Over two and a half decades have passed since Princess Diana gave the infamous BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir. And it has recently been confirmed that Bashir used deceitful methods to make the bombshell interview happen.
The controversial interview remains one of the most talk-about conversations Princess Diana had for the public eye in 1995. As she sat opposite Bashir for the interview, she made explosive statements such as there being “three of us” in her marriage to Prince Charles.
After an official inquiry was carried out, BBC Panorama revealed that Bashir went as far as creating false documents to manipulate Princess Diana into giving the interview, according to Variety.
Both Princess Diana’s sons, Prince Harry and Prince William, released statements after the outcome of the inquiry was revealed. “Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed,” Prince Harry said in his statement, as quoted by PEOPLE.
On several occasions in the past, Prince Harry has spoken about the prying nature of the media and the lengths the industry will go to just for a sensational headline. He could see the toll it took on his mother to constantly have cameras around her back when he was a child.
As he spoke about the effect the media had on his mother in his statement, Prince Harry said the “culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life.”
His brother, Prince William, also condemned BBC employees and said the interview led to further souring the relationship between his mother and father. Even though Princess Diana and Prince Charles had separated in 1992, they only officially divorced in 1996 after Princess Diana gave the interview with Bashir, leading to the Queen urging the royal couple to end their marriage once and for all.
“The interview was a major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse and has since hurt countless others,” Prince William shared. “It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia, and isolation that I remember from those final years with her.”
Now that Prince Harry has moved to the US with his family, he revealed that the shift was to protect his wife from suffering the same fate his mother did.
He revealed how being photographed, chased, and harassed by cameras became something his mother could not escape from. And now, he wants to ensure his wife and children don’t have to suffer the same.
“When I think about my mom the first thing that comes to mind is always the same one, over and over again: Strapped in the car, seatbelt across. My brother [Prince William] in the car as well, and my mother driving and being chased by three, four, five mopeds with paparazzi on… She was almost unable to drive because of the tears,” Prince Harry said in his new AppleTV+ docuseries, The Me You Can’t See, according to PEOPLE.
Talking about his mother’s death and the possibility of the same happening with his wife, Prince Harry added, “My mother was chased to her death while she was in a relationship with someone that wasn’t white and now look what’s happened. You want to talk about history repeating itself, they’re not going to stop until [Meghan] dies. It’s incredibly triggering to potentially lose another woman in my life…”
Hoping to break the cycle of suffering by raising his family differently, Prince Harry said, “[Meghan and I] chose to put our mental health first. That’s what we’re doing. And that’s what we will continue to do.”
Cover image source: Getty Images | Photos by (L) Pool and (R) Jeremy Selwyn
