of the dynastic families (Dimbleby et al) had done it!”
The scandal, over how Bashir secured a Panorama interview with Diana in 1995, emerged after the former BBC head of news Tony Hall suggested in a confidential briefing that Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, had given Bashir bank statements.
But Bashir had faked bank statements in 1995 and showed them to Earl Spencer to gain access to Diana in a “serious breach” of the broadcaster’s producer guidelines.
Bashir told Seatter he had been praised by the then-Prince of Wales’s staff for not giving interviews about the programme, PA Media reported.
He wrote: “Since returning to the UK in 2015, and rejoining the BBC in 2016, senior staff in the Prince of Wales’s Office (to my surprise) have expressed their gratitude for my declining of all requests to discuss the interview.
“As I am sure you will understand, the words of the late princess have been deployed to attack surviving members of the Royal Family, particularly the Prince of Wales [Charles], something that I have never wanted to do.”
A BBC spokesperson said on Tuesday: “Throughout this process we have taken our responsibilities to comply with the directions of the tribunal extremely seriously. Therefore, we’ve today released approximately 3,000 documents, some 10,000 pages, to Mr Webb.
“This latest disclosure includes many hundreds of pages of duplicates and material that was not related to the 1995 Panorama, but was nevertheless caught by the electronic searches.
“We have made redactions, where necessary, consistent with the Freedom of Information Act. There is nothing to support the allegations that the BBC acted in bad faith in 2020 and we maintain this suggestion is simply wrong.”
