Martin Bashir says he ‘never wanted to harm Diana’, as BBC urged to rebuild trust
- Bashir apologised to Princes William and Harry three days after a report found he tricked their mother into granting him an interview
- William said Bashir’s actions ‘contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation’ in her final years
Martin Bashir, the former BBC journalist who tricked princess Diana into giving an explosive interview, on Sunday apologised to Princes William and Harry, but said claims linking his actions to her death were “unreasonable”.
A report by retired senior judge John Dyson published on Thursday found that Bashir commissioned faked bank statements that falsely suggested some of Diana’s closest aides were being paid by the security services to keep tabs on her.
Bashir, 58, then showed them to Diana’s brother Charles Spencer in a successful bid to convince him to arrange a meeting between himself and Diana and earn her trust.
Bashir told the Sunday Times he was “deeply sorry” to Diana’s sons Prince William and Prince Harry. “I never wanted to harm Diana in any way and I don’t believe we did,” he said.
But William said Bashir’s actions and the interview had made “a major contribution” to the demise of his parents’ relationship and “contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation” in her final years.
In his own release, Harry said that the deceptive practices had played a part in his mother’s death.
“The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life,” he said.
