Thursday, November 20 marks the 30-year anniversary of Princess Diana's shocking BBC Panorama interview, and for Prince William, it's a reminder of a decades-long "wound." Journalist Andy Webb has been investigating the BBC's coverup surrounding the 1995 interview for decades, and his new book Dianarama—released Thursday in the U.K. and November 25 in the United States—reveals the Prince of Wales's thoughts on the controversial story.
BBC journalist Martin Bashir used deceptive methods to convince Diana into sitting down with him in 1995, including showing Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, fake documents showing people in the royal household were being paid off to spy on her. Princess Diana admitted to adultery and delivered numerous bombshell statements about the Royal Family in the interview, leading Queen Elizabeth to insist Diana and Prince Charles—who were separated at the time—divorce.
Many have drawn a line to the aftermath of the interview and the princess's 1997 death, given the fact that it amplified her fearful mental state and lead to a lack of royal protection officers. In his book, Webb writes that the BBC "should be aware that they have an implacable antagonist in William, now taking steps to discover what truly happened inside the BBC, before and after the Panorama interview."
A 2021 inquest into the interview and the BBC's role in covering up Bashir's tactics resulted in a substantial payout to those involved, including Diana's private secretary, Patrick Jephson, and William and Harry's former nanny, Alexandra Pettifer. But the Prince of Wales is understood to not have been entirely happy with the outcome of the inquest.
Webb details his court battle with the BBC in the book, including how the network refused to release unredacted documents regarding the Panorama interview. He writes that due to the network acting "suspiciously," the Prince of Wales has become more "convinced that there is something he is not being told."
"Those at the top of the BBC would do well to consider how powerful the motivation is, for someone whose entire life has been shaped by these events, to discover the truth," the author continues.
"The consequence for William has been described to me as 'an open wound which will not heal,'" Webb adds in the book.
The Prince of Wales was 13 at the time of his mother's Panorama interview and had just entered boarding school at Eton College, where he watched the bombshell TV special. Queen Elizabeth was so concerned about her grandson's reaction that she allegedly told a palace insider that she was worried William "might have a nervous breakdown," as author Tina Brown wrote in The Palace Papers.
In 2021, both Prince William and Prince Harry released statements after the results of the inquest into Panorama were released. William said, "It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said. The interview was a major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse and has since hurt countless others."
He added, "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."
