ＢＢＣはダイアナ妃欺いた　１９９５年インタビュー、独立調査で結論

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】英国の故ダイアナ元皇太子妃がチャールズ皇太子との結婚生活の破綻を告白した１９９５年の英国放送協会（ＢＢＣ）のテレビインタビューをめぐる独立調査結果が２０日発表され、ＢＢＣ記者が元妃を欺いてインタビューに応じさせたとの結論が出された。（写真は仏パリの書店を訪れた故ダイアナ元皇太子妃）
　調査結果によると、マーティン・バシル記者は、元妃の側近らが元妃監視の見返りとして公安当局から金銭を受け取っていたという虚偽の事実を示した銀行明細の偽造を依頼。これを元妃の弟スペンサー伯爵に見せることで、元妃とのインタビューを取り付け、元妃の信頼を得ることに成功した。
　インタビューは１９９５年１１月、ＢＢＣの看板ドキュメンタリー番組「パノラマ」で放送された。元妃はその中で、チャールズ皇太子との結婚生活には「３人がいた」と話し、皇太子と現在の妻カミラ夫人の愛人関係を暴露したほか、自身の不倫についても告白。番組は当時過去最高となる２２８０万人が視聴し、数々の賞を受けたが、バシル氏が元妃をどのように説得したかは長らく疑問視されていた。
　ＢＢＣのティム・デイビー事務局長は、調査結果を全面的に受け入れ、「完全かつ無条件で謝罪する」と表明。ＢＢＣはまた、このインタビューを理由に同番組が獲得した賞を返上すると発表した。
　バシル氏も謝罪し、銀行明細の偽造を「深く後悔」していると言明。一方で、明細はインタビューに応じた元妃の個人的決断に「全く影響しなかった」と主張し、今でもインタビューに「大きな誇りを持っている」と表明した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/05/21-15:50）

Journalist Martin Bashir tricked princess Diana into giving an explosive BBC television interview where she lifted the lid on her troubled marriage to Prince Charles, an independent report concluded on Thursday.
Retired senior judge John Dyson said Bashir commissioned faked bank statements then showed them to the princess' brother to persuade her to appear.
By behaving as described... Mr Bashir acted inappropriately and in serious breach of the corporation's own editorial guidelines on straight dealing, he added.
Questions have long been asked about how Bashir persuaded Diana to talk on the BBC's flagship Panorama programme in November 1995, which was watched by a record 22.8 million people and won a string of television awards.
In it, she famously said there were three people in her marriage -- her, Charles and his long-time mistress and now wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles, and also admitted adultery.
Bashir, now 58, was little-known at the time of the interview but went on to have a high-profile career on US television networks, interviewing stars such as Michael Jackson.
He returned to work for the corporation as religion editor until he stepped down last week, citing ill health, just hours before Dyson's report was submitted to BBC bosses.
A previous BBC inquiry had cleared Bashir of wrong-doing. But Dyson called that internal probe flawed and woefully ineffective.
In particular, it did not ask Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, for his version of events, Dyson said, lambasting it for failing to scrutinise Bashir's actions properly.
If they had been able to test Mr Bashir's account by asking him to comment on Earl Spencer's detailed account, it is very unlikely that they would have believed him and concluded that he was an 'honest and an honourable man', he wrote.
- Full apology -
The Daily Telegraph earlier suggested the report's findings could be comparable to phone-hacking revelations at the News of the World tabloid, which forced its closure.
BBC director-general Tim Davie said the corporation accepts Lord Dyson's findings in full and offered a full and unconditional apology.
The broadcaster also said it was handing back the awards the programme won for the interview.
Bashir also apologised, saying the faking of the bank statements was an action I deeply regret.
But he maintained it had no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview.
Davie also said the princess was keen on the idea of an interview with the BBC.
But he added: It is clear that the process for securing the interview fell far short of what audiences have a right to expect. We are very sorry for this.
Clear failings had been identified, he added, but said the BBC now had significantly better processes and procedures than at the time.
The BBC should have made greater effort to get to the bottom of what happened at the time and been more transparent about what it knew, Davie added.
Diana and Charles formally divorced in 1996. She died aged 36 in a high-speed car crash while being chased by paparazzi photographers in Paris the following year. Charles married Camilla in 2005.