The BBC’s reputation for integrity has been critically compromised

Editorial: The BBC was wrong to cover up Martin Bashir’s deception when it was first raised internally, apparently shortly after the original broadcast of his interview with Diana, Princess of Wales

Diana, Princess of Wales, during her interview with Martin Bashir for the BBC in 1995 (PA)

For obvious reasons, we will never know why Diana, Princess of Wales, decided to be interviewed by the then little-known TV journalist Martin Bashir.

As was apparent even at the time, through unattributed briefings that made their way into books and the press, the Prince and Princess of Wales were each anxious to place the blame for the breakdown of their marriage onto the other party, with the general public acting as alternately mesmerised and appalled jurors.

It could be that the princess decided to tell her side of the story of the three people in her marriage to the BBC’s Panorama because of the programme’s prestige, and because her former husband had already had his say on ITV. She certainly wasn’t shy about telling all, as can be seen from the personal details revealed: the impact it had at the time is still reverberating now.