London, United Kingdom:
Martin Bashir, the BBC journalist who tricked princess Diana into providing an explosive interview, on Sunday apologised to Princes William and Harry but mentioned claims linking his actions to her death have been “unreasonable”.
A report by retired senior judge John Dyson published on Thursday located that Bashir commissioned faked bank statements that falsely recommended some of Diana’s closest aides have been getting paid by the safety services to maintain tabs on her.
Bashir, 58, then showed them to Diana’s brother Charles Spencer in a succesful bid to convince him to arrange a meeting amongst himself and Diana and earn her trust.
Bashir told the Sunday Times he was “deeply sorry” to Diana’s sons Prince William and Prince Harry.
“I never wanted to harm Diana in any way and I don’t believe we did,” he told the paper.
But William mentioned Bashir’s actions and the interview had made “a major contribution” to the demise of his parents’ relationship and “contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation” in her final years.
In his personal release, Harry mentioned that the deceptive practices had played a aspect in his mother’s death.
“The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life,” he mentioned.
Diana died in a Paris automobile crash in 1997, aged 36.
Bashir disputed the accusations, saying “I don’t feel I can be held responsible for many of the other things that were going on in her life, and the complex issues surrounding those decisions.
“The suggestion I am singularly accountable I consider is unreasonable and unfair,” he told the paper.
He argued that the 1995 interview had been conducted on Diana’s terms, and that they remained firm friends after it aired to an audience of 22.8 million people.
“My family and I loved her,” he said, revealing that Diana had visited Bashir’s wife and newborn child in hospital and that the princess threw a birthday party for his eldest child at Kensington Palace.
Bashir has said that he regretted showing Diana’s brother forged documents, but that it had “no bearing” on the revelations aired during the interview.
In it, Diana famously said “there have been 3 folks” in her marriage — her, Charles and his lengthy-time mistress and now wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles — and also admitted adultery.
Bashir was tiny-recognized at the time but went on to have a higher-profile profession on US tv networks, and interviewed stars such as Michael Jackson.
The pop singer’s family also blame Bashir for his death, saying the fallout from the interview led to him to increasingly rely on drugs.
Bashir worked for the BBC as religion editor till he stepped down just last week, citing ill overall health, hours prior to Dyson’s report was submitted to BBC bosses.