Scotland Yard has announced that they will not take action against embattled BBC presenter Martin Bashir following the revelation that his controversial 1995 interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, was obtained under false pretences.
In a statement earlier this week, Scotland Yard said: “In March 2021, the Metropolitan Police Service determined it was not appropriate to begin a criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful activity in connection with a documentary broadcast in 1995.
“Following the publication of Lord Dyson’s report in May, specialist detectives assessed its contents and looked carefully at the law – once again obtaining independent legal advice from Treasury Counsel as well as consulting the Crown Prosecution Service.
“As a result, the MPS has not identified evidence of activity that constituted a criminal offence and will therefore be taking no further action.”
Diana’s brother, the Earl Spencer, flagged the infamous interview earlier this year as being one that Diana only agreed to after false documents were provided to them to create a sense that she was being spied on by the Royal Family.
The Dyson Report, released in May of this year, found that Bashir acted in a deceitful manner to get the late Princess of Wales to speak on the record and that, once the BBC learned of the methods Bashir used to obtain the interview, they proceeded with a cover-up.
Following the publication of the Dyson Report, Tim Davies, the director-general of the BBC, offered a “full and unconditional apology” and said, “While today’s BBC has significantly better processes and procedures, those that existed at the time should have prevented the interview being secured in this way.”
Diana’s sons, Princes William and Harry, issued separate statements condemning the interview and Bashir for the manipulation and paranoia it caused in their mother. Bashir also apologised for the interview and stepped down as a religion editor for the BBC earlier this year.
