A graphic designer who led to the methods used by Martin Bashir to secure an interview with Princess Diana being exposed has received an apology from the BBC.
Matt Wiessler became a whistleblower when he raised concerns about some fake bank statements he'd been asked to mock up.
He didn't know at the time that they were being used by Bashir to land the now infamous exclusive Panorama chat with Prince Charles' former wife.
Matt ended up being sidelined by the BBC after raising his concerns about the 1995 interview, and he's now received an apology, 26 years later.
The corporation's director general Tim Davie has said sorry in private talks.
Matt revealed: "I still felt the BBC were just saying things to appease me.
"But I have come away from the meeting feeling, ‘No, they really, really support me’ and they really genuinely want to clear up the past."
When asked about compensation, he said: "There might well be — but we both just want to move on."
Last month, a report into the interview by Lord Dyson, the former master of the rolls and head of civil justice, found that Bashir had used deceitful methods to secure the chat.
The investigation concluded that Bashir acted inappropriately and in serious breach of BBC guidelines.
It read: "I have also concluded that, without justification, the BBC covered up in its press logs such facts as it had been able to establish about how Mr Bashir secured the interview and failed to mention the issue at all on any news programme and thereby fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark."
Bashir was found to have commissioned fake bank statements and used "deceitful behaviour" in a "serious breach" of the BBC’s producer guidelines.
Bashir has responded to Lord Dyson's report, saying in a statement: "This is the second time that I have willingly fully co-operated with an investigation into events more than 25 years ago. I apologised then, and I do so again now, over the fact that I asked for bank statements to be mocked up. It was a stupid thing to do and was an action I deeply regret. But I absolutely stand by the evidence I gave a quarter of a century ago, and again more recently.
"I also reiterate that the bank statements had no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview. Evidence handed to the inquiry in her own handwriting (and published alongside the report today) unequivocally confirms this, and other compelling evidence presented to Lord Dyson reinforces it.
"In fact, despite his other findings, Lord Dyson himself in any event accepts that the princess would probably have agreed to be interviewed without what he describes as my 'intervention'.
"It is saddening that this single issue has been allowed to overshadow the princess' brave decision to tell her story, to courageously talk through the difficulties she faced, and, to help address the silence and stigma that surrounded mental health issues all those years ago. She led the way in addressing so many of these issues and that's why I will always remain immensely proud of that interview."
Since the report, the BBC has issued an apology to the royal family and Bashir apologised to Diana's sons, Princes William and Harry, after they spoke out against what had happened.
Bashir, however, said he loved Diana and was in no way responsible for her death in 1997.
Bashir has left his role at the BBC, citing health reasons.
