Lurid claims came from Princess Diana, Martin Bashir tells inquiry into 'interview of the century'

In 1995, Martin Bashir landed an interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, that effectively ended her marriage to Prince Charles and shook the royal family to its foundations. Screenshot / BBC

British journalist Martin Bashir has told an inquiry Princess Diana is to blame for the "smears" he has been accused of peddling to secure his interview with her in 1995 that precipitated her divorce from Prince Charles.

It has been alleged Bashir told Princess Diana "preposterous lies" to secure the bombshell interview with her.

A series of bizarre claims reported to have been made by Bashir were noted down by Earl Spencer, Princess Diana's brother, at a meeting all three attended on September 19, 1995.

However, The Telegraph has seen leaked documents that show Bashir, currently the BBC's religious affairs editor, is claiming comments made at the meeting have been mistakenly attributed to him a quarter of a century on.

It is the first evidence of Bashir's response to allegations he cheated and lied his way to the "interview of the century", broadcast on Panorama, in which Princess Diana disclosed details of her husband's adultery.

She famously told Bashir, then aged just 32 and an unknown reporter, there were "three people" in their marriage.

Princess Diana famously told Martin Bashir that there were "three people" in her marriage. Screenshot / BBC

The emergence of Earl Spencer's notes last November prompted the BBC to launch an internal inquiry presided over by Lord Dyson, the former Master of the Rolls, into the methods used by Bashir to obtain the interview.

Bashir has been accused of falsely telling Princess Diana she was being spied upon by the intelligence agencies, her private correspondence opened, her car tracked and her phone tapped, feeding her growing paranoia.

His denials – and the attempt to attribute comments instead to Princess Diana – will likely further fuel anger against the journalist.

Bashir has already admitted ordering faked bank statements, which he showed to Earl Spencer, but insisted Princess Diana never saw them.

Earl Spencer said the statements – of mocked-up payments to his former head of security – were used to gain his trust, prompting him to introduce Bashir to his sister.

Lord Dyson's report, expected to heavily criticise Bashir as well as senior BBC executives accused of covering up the scandal, is due to be completed by May.

Bashir has remained silent since the allegations surfaced last year. He has insisted he has been too ill to defend his reputation after suffering first from Covid-19 and then undergoing a quadruple heart bypass. Until now, it had been unclear if he was cooperating with Lord Dyson.

The notes made by Earl Spencer have been submitted to the Dyson inquiry which is investigating allegations Bashir used deceit to trick Princess Diana into giving the interview, having first forged bank statements to gain the trust of Earl Spencer.

The lurid smears included an allegation that the Queen had a heart problem and was going to abdicate.

The lurid smears include an allegation Prince Edward was being treated for Aids at a London hospital; the Queen had a heart problem and was going to abdicate; and that Prince Charles was "in love" with his children's nanny and went on holiday with her.

According to the notes, it was also claimed Prince Charles had given his son Prince William, then aged 13, a "special present" of a "bleeping Swatch", an inference that the Swiss-made watch contained a bugging device.

But Bashir has told Lord Dyson the vast majority of the comments the media had attributed to him were actually made by the Princess. The notes are headed "Martin 19/9/95. At Samantha's flat" in reference to the location of the meeting at the flat of a friend.

It is understood Bashir has denied being the source of many of the smears, suggesting instead Princess Diana was the source. Bashir has told Lord Dyson he would not have made up claims on a first meeting with Princess Diana that she could have checked, or made assertions about her while she was present.

In one note, Earl Spencer wrote "Edward has AIDS? Royal Marsden Hospital. Queen ill: heart."

Princess Diana, Prince William and Prince Charles in Auckland on April 23, 1985.

Bashir is understood to have told Lord Dyson those claims – if checked by the Princess – would have exposed him as a complete fantasist at their first meeting and prevented any interview going ahead.

Bashir has insisted instead such allegations were consistent with Princess Diana telling him on a later occasion she spoke with mystics and clairvoyants who had given her the false information. A clairvoyant also told Princess Diana the Queen was going to abdicate, Bashir is understood to have informed the inquiry.

On the false claim the Prince of Wales was in love with Tiggy Legg-Bourke, the nanny of Prince William and Prince Harry, Bashir said it was hard to imagine a BBC journalist would ever say that to Princess Diana on their first meeting.

It was more likely, Bashir has speculated, Princess Diana would have said that.

In the notes, Bashir told Princess Diana three members of MI6 had met him four months earlier and Richard Aylard, Prince Charles's then private secretary, was "orchestrating everything".

In another comment, Bashir is said to have claimed MI6 had taped recordings of Prince Charles and Richard Aylard, uttering the remarks "in the end game", a possible reference to the couple getting divorced.

Another said "Spencer family to be destroyed. D to go to States (+me)." Bashir told Dyson it would be odd for him to be telling Princess Diana on their first meeting to travel to the US.

Another note refers to a "difficult relationship with William for D., because of Tiggy. C's in love with her".

Again, Bashir is understood to have told the inquiry it would not be his place to tell Princess Diana about her relationship with Prince William.

Other smears – said to have been spread by Bashir – including a claim the Duke of Edinburgh had written "v unpleasant correspondence" and that Prince Philip had been "even ruder to Fergie", a reference to Diana's sister-in-law the Duchess of York, were also denied by the Panorama reporter.

The Daily Mail reported in November last year Earl Spencer had concluded after the meeting in 1995 that Bashir was a fantasist and he apologised to his sister for wasting her time.

But Bashir had made contact at the flat and continued to speak to Princess Diana, culminating in the Panorama scoop that was broadcast on Nov 20, 1995 and watched by an audience of 23 million people.