The BBC agreed on Thursday to pay “significant” damages to Princes Willam and Harry’s former nanny, who was subjected to false accusations to get an interview at an event with Princess Diana in 1995.
This agreement is a new episode in the saga around the deceptive methods used to organize the interview, seen by 23 million viewers, in which the Princess of Wales admitted to having an extramarital affair.
Alexandra Pettifer, better known as Tiggy Legge-Bourke (a nickname and her maiden name), had launched a lawsuit against the public broadcasting giant, contesting “fabricated” accusations that she had an affair with Prince Charles when she was the personal manager. assistant to the Prince of Wales.
pregnant with prince charles
It had been claimed that she had an abortion after becoming pregnant with Prince Charles.
At the High Court in London, his lawyer Louise Prince said her client was “relieved that the BBC acknowledges that the allegations were totally false and completely unfounded”.
“The BBC has agreed to pay Ms Pettifer substantial damages and would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to her, the Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Sussex for the manner in which Princess Diana was abused and the resulting impact.” . in their lives,” the group’s chief executive, Tim Davie, said in a statement.
“If we had done our job correctly, Princess Diana,” who died in a car accident in Paris in 1997, “would have known the truth,” he continued.
In an independent report published in May 2021, former High Court Justice John Dyson shed light on journalist Martin Bashir’s deceptive methods of securing the interview and criticized the BBC for its handling of the case.
deceptive methods
False account statements had been shown to Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, to make him believe that the security services were paying two people to court to spy on his sister. According to Charles Spencer, this was what prompted him to introduce the journalist to Lady Di.
Following this interview, Martin Bashir continued his career in the United States before returning to the UK to work for the BBC, until his resignation last May.
In this case, the BBC has already compensated Lady Di’s former private secretary and reached an economic settlement with a graphic designer who had been fired after exposing Martin Bashir’s deceptive methods.
Source: BFM TV
