The BBC is refusing to unlock a probably explosive letter it gained from Buckingham Palace simply days sooner than it broadcast Martin Bashir’s bombshell Landscape interview with Princess Diana.
The Mail on Sunday can disclose that the report, which has remained hidden in BBC archives for 3 a long time, used to be despatched to the then-director normal John Birt 4 days sooner than the 1995 broadcast.
It used to be written at a time of unusual stress between the Palace and the BBC.
Simply days previous, Diana had confessed to royal aides that she had granted Bashir an unique interview concerning the breakdown of her marriage to Prince Charles.
The life of the letter – which is known to have come from the Queen’s place of job – used to be showed in 10,000 pages of closely redacted paperwork in spite of everything launched by way of the BBC closing week.
It adopted a long-running freedom of data combat between the company and investigative journalist Andy Webb over emails between BBC bosses when the astonishing scale of Bashir’s deceit was identified in 2020.
The Mail on Sunday can disclose that the expulsive letter has remained hidden in BBC archives for 3 a long time
Martin Bashir faked financial institution statements with the intention to persuade the Princess and her circle of relatives that individuals of her inside circle have been promoting main points of her personal existence tot he press
The well-known Landscape episode used to be watched by way of greater than 20million other people
Final night time, historians and campaigners referred to as at the company to finish its ‘cover-up’ and unlock the Palace letter and all different paperwork in complete
Final night time, historians and campaigners referred to as at the company to finish its ‘cover-up’ and unlock the Palace letter and all different paperwork in complete.
The MoS can disclose the report used to be despatched to Lord Birt on November 16, 1995.
It’s identified that Lord Birt, on the insistence of the Princess, had determined to not inform BBC chairman Marmaduke Hussey concerning the interview for worry that Hussey would inform his spouse who used to be a senior lady-in-waiting to the Queen.
The newly launched recordsdata check with ‘Letter from Palace to DG – withheld in complete’ and the date, however no longer the report itself.
The timing is intriguing. The Queen used to be identified to had been livid concerning the Landscape interview.
After it used to be broadcast in 1995, the monarch got rid of the BBC’s unique rights to the manufacturing of her annual Christmas broadcast, which used to be observed as an act of revenge.
The Landscape episode used to be watched by way of greater than 20 million audience. Quickly afterwards, the Queen wrote to Charles and Diana urging them to divorce.
In 1996, the MoS first published claims that Bashir had faked financial institution statements simply weeks sooner than the interview. BBC bosses, together with head of stories Tony Corridor, carried out a ‘whitewash’ inquiry on the time and cleared Bashir of any wrongdoing.
It took any other 20 years sooner than the BBC in spite of everything ordered an reputable inquiry by way of Top Courtroom pass judgement on Lord Dyson in 2021.
This concluded that Bashir had faked financial institution statements with the intention to persuade the Princess and her circle of relatives that individuals of her inside circle have been promoting main points of her personal existence and that the BBC coated up what it knew about his actions.
Prince William issued a strongly worded observation pronouncing he believed the Landscape interview had contributed to the breakdown of his oldsters’ marriage.
The BBC has been strongly criticised for obstructing freedom of data requests concerning the scandal.
Underneath FoI regulations, public our bodies can select to refuse to unlock communications with the Royal Circle of relatives beneath what’s referred to as a Phase 37 exemption.
However freedom of data campaigners or even the Data Commissioner’s Place of job closing night time mentioned the BBC used to be no longer obliged to quote the exemptions and may unlock it in complete if it sought after.
Maurice Frankel, of the Marketing campaign for Freedom of Data, mentioned: ‘[The BBC] are unfastened to divulge this letter from the Palace will have to they want, and I believe they will have to. It’s an issue of actual public hobby.’
Royal biographer Hugo Vickers added: ‘It will after all be that the letter is completely risk free however the BBC’s refusal to unlock it makes one suppose they have got one thing to cover.’
A spokesman for the Data Commissioner’s Place of job mentioned it used to be as much as public our bodies to believe each and every request they obtain and whether or not they will have to unlock that knowledge. Buckingham Palace declined to remark. Lord Birt used to be unavailable for remark.
A BBC spokesman mentioned: ‘We take our obligations… beneath the Freedom of Data Act extraordinarily significantly.
This particular exemption covers correspondence with the Royal Family, recognising the will for all events to have a “protected area” to make sure a unfastened and frank change of data.’
