BBC journalist had reportedly showed Princess Diana, a faked abortion “receipt” for Tiggy Legge-Bourke, her children’s nanny, in an attempt to secure his Panorama interview in 1995, it has emerged. The Daily Mail had previously reported that the Princess was said to have believed that her husband wanted her murdered in order to marry the nanny.
She was said to have been so convinced that Legge-Bourke had become pregnant by the Prince of Wales that an investigation had commenced by Sir Robert Fellowes, who was the Queen’s private secretary and Diana’s brother-in-law.
An internal BBC inquiry was set up under Lord Dyson after accusations by Earl Spencer, the Princess’s brother, put a renewed spotlight on the methods used by Bashir to persuade her to talk to him. According to The Times, in a letter to Bashir, which the inquiry has seen, Diana is claimed to have said she “gave the interview freely and was not influenced by any documents”.
Tony Hall, who was head of news and later director-general, had then said, “The graphic had no part whatsoever in gaining the interview with the Princess of Wales. We have her word in writing.”
Last year Spencer submitted a dossier to Tim Davie, the BBC’s director-general, stating that Bashir used the fake statements to persuade him to introduce the reporter to his sister.
