THE BBC has paid William and Harry’s ex-nanny substantial damages over “false and malicious claims” made about her in Princess Diana’s explosive Panorama interview.
The broadcaster also publicly apologised to the Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex today for the “way Diana was deceived” to get the infamous chat – and “the subsequent impact on all their lives”.
Princess Diana during the Panorama interview in 1995
Tiggy Legge-Bourke outside the High Court in central London today
Alexandra Pettifer, better known as Tiggy Legge-Bourke, appeared at the High Court in London for a public apology from the Beeb today.
It came after “fabricated” allegations she had had an affair with the Prince of Wales while working as Charles’ personal assistant in 1995 were used to obtain Martin Bashir’s 1995 Panorama interview with Diana the same year.
The BBC’s director-general, Tim Davie, said today: “The BBC has agreed to pay substantial damages to Mrs Pettifer and I would like to take this opportunity to apologise publicly to her, to The Prince of Wales, and to the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex, for the way in which Princess Diana was deceived and the subsequent impact on all their lives.”
It came after an independent investigation was launched to find out how Bashir had convinced Diana to talk.
The damning Dyson report revealed the “rogue reporter” forged bank statements and spun wicked tales to win vulnerable Diana’s trust.
He even outlandishly told Diana her phone was bugged and Prince Charles was having an affair with their sons’ nanny.
Mr Davie today said it is a “matter of great regret” that the BBC did not “get to the facts” in the immediate aftermath of the programme, even when there were “warning signs” that the interview might have been obtained improperly.
He instead agreed with the Duke of Cambridge’s damning take last year that the BBC “failed to ask the tough questions”.
Mr Davie added: “Had we done our job properly Princess Diana would have known the truth during her lifetime.
“We let her, The Royal Family and our audiences down.
“Now we know about the shocking way that the interview was obtained I have decided that the BBC will never show the programme again; nor will we license it in whole or part to other broadcasters.”
Speaking after settling her claim for defamation brought against the BBC, Ms Pettifer, said: “I am disappointed that it needed legal action for the BBC to recognise the serious harm I have been subjected to.
“Sadly, I am one of many people whose lives have been scarred by the deceitful way in which the BBC Panorama was made and the BBC’s subsequent failure to properly investigate the making of the programme.
“The distress caused to the royal family is a source of great upset to me.
“I know first-hand how much they were affected at the time, and how the programme and the false narrative it created have haunted the family in the years since.
“Especially because, still today, so much about the making of the programme is yet to be adequately explained.”
Martin Bashir pictured in 2019
Tiggy Legge-Bourke pictured with Prince Charles, Harry and William
Royal Nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke, Prince William and Prince Harry walk in the River Gairn, near the Balmoral Estate in 1994
