Charles Spencer, the brother of the late Princess Diana, shared a rare childhood photo with his sister. Diana, the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry, died in a car crash in August 1997 at age 36. Spencer, 56, shared the photo amid a public feud with the BBC over the famous 1995 television interview between Diana and journalist Martin Bashir, in which Diana discussed her marriage with Prince Charles.
In October, The Sunday Times reported that Bashir and the BBC secured the infamous interview using fake bank statements. According to the outlet, Bashir sent two false bank statements to Spencer to convince him to organize the interview. There are also documents that allegedly show a former member of Spencer’s staff was paid for information, reports PEOPLE. Bashir approached Spencer about the interview three months before it was filmed and claimed he was doing an investigation on media behavior.
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โ Charles Spencer (@cspencer1508) November 7, 2020
The BBC responded to the allegations, claiming there are internal documents from 1995 showing Bashir met Diana before the “mocked-up documentation” was created. “Questions surrounding Panorama’s interview with the Princess of Wales and in particular the ‘mocking-up’ of bank statements, were covered in the press at the time,” the BBC’s statement read. “BBC records from the period indicate that Martin had explained to the BBC that the documents had been shown to Earl Spencer and that they were not shown to the Princess of Wales.” The BBC also said the documents did not have a role in Diana’s decision to speak with Bashir.
Spencer disputed the BBC’s statement in a response to PEOPLE. “[The BBC] have yet to apologize for what truly matters here: the incredibly serious falsification of bank statements suggesting that Diana’s closest confidants were spying on her for her enemies,” he said. Spencer claimed he introduced Diana to Bashir on Sept. 19, 1995, after he saw the fake documents. The BBC has not acknowledged this, Spencer said. “They claim Diana wasn’t misled. They have ignored my inquiry as to whether the apology over their false bank statements extends to the ones that actually persuaded Diana to meet Bashir,” he added. Last week, the BBC said it has apologized to Spencer and planned to investigate the situation. The organization said the investigation is “hampered” because Bashir is unwell.
After sharing the rare childhood photo on Saturday, Spencer commented on the situation once again. In two tweets Sunday, Spencer said he was aware that Bashir used fake bank statements, but did not know the BBC knew until now. “Not only knew about it, but that they covered it up,” he wrote.
In Bashir’s interview, Diana told Bashir there were “three of us” in her marriage to Charles, referring to his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles. Diana and Charles separated in 1992 but were still not legally divorced at the time of the interview. Queen Elizabeth pushed them to divorce after the interview aired, and they finalized the end of their marriage in 1996.