Princess Diana’s Brother Claims Deceitful BBC Interview Left Her “Vulnerable” the Night She Died

Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer said he believes her death was connected to her bombshell interview with Martin Bashir. The sit-down, BBC recently confirmed, was obtained through deceit.

Earl Charles Spencer isn’t mincing his words.

Four years after an internal investigation found journalist Martin Bashir used deceitful tactics to secure his 1995 infamous sit-down with Princess Diana, her younger brother is connecting the interview and her tragic death.

“There are high-ranking people in the BBC who participated in securing this interview, through appalling deception,” Spencer told People in an interview published Nov. 24. “I am sure that this led directly to Diana being left vulnerable in Paris on the night she died.”

Before that 1997 fatal car crash, Bashir had shown Spencer forged bank statements, suggesting Diana’s inner circle—including her private secretary Patrick Jephson—were being paid to spy on her.

“She was in a state of justified anxiety,” Jephson recalled to People. “It is not paranoia if you have reasonable grounds to believe that they are out to get you.”

Plus, as Bashir claimed, Diana’s husband King Charles III was having an affair with Prince William and Prince Harry‘s nanny. He even provided forged documents that the caretaker had an abortion. All of which led to him convincing Diana to sit down for an interview.

His deceit had a devastating impact, Jephson shared.

“It is chilling to rerun those events and feel that Diana was seeing me as the enemy within,” he explained. “Because Diana had been tricked into distrusting every kind of official protection, she put herself in a position where she had to accept the protection of people who were not competent.”

And the network acknowledges its fault, sharing in a Nov. 25 statement to E! News, “The BBC accepted its findings in full and publicly apologised for its part in the report’s conclusions.”

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Bashir, too, has apologized.

“This is the second time that I have willingly fully co-operated with an investigation into events more than 25 years ago,” Bashir said in a statement to the U.K. press in 2021. “I apologized then, and I do so again now, over the fact that I asked for bank statements to be mocked up. It was a stupid thing to do and was an action I deeply regret.”

For a look back at Princess Diana over the years, keep reading.

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Off-the-Shoulder

Princess Diana wore a range of styles during her lifetime. And when it came to gowns specifically, she played with different necklines and cuts, including off-the-shoulder.

Consider the chiffon David Sassoon gown she picked for a trip to London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in 1981, which featured a pink and blue pattern, sparkly embellishments and ribbon detailing. To complete her look, she accessorized with a pearl choker, matching bracelet, diamond drop earrings and a clutch purse.

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The princess also wore a lavender off-the-shoulder gown with bow detailing by Donald Campbell while attending the ballet in Auckland, New Zealand, with her then-husband King Charles (formerly Prince Charles) in 1983. For her jewelry, she opted for the Prince of Wales Feathers necklace and pearl drop earrings.

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And of course, fans can’t forget about her famous “revenge dress,” which was designed by Christina Stambolian and Diana wore to a Vanity Fair party at London’s Serpentine Gallery in 1994. She donned the dress on the same night ITN’s interview with her estranged husband Charles aired and he admitted he was faithful to Diana in their marriage “until it became irretrievably broken down.”

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Another famous example? The midnight blue velvet Victor Edelstein gown Diana wore to the White House nearly a decade before in 1985, where she shared a dance with John Travolta (leading to the dress being dubbed the “Travolta dress”).

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Pop of Pink

When it came to her wardrobe, Diana also sported a rainbow of colors. Among her often-wore hues? Pink. During a 1985 visit to Sicily, for instance, Diana wore a pink Catherine Walker dress featuring voluminous sleeves and a pleated skirt. To finish the ensemble, she added a matching hat by milliner John Boyd, a white clutch and pearls.

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Diana suited up in a similar hue, this time a Versace number, during a 1995 trip to Argentina—adding gold knot earrings, a black bag and matching heels.

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Chokers

Diana also rocked bold accessories, including choker necklaces. Like this sparkly one she wore to complement her purple Versace dress for a gala dinner at Chicago’s Field Museum in 1996.

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Similarly, Diana wore a pearl choker necklace while visiting a Commonwealth War Graves ceremony in Anzio on her 1985 Royal Tour of Italy with Charles. The statement piece matched her pearl earrings. However, these weren’t her only accessories. Diana also donned a red and white hat, which coordinated with her red striped Catherine Walker dress, and a gold watch.

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Color Blocking

You’ll want to bow down to her use of color blocking, too. Take, for instance, the blue and white seen in Diana’s Catherine Walker suit and Philip Somerville hat during her visit to Dubai in 1989.

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Or her use of pink and red in her suit and hat by the designers during the same visit.

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Puffed Sleeves

While there are several examples of Diana wearing puffed sleeves (a popular style in the ’80s), perhaps the most famous is the dress she wore for her wedding to Charles in 1981. Designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, the gown also featured a scooped neckline adorned with ruffles and bows, bodice overlaid with lace, full skirt and 25-foot train.

Diana and Charles split in 1992 before finalizing their divorce four years later.

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One-Shoulder

Another style Diana occasionally sported was the one-shoulder gown. In 1985, she wore a white, crystal-beaded silk chiffon dress by Hachi for a visit to the National Gallery in Washington D.C.

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There was also the blue asymmetrical dress by Bruce Oldfield featuring ruffles and a circular pattern that she wore to a fashion show benefitting Birthright, an organization of which she was patron. Diana added her signature pearl choker necklace, matching bracelet, earrings and a clutch.

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Jacket Draping

When it came to outerwear, Diana would also sport a variety of options—including varsity jackets, wool coats and puffers. And sometimes, she would simply drape her jackets over her shoulders—as she did with her white coat, using it to top the floral Donald Campbell dress that she wore to the airport in Hampshire at the start of her 1981 honeymoon with Charles.

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Along the same lines, Diana threw a black blazer over the shoulders of her matching dress for a trip to the Alfred Dunhill shop in London in 1994. She finished the look with pearls, a dainty bracelet and black purse with gold chain.

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Corset Belts

Big bold belts were popular in the ’80s, and Diana appeared to be a fan of the trend. She wore a turquoise one that divided her patterned blouse from her white pencil skirt during her visit to Bangkok, Thailand, in 1988.

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The princess also paired a silver belt with the blue, ruffle-sleeved Bruce Oldfield dress she wore to a state dinner in New Brunswick during her 1983 Royal Tour of Canada. The belt matched her silver clutch, and there was plenty of sparkle thanks to her Spencer tiara and drop earrings.

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Backward Necklaces

Who said there’s only one way to wear a necklace? Diana displayed her pearls by stringing them backward over her backless, burgundy velvet Catherine Walker dress for the London premiere of Back to the Future in 1985.

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Tuxedo Dresses

The royal also had an array of stunning suits in her wardrobe. Take this pinstriped look she wore to a 1996 Christmas event for the nonprofit Centrepoint in London.

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Diana also wore a white Catherine Walker coat dress and matching Graham Smith hat during her visit to the Isle of Wight in 1985.

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Overalls

Even when going with a more casual ensemble, Prince William and Prince Harry‘s mother kept it stylish. Like when she rocked denim overalls over a classic white T-shirt at a 1987 polo match with her eldest in Windsor.

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And in 1981, she rocked a yellow pair of overalls with a bright floral top during a walk with Sarah Ferguson at Cowdray Park Polo Club in Gloucestershire.

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Comfy and Chic

Yes, princesses love a good sweatshirt too—as Diana proved while leaving her London health club in her Fly Virgin Atlantic crewneck, orange bike shorts and black and white sneakers in 1995. Her controversial BBC Panorama interview would air that evening.

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Diana even used her fashion to support the causes close to her heart. Take, for instance, how she wore a sweatshirt featuring the logo of the British Lung Foundation, of which she was patron, to the Guards Polo Club in Windsor in 1988, pairing it with a black blazer and blue jeans and accessorizing with a baseball cap, hoop earrings and brown boots.

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Diana also displayed her effortlessly cool style while leaving her London gym in a Harvard sweatshirt, black Nike bike shorts and sneakers in August 1997. The princess, who was often hounded by paparazzi, tragically died later that month after a car crash in Paris.