Supporting their mother. Prince William and Prince Harry were just children when the late Princess Diana gave her famous interview to Panorama, but they haven’t been shy about sharing their thoughts on the controversial conversation as adults.
The late Princess of Wales sat down for the explosive tell-all in 1995 and opened up about her tense marriage to King Charles III. At one point, she referenced his alleged affair with Queen Camilla, saying, “There were three of us in this marriage.”
After the interview, Diana and the former Prince of Wales announced their split, finalizing their divorce in August 1996. One year later, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris.
Twenty-five years after the Panorama interview aired, the BBC launched an investigation into how reporter Martin Bashir obtained his sit-down with the princess after reports surfaced that the journalist had used unethical tactics to convince her to speak. In October 2020, the U.K.’s Sunday Times alleged that Bashir created false bank statements in an attempt to show Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, that someone was leaking information about their family to the press.
When the BBC announced its inquiry one month later, Diana’s eldest son expressed his support, calling the investigation “a step in the right direction.” In May 2021, the BBC released its findings, announcing that the Panorama interview “fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are [the network’s] hallmark.”
More than one year later, the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, issued a formal apology to Diana’s sons. “It is a matter of great regret that the BBC did not get to the facts in the immediate aftermath of the program when there were warning signs that the interview might have been obtained improperly,” Davie said in a statement in July 2022. “Instead, as the Duke of Cambridge himself put it, the BBC failed to ask the tough questions. Had we done our job properly Princess Diana would have known the truth during her lifetime. We let her, the royal family and our audiences down.”
Davie also apologized to Alexandra Pettifer (formerly known as Tiggy Legge-Bourke), who was caught in the crossfire when Bashir alleged that she had an affair with Charles. Pettifer — a former nanny to William and Harry — won a defamation claim against the network, which paid her an undisclosed sum in damages.
“The BBC has agreed to pay substantial damages to Mrs. Pettifer and I would like to take this opportunity to apologize publicly to her, to [Charles] and to the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex for the way in which Princess Diana was deceived and the subsequent impact on all their lives,” Davie said. “Now we know about the shocking way that the interview was obtained I have decided that the BBC will never show the program again; nor will we license it in whole or part to other broadcasters.”
Keep scrolling for everything William and Harry have said about their mother’s Panorama interview:
The Duke of Cornwall issued his first public comments on the Panorama interview after the BBC announced its investigation. “The independent investigation is a step in the right direction,” William told Us Weekly in a statement at the time, adding that he “tentatively welcomed” the inquiry. “It should help establish the truth behind the actions that led to the Panorama interview and subsequent decisions taken by those in the BBC at the time.” Tim Rooke/Shutterstock
After the BBC determined that deceitful methods were used in obtaining the interview, William slammed Panorama in a lengthy statement. "It is welcome that the BBC accepts Lord Dyson’s findings in full — which are extremely concerning — that BBC employees: lied and used fake documents to obtain the interview with my mother; made lurid and false claims about the royal family which played on her fears and fueled paranoia; displayed woeful incompetence when investigating complaints and concerns about the program; and were evasive in their reporting to the media and covered up what they knew from their internal investigation,” he 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. 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.” He added: "But what saddens me most, is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived. She was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions." The former military pilot concluded by saying that the interview “holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again” because it “effectively established a false narrative” about his mother's life. “These failings, identified by investigative journalists, not only let my mother down, and my family down; they let the public down too,” he said. Samir Hussein/Pool/Shutterstock
Harry reacted to the BBC's findings in a separate statement in which he thanked BBC employees for taking "accountability" for their actions. “Our mother was an incredible woman who dedicated her life to service. She was resilient, brave and unquestionably honest," he told Us in a statement at the time. "The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life. To those who have taken some form of accountability, thank you for owning it. That is the first step towards justice and truth. Yet what deeply concerns me is that practices like these — and even worse — are still widespread today. Then, and now, it’s bigger than one outlet, one network or one publication.” He concluded: "Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed. By protecting her legacy, we protect everyone, and uphold the dignity with which she lived her life. Let’s remember who she was and what she stood for." Shutterstock
During the first episode of his and Meghan Markle's Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, the Invictus Games founder noted that the Panorama sit-down was obtained unethically but was still important. “She felt compelled to talk about it. Especially in that Panorama interview,” he explained. “I think we all now know that she was deceived into giving the interview, but at the same time she spoke the truth of her experience.” The Spare author added that his mother was "harassed" more by the press following her separation from Charles, which came after her Panorama appearance. “My mum was harassed throughout her life with my dad but after they separated, the harassment went to new levels,” Harry said. “I saw things, I experienced things. I learned things. The pain and suffering of women marrying into this institution. I remember thinking, ‘How can I ever find someone who is willing and capable to withstand all the baggage that comes with being with me?'” Tim Rooke/Shutterstock
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