Martin Bashir used forged bank records to “deceive” Princess Diana into giving her explosive Panorama interview.

An investigation into the explosive conversation revealed that the journalist, 58, commissioned bogus bank documents and engaged in ‘deceitful behaviour’ to get time with the late Royal in 1995 — something he “deeply regrets.”

The investigation concluded that this was a “serious breach” of the BBC’s producer standards.

According to the report, Mr Bashir acquired the trust of Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, by presenting him with falsified bank documents, persuading the earl to introduce the reporter to the princess.

According to the BBC, the assessment found “clear failings” and that the organization “should have made greater effort to get to the bottom of what happened at the time and been more transparent about what it knew.”

Martin Bashir, a former BBC journalist, was the focus of the investigation into how Panorama obtained the explosive tell-all interview with Diana, Princess of Wales in 1995.

The Princess famously said during the interview, “There were three of us in this marriage.” However, since the interview aired, there have been queries about how Mr Bashir, a young reporter at the time, was able to acquire such a high-profile interview.

Lord Dyson’s six-month independent investigation concluded that the BBC “did not scrutinise” Bashir despite knowing he lied three times.

The BBC also “fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark” according to the damning report.

And it revealed that the company had “without justification” “covered up” Bashir’s shocking falsehoods.

Bashir said in a statement released after Lord Dyson’s conclusions were made public, ‘This is the second time that I have willingly fully co-operated with an investigation into events more than 25 years ago.

‘I apologised 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. But I absolutely stand by the evidence I gave a quarter of a century ago, and again more recently.

‘I also reiterate that the bank statements had no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview.

‘Evidence handed to the inquiry in her own handwriting (and published alongside the report today) unequivocally confirms this, and other compelling evidence presented to Lord Dyson reinforces it.

‘In fact, despite his other findings, Lord Dyson himself in any event accepts that the Princess would probably have agreed to be interviewed without what he describes as my “intervention”.’

‘It is saddening that this single issue has been allowed to overshadow the Princess’ brave decision to tell her story, to courageously talk through the difficulties she faced, and, to help address the silence and stigma that surrounded mental health issues all those years ago,’ it concluded.

‘She led the way in addressing so many of these issues and that’s why I will always remain immensely proud of that interview.’

The organization has been chastised by both Prince William and Prince Harry, with William claiming that the interview “hurt countless” individuals.

Mr Bashir was still in his early twenties and working for BBC Panorama when he landed the interview. His career was defined by the interview.

He went on to work on ITV’s Tonight With Trevor McDonald and other news programmes in the United States before returning to the BBC as religion editor in 2016.

Due to health issues, he resigned from the position in May 2021.

The BBC has already apologized to the Royal Family for the events surrounding the interview, which took place two years before the Princess of Wales died.

Earl Spencer, the Princess’s younger brother, previously stated that the fake bank records mislead the Princess by seeming to suggest that two top courtiers were being paid by the security services for information on his sister.

According to him, the phony documents also caused the Princess of Wales to think that Royal Family associates were selling stories about her to the media.

Earl Spencer stated that if he had not seen Mr Bashir’s bank statements, he would not have made the introduction and the interview would not have taken place.

In response to the BBC’s decision to return the Bafta it received for the Panorama interview, the body stated, “We understand and accept the BBC’s decision on returning awards for this programme.”