The BBC will compensate the former private secretary of Lady Di for the damage caused by the Panorama interview

The BBC television network announced on Thursday that it will compensate Patrick Jephson, Diana's former private secretary, Princess of Wales, with a “substantial sum” for damages and has unreservedly apologized for the “damage caused to him” by the Panorama interview.

“The BBC accepts and acknowledges that serious harm was caused to Commander Jephson as a result of the circumstances in which the 1995 interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, was obtained, which have become apparent as a result of the Dyson Report,” the media outlet said in a statement.

“The BBC unreservedly apologizes to Commander Jephson for the damage he has caused him and paid his legal expenses,” he added.

In 1995 journalist Martin Bashir forged bank statements to blame Jepshon for spying on the Princess of Wales. Almost 23 million people watched the program, in which Lady Di, as she was popularly known, uttered the phrase “there were three of us in this marriage”, referring to the relationship between her still husband, Prince Charles, and Camila Parker.

John Dyson, former director of Civil Justice, was appointed to investigate the circumstances surrounding Martin Bashir's interview for the Panorama program.

The investigation was launched after Count Spencer alleged that Bashir showed him false financial documents relating to his sister's former private secretary and another former member of the Royal Household, and that he told false stories about the British Royal Family in order to gain access to the princess.

Thus, the BBC explained that in order to compensate him for the damage that Bashir caused to his reputation, “it has also paid Commander Jephson a substantial amount of damages, which he intends to donate in full to British charities designated by him”.

According to the newspaper 'The Times', the amount paid would be around 120,000 euros.

The investigation by 'lord' John Dyson concluded that the BBC covered up the “deceptive behavior” used by Bashir to secure his worldwide exclusive interview with Diana, and “failed to meet high standards of integrity and transparency.”

According to Dyson's report, the journalist committed a “serious breach” of BBC production guidelines when he falsified bank statements and showed them to Count Spencer to gain access to the princess in 1995.

For his part, the princess's brother, Charles Spencer, has posted his reaction on Twitter: “It's terrible what Patrick Jephson had to go through as a result of grotesque 'journalism'”. It's also terrible that he's been covered up for so long by senior BBC officials,” he said.

The circumstances in which this interview, given to journalist Martin Bashir, took place have been a recurrent cause of complaints from the Spencer family and their environment, who even tried in vain to have the police examine the facts and not only the BBC internally.

Jephson was Diana's private secretary for eight years, between 1988 and 1996.

Bashir apologized in May 2021 for the use of false documentation, but he was “immensely proud of the interview”. According to him, the controversial extracts “did not influence Princess Diana's personal decision to give the interview at all,” something that in his opinion would also be credited in the documents submitted to Dyson.

(With information from Europa Press)

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