Journalist Martin denies allegations of duping Diana into BBC Interview

Bashir made his first public comments about the scandal to the Sunday Times, denied any wrong behaviour he and the BBC are alleged to have engaged in back in '95, when Diana agreed to talk to him on camera

Washington: As the bombshell BBC interview of Princess Diana continues to face backlash over social media and by the royal family, Martin Bashir – the journalist who infamously interviewed the princess, made his statement denying the allegations of duping her at the sit-down.

Bashir made his first public comments about the scandal to the Sunday Times, denied any wrong behaviour he and the BBC are alleged to have engaged in back in ’95, when Diana agreed to talk to him on camera about her relationship with Prince Charles, according to TMZ.

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Where the spectators were hoping for an apology, Bashir straight up addressed the allegations saying that he played no part in coming up with alleged fake documents or the bogus phone calls placed to Diana.

According to TMZ, he told in an interview, “Even in the early 1990s, there were stories and secretly recorded phone calls. I wasn’t the source of any of that.”

He further added that the idea of the interview was somehow “something Diana did not want, or that it was framed in a way that harmed her afterwards is simply not true”, regardless of what her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, might be claiming nearly 30 years later now.

“Everything we did in terms of the interview was as she wanted, from when she wanted to alert the palace, to when it was broadcast, to its contents,” Bashir said while going on to say he and his family loved the princess, and they remained close even after the interview aired.

TMZ reported that Bashir admitted that he does not feel that he can be held responsible for many of the other things that were going on in the princess’s life, and the complex issues surrounding those decisions.

He went on to say Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, squarely putting the blame for Diana’s death on his shoulders was “unreasonable and unfair”, while also explaining he gets the grief.
After the report came out affirming the BBC had, in fact, allegedly undertaken deceptive methods, including made-up bank statements purportedly showing Palace staffers accepting payment for stories about her. Prince Harry and William both slammed the outlet, and Bashir by extension.

On Thursday, BBC Director-General Tim Davie had said the interview “fell far short of what audiences have a right to expect.” “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,” Davie said.