Princess Diana's 1995 interview with former BBC journalist Martin Bashir has long been regarded as one of the quintessential records of her life.
But the late Princess' children, Princes William and Harry, are making sure it will never be regarded as such again.
In the wake of an investigation into the interview—that has scandalized the BBC and Bashir—both William, Duke of Cambridge, and Harry, Duke of Sussex, have issued fiery public statements slamming the interview and calling for it to never be aired again.
In their separate statements, the Princes criticized the unethical ways the BBC and Bashir obtained and conducted the interview.
They also blamed them for creating the culture of exploitation that relentlessly hounded Princess Diana up until her 1997 death in a car crash during a high-speed chase by paparazzi.
The Princes' statements come following an investigation and 127-page report by former judge Lord John Dyson, which found that the BBC "fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark."
In his statement, released by Buckingham Palace and seen below, Prince William elaborated upon the findings of Dyson's report.
The details the Duke of Cambridge provided in his statement painted a disturbing picture of malpractice.
"BBC employees lied and produced fake documents to obtain the interview with my mother, made lurid and false claims about the Royal Family which played on her fears and fueled paranoia... and were evasive in their reporting to the media and covered up what they knew from their internal investigation."
Prince William went on to say the interview had a significant negative impact on his parents' marriage and contributed to Princess Diana's declining mental health. He then called for it to never be aired again.
Prince Harry's written statement was similarly pointed, and went so far as to blame the BBC and Bashir's interview directly for his mother's death.
His statement read:
"The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life..."
"Yet what deeply concerns me is that practices like these—and even worse—are still widespread today... Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed."
On Twitter, many people applauded both Princes for speaking out.
In a public statement, the BBC thanked Lord Dyson for his report and issued an "unconditional apology" for the way it handled the Diana interview, stressing its procedures are more stringent today.
@WhiteHouse/X
