Piers Morgan called out as ‘hypocritical’ for saying BBC has ‘blood on their hands’ over Princess Diana interview

One person spoke about Morgan’s ‘dodgy past in the world of journalism’

Piers Morgan is being called “hypocritical” over his comments about the BBC’s Panorama interview with Princess Diana.

The findings of an inquiry announced yesterday (20 May) concluded that interviewer Martin Bashir used “deceitful behaviour” and was in “serious breach” of the corporation’s guidelines when he secured his one-to-one with the Princess of Wales in 1995.

Bashir broke BBC rules by mocking up fake bank statements and showing them to Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, to gain access to the princess for his explosive sit-down chat in 1995, the report said.

Responding to the news, Morgan wrote on Twitter that the broadcaster had “blood on their hands”.

“Tonight’s Panorama was shocking – but mainly because it’s taken the BBC 25 years to finally tell the truth about the Bashir/Diana scandal,” he wrote.

“They have blood on their hands because that interview propelled Diana on a path to her death. A shocking, criminal abuse of public money.”

However, the former Good Morning Britain presenter has been accused of hypocrisy over his comments. In March, Morgan quit the ITV breakfast programme after attracting widespread criticism for comments he made about Meghan Markle following her tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The 56-year-old repeatedly claimed that he “didn’t believe a word” Markle said about having suicidal thoughts during her time as a senior royal.

“Gosh, imagine relentlessly focusing on a member of the Royal Family, until it drives them to do something desperate. Can’t imagine anyone doing that, thank God for Piers showing us how sick some elements of the media/press are,” wrote one user.

Another person added: “If that is the case how do you justify your treatment of Meghan Markle?”

“And as a red top editor you contributed to the feeding frenzy that contributed. You need to take stock of your own actions and pipe down. This is not a battle ground you want to fight on,” said someone else.

A fourth user commented: “You should see how some journalists are treating her daughter in law.”

“It’s like piers is chasing some imaginary record for most hypocritical person of all time,” wrote another person.

Diana le dijo a Bashir que 'éramos tres en este matrimonio' (PA)

“Hypocritical @piersmorgan you have a shameful past,” added another. “Given your dodgy past in the world of journalism, Very hypocritical pierce. You should know better to cast stones.”

Other people also commented on Morgan’s past position as editor of the Daily Mirror. He edited the paper for nine years until he was forced to resign in 2004 over the publication of allegedly faked pictures of British army personnel in Iraq.

The News International phone hacking scandal also occurred during Morgan’s tenure as editor.

Morgan has denied any knowledge of the malpractice, stating: “I have never hacked a phone, told anyone to hack a phone, nor to my knowledge published any story obtained from the hacking of a phone.”

In 2014, the publisher of the Daily Mirror admitted that articles likely to have been the product of illegal phone hacking appeared in editions of the newspaper during the period when Morgan was its editor.