BBC issues a public apology for the Martin Bashir affair to Prince Charles, William, and Harry

• Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry have received official apologies from the BBC for the Martin Bashir scandal.
• Princess of Wales, the broadcaster has agreed to pay the ex-nanny significant damages.
• Tiggy Legge-Bourke testified in front of the High Court in London regarding “fabricated” claims that she had an affair with Charles in 1995 while serving as his personal assistant.

Prince Charles, Prince William, and Prince Harry have received official apologies from the BBC for the Martin Bashir scandal.

Due to “false and malicious” claims made against the ex-nanny of the Duke of Cambridge, which were used to get the 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, the broadcaster has agreed to pay the ex-nanny significant damages.

Tiggy Legge-Bourke, also known as Alexandra Pettifer, testified in front of the High Court in London regarding “fabricated” claims that she had an affair with Charles in 1995 while serving as his personal assistant.

According to her attorney Louise Prince, the accusations had “severe personal ramifications for those involved.”

Ms. Legge-Bourke was allegedly falsely accused of getting pregnant by Charles and having an abortion in addition to the infidelity accusation.

The allegations’ origin had been unknown to Ms Legge-Bourke for the previous 25 years, according to Ms. Prince, but it is now more than likely that the “false and malicious allegations arose as a result and in the context of BBC Panorama’s efforts to procure an exclusive interview with Diana, Princess of Wales.”

The Dyson Investigation, ordered by the broadcaster, “shed some light” on how the interview had been procured, the court was informed.

The attorney claimed that the charges were “completely untrue” and “appeared to exploit some past incorrect conjecture in the media” about Ms. Legge-Bourke and Charles.

She continued, “Diana, Princess of Wales, grew furious with the claimant without any explanation after learning of the charges in late 1995.

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Ms. Legge-Bourke “holds the BBC accountable for the substantial damage the false and malicious charges have had,” Ms. Prince stated in reference to Ms. Legge-Bourke.

The claimant and her family may have avoided 25 years of deception, mistrust, and distress “had the BBC not fallen short.”

Director-General Tim Davie issued a statement in which he said: “Following publication of the Dyson Report last year, we have been working with those who suffered as a result of the dishonest methods employed by the BBC in pursuit of its interview with Diana, Princess of Wales for the Panorama program in 1995, including the issues that were raised in court today in regards to Miss Tiggy Legge-Bourke, now Mrs. Alexandra Pettifer.

I would want to take this opportunity to officially apologize to Mrs. Pettifer, The Prince of Wales, and the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex for Princess Diana’s deception and the ensuing effects on all of their lives. The BBC has agreed to give Mrs. Pettifer a sizable sum in damages.

It is regrettable that the BBC did not investigate the situation immediately after the program when there were indications that the interview may have been obtained illegally.

“Instead, the BBC failed to pose the difficult issues, as The Duke of Cambridge himself put it. Princess Diana would have learned the truth during her lifetime if we had done our job correctly. She, The Royal Family, and our audiences were let down by us.

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“Now that we are aware of the appalling method used to secure the interview, I have decided that the BBC will never again air the program, nor will we grant a full or partial license to other broadcasters.

Of course, it continues to be a part of history, and there may be times in the future when it will be acceptable for the BBC to use brief excerpts for reporting purposes. However, these will be rare, and they will need to be approved at the Executive Committee level and considered in the context of everything we now know about how the interview was obtained.

I’d advise others to show comparable moderation.