A new book exploring the controversy surrounding the BBC’s 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, is due to be published later this year, promising previously unseen material related to the scandal over the methods used to secure the landmark broadcast. Titled Dianarama: Deception, Entrapment, Cover-up: The Betrayal of Princess Diana, the book is authored by Andy Webb, a former BBC reporter who played a crucial role in exposing the deceit behind the interview.
The interview became famous for Diana’s candid discussion of the breakdown of her marriage to Prince Charles and her personal struggles, including bulimia. However, BBC journalist Martin Bashir later came under intense scrutiny after a 2021 inquiry revealed that he had forged bank statements in order to gain the trust and cooperation of Diana’s younger brother, Charles Spencer. These fake documents suggested that individuals were being paid to spy on the princess, thereby facilitating Bashir's introduction to her.
Webb’s book has been written with the full support and cooperation of Charles Spencer, who is featured as a key figure in the story. The inquiry’s findings have previously highlighted Bashir's unethical tactics, but Diana herself wrote in a note dated December 1995 that she had “consented to the interview on Panorama without any undue pressure” and expressed that she had “no regrets concerning the matter.”
According to the publisher’s description, Webb had “unrivalled access to secret documents and key players within Princess Diana’s family as well as the BBC.” Webb initiated investigations uncovering Bashir’s fraudulent means of persuading Diana to participate in the interview. His work included directing a documentary on Channel 4 in 2020 about the incident and filing a formal freedom of information request in 2021 for emails related to Bashir, involving correspondence between BBC executives dating from 2020. This request led to the release of over 3,000 emails spanning 10,000 pages.
The BBC reported that, as of October 2019, not all internal investigation documents were being disclosed, a fact that Webb interpreted as evidence of a cover-up. As he commented, the broadcaster “clearly admit that documents were being withheld,” which Webb argues amounted to “a cover-up.”
Penguin’s Michael Joseph imprint will publish Dianarama on 20 November, exactly 30 years to the day after the original interview aired. Daniel Bunyard, the publishing director at Michael Joseph, described the book as the “true story of one of the biggest scandals in public life and broadcasting history, revealing a cover-up of staggering proportions, and around which questions persist to the present day.” He further characterised the narrative as a “David versus Goliath” struggle, praising Webb’s persistence in holding a major British institution and its senior figures to account over the controversy.
The Guardian is reporting on this forthcoming publication, which aims to provide a radical reappraisal of a significant historical event that has continued to resonate in British media and public discourse.
Source: Noah Wire Services