Royal expert Jennie Bond discussed Diana’s interview with Martin Bashir, host of Panorama, on Lorraine. It comes after Earl Spencer, Diana’s brother, alleged Mr Bashir showed him fake documents to gain access to the Princess of Wales. Diana passed away on August 31, 1997, after a car accident in France, and divorced from Charles in 1996.
Ms Bond told Lorraine Kelly that Diana informed her of what she would say on Panorama five months before the show aired.
She said: “She’d told me an awful lot that was in Panorama five months before, we had a long meeting, just the two of us at Kensington Palace in her sitting room.
“And so what was in Panorama was largely known to me, but she asked me to keep it in confidence.”
Diana appeared on the BBC show in November 1995, where she admitted to having an affair with James Hewitt while married to Charles, and spoke candidly about her husband’s relationship with Camilla.
READ MORE: Princess Diana: Earl Spencer turns up heat on BBC over interview ‘Set up!’
The royal correspondent then said Diana believed Charles and Camilla were a “true love match”, and thought there were “three people in the marriage”.
Ms Bond added, referencing her notes from the discussion: “She says she now understands that the relationship between Charles and Camilla was and is one of true love and it was always going to be stronger than any marriage Charles might’ve made.
“So she was very forthcoming in that interview with me but she asked me, annoyingly I have to say, to keep it confidential.
“The very fact that she did tell me so much information before… I think she was kind of ready for this story to come out.”
This weekend it was reported that Mr Bashir may be sued by royal aides who were smeared by the interviewer for “serious damages”, after allegations he faked documents to gain access to Diana.
Earl Spencer is demanding an independent inquiry into the BBC over the allegations, claiming Mr Bashir lied 32 times to clinch the Diana interview.
He claimed the interviewer showed him “false bank statements” relating to payments to two royal household members by security services, which he claims are new details about the allegation.
An internal BBC investigation at the time evaluated other evidence presented, including a fake document related to a former employee of the earl, and found Diana had not been misled for the interview.
A BBC spokeswoman responded to the Earl’s fresh allegations, and said of the false document about his former employee: “The BBC has apologised. We are happy to repeat that apology.
“And while this was a quarter of a century ago, we absolutely will investigate, robustly and fairly, substantive new information.
“We have asked Earl Spencer to share further information with the BBC. Unfortunately, we are hampered at the moment by the simple fact that we are unable to discuss any of this with Martin Bashir, as he is seriously unwell.”
