Prince William accused of silencing Princess Diana by stopping the BBC from rebroadcasting her Panorama interview with Martin Bashir to protect the firm by Omid Scobie in his new book
The Prince of Wales has been accused by Omid Scobie of trying to silence his late mother by stopping the BBC from rebroadcasting her Panorama interview with Martin Bashir.
In his latest book, the royal biographer claimed William was more interested in protecting the institution than allowing Princess Diana’s “frank and truthful words” to remain public.
Mr Scobie wrote that the Duke of Sussex was more concerned about protecting “his mother’s legacy and her words”.
In his fly-on-the-wall Netflix series last year, Prince Harry said: ‘She was tricked into giving the interview, but at the same time she told the truth about her experience.’
Bashir engineered a stunning interview with Diana in 1995 by using duplicitous methods, such as forged documents, to manipulate her family, The Mail on Sunday revealed in 1996.
The Prince of Wales has been accused by Omid Scobie of trying to silence his late mother by stopping the BBC from rebroadcasting her Panorama interview with Martin Bashir.
The royal biographer claimed that William was more interested in protecting the institution than allowing Princess Diana’s “frank and truthful words” to remain public.
Mr Scobie wrote that the Duke of Sussex was more concerned about protecting ‘his mother’s legacy and her words’
The late Princess of Wales opened up about her split from the future king, saying: ‘There were three of us in the marriage’ – a reference to his relationship with Camilla.
It was only when the Daily Mail published new revelations about Bashir’s behavior in 2020 that he faced repercussions from the BBC.
An internal investigation concluded that the BBC failed to meet ‘high standards of integrity and transparency’, leading William to make a statement praising the broadcaster outside Kensington Palace in May 2021.
William saw the investigation as a “golden opportunity” to prevent his late mother’s words from causing ongoing reputational damage to the palace, Mr Scobie claims in his book Endgame.
He contacted BBC executives seeking assurances that the Panorama program would never be broadcast again, to which they agreed, the new book claims.
“With the help of Diana’s eldest son, they finally had the opportunity to remove her voice from the record,” Scobie wrote in the book Endgame.