The curious case of Princess Diana, the two fake bank statements, and a Panorama interview

Twenty-five years ago Chris Blackhurst revealed the lengths Martin Bashir had gone to in scoring his scoop and gaining an interview with the Princess of Wales. Now he looks back at that dark, confusing moment

Martin Bashir interviews Princess Diana in Kensington Palace for ‘Panorama’ in 1995 (Corbis/Getty)

Imagine, if The Sun, the Daily Mail or The Mail on Sunday were accused of securing a soul-baring interview with a senior member of the royal family by using falsified documents. How great do you think the controversy would be? At the very least there would be questions raised in parliament, select committee hearings, and calls for a public inquiry, apologies and resignations.

Martin Bashir, then the BBC’s Panorama reporter, faked two bank statements in the run-up to obtaining his sensational interview with Diana, the late Princess of Wales, in November 1995.

The 25th anniversary of Diana telling the world via Bashir that she believed there were “three people in the marriage” in reference to her then husband Prince Charles’s relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles is upon us. This evening (11 October), Channel 5 is airing a documentary, Diana: The Interview That Shocked the World. I was interviewed for the programme because 25 years ago I was an investigative reporter on The Independent and I revealed some of lengths the then young and little-known Bashir had gone to in order to gain his scoop.