Earl Spencer, Princess Diana’s younger brother, is demanding criminal charges over the her BBC scandal.
The call from the late royal’s brother came as the broadcaster apologised for the “shocking” way reporter Martin Bashir obtained his notorious interview with Diana for the “Panorama” documentary series.
Chief executive officer of BBC Worldwide, Tim Davie pledged to never show the programme again due to the launch of a defamation case by Diana’s former royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke about smears made by the journalist.
BBC has agreed to pay the 57-year-old major damages over “fabricated” allegations about her having an affair with the Prince of Wales while working as Charles’s personal assistant in the mid-1990s.
Bashir, 59, is also said to have tricked Diana, who died aged 36, into believing the nanny had become pregnant by Charles’s by showing her a faked “receipt” for the alleged abortion.
Spencer said: “While I’m delighted to see that another innocent victim of this appalling scandal is being vindicated, it’s amazing to me that no criminal charges have been levelled against those responsible, yet.”
Spencer has long called for criminal charges to be brought, but police said they would not launch an investigation after assessing a report into the BBC show.
Legge-Bourke’s solicitor told the court allegations about Prince Charles, caused “serious personal consequences for all concerned” and said the ex-royal nanny had no idea about the source of the allegations.
It was added it is now likely the “false and malicious allegations” were liked to “BBC Panorama’s efforts to procure an exclusive interview with Diana, Princess of Wales”.
Davie said he apologised for the way “Princess Diana was deceived” and for the “subsequent impact” on the lives of her family, including her children, princes William and Harry.
He 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.”
But added there may be times when it will be “justified” for the BBC to use “short extracts” from the Bashir’s interview.