The BBC has paid the former private secretary of Diana, Princess of Wales, Patrick Jephson, a substantial sum in damages and has apologised “unreservedly” to him over the way Martin Bashir obtained his 1995 Panorama interview.
Bashir produced forged bank statements purporting to show Jephson and another palace colleague receiving substantial payments into an off-shore bank account, according to an investigation by the former high court judge Lord Dyson.
Charles Spencer, Diana’s brother, said it was seeing the supposed payments to Jephson – one of the royal’s closest aides – that proved to be the “absolute clincher” that convinced him to introduce Bashir to his sister. This ultimately led to her decision to take part in an on-the-record interview with Panorama.
Jephson, who was Diana’s private secretary for eight years, said: “After more than 25 years, it is a relief finally to reach a conclusion to this painful episode.”
“I am grateful to Lord Dyson and the journalists whose tenacity has brought the truth to light, and I now look forward to donating the damages I have been awarded to Ty Hafan, the hospice for children in Wales, in memory of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.”
Bashir has always denied the specific allegation of faking Jephson’s bank statements, while accepting he did commission a graphic designer to produce other forged documents as part of the effort to secure the interview.
The settlement is the latest in a string of BBC settlements relating to the interview, which was watched by tens of millions of people around the world and made Bashir a household name.
Press coverage marking the 25th anniversary of its broadcast led to a reappraisal of Bashir’s use of forged documents to gain the trust of the princess. This led to a series of investigations and financial settlements, which have collectively cost the BBC millions of pounds and left Bashir’s journalistic reputation in pieces.
The graphic designer Matt Wiessler, who was blacklisted by the BBC after becoming a “fall guy” for Bashir’s mistakes in the 1990s, has also received substantial damages.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC and Cmdr Patrick Jephson have reached a settlement following publication of the Dyson report. Cmdr Jephson was the private secretary to Diana, Princess of Wales. The BBC accepts and acknowledges that serious harm was caused to Cmdr Jephson as a result of the circumstances in which the 1995 interview with Diana, Princess of Wales was obtained, which have become apparent as a result of the Dyson report.
“The BBC apologises unreservedly to Cmdr Jephson for the harm caused to him and has paid his legal costs. The BBC has also paid Cmdr Jephson a substantial sum in damages, which he intends to donate in full to British charities nominated by him.”
The Dyson inquiry found that the BBC covered up “deceitful behaviour” used by Bashir to secure his headline-making world exclusive interview with Diana, and “fell short of high standards of integrity and transparency”.
The journalist was in “serious breach” of the BBC’s producer guidelines when he faked bank statements and showed them to Earl Spencer to gain access to the princess in 1995, Dyson’s report said.
Spencer said the payout to Jephson was the “right result” and it was appalling “what Patrick Jephson had to go through as a result of grotesque ‘journalism’”. He criticised the BBC and said: “There will be more to come out on all this, before long.”
