The BBC announced on Friday September 2 that it had donated 1.42 million pounds (1.64 million euros) to charities linked to Princess Diana. According to the British broadcaster, this is the equivalent of the revenue generated by the very controversial interview carried out in 1995 with Lady Di.
“A sum of 1.42 million pounds has been divided equally between seven charities linked to the princess”, says the BBC. Among them are charities for the homeless, children, and patients with AIDS or leprosy, all humanitarian causes dear to the princess who died twenty-five years ago.
Deceptive methods
These donations are a new episode in the saga surrounding deceptive methods, involving lies and false documents, employed to organize this shocking interview which set BBC audience records in 1995. The BBC has reiterated its apologies for the circumstances in which the interview was conducted.
“There were three of us in this marriage”, the Princess of Wales had notably declared in this interview, in reference to the mistress of Charles, Camilla. Diana also admitted to an extramarital relationship in front of 23 million viewers. In an independent report published in May 2021, former Supreme Court Justice John Dyson shed light on journalist Martin Bashir’s deceptive methods to land the interview and slammed the BBC for its handling of the case.
The BBC has already compensated Lady Di’s former private secretary and reached a financial settlement with a graphic designer who was dismissed after exposing the journalist’s misleading methods. The group also agreed in July to pay “significant” damages to the former nanny of Princes William and Harry, targeted by false allegations to win the landmark interview.