BBC donates millions to charity in a bid to do the ‘right and appropriate’ thing over Princess Diana interview

The BBC has released a statement, announcing it has donated $2.4 million to charity in a bid to do the “right and appropriate” thing over the controversial Panorama interview with Princess Diana.

The British Broadcaster said the proceeds, sourced directly from the sales of the eye-opening interview, will be donated to seven charities in which the Princess of Wales was involved at the time of her death.

BBC makes charitable donations to charities linked to Princess Diana https://t.co/psVKQQA7pN pic.twitter.com/fnEmWI8AQo

— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) September 2, 2022

“The BBC had indicated its intention to donate to charity the sales proceeds derived from the 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales,” the BBC said in a statement.

“The BBC has now done so. Given the findings of Lord Dyson, we think this is the right and appropriate course of action.

“A sum of £1.42million ($2.4 million) has been divided equally between seven charities linked with the Princess. They are Centrepoint, English National Ballet, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, The Leprosy Mission, National Aids Trust, The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and The Diana Award.”

The bombshell interview has continued to make waves since it was aired in 1995, with a recent investigation known as The Dyson Report finding that disgraced journalist, Martin Bashir and the BBC “fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency”.

Following the Dyson Report’s verdict, BBC Director-General Tim Davie issued an apology to Diana and her family “for the way in which Princess Diana was deceived and the subsequent impact on all their lives”.

“Following publication of the Dyson report last year we have been working with those who suffered as a result of the deceitful tactics used by the BBC in pursuit of its interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, for the Panorama program in 1995,” he said.

“The BBC has agreed to pay substantial damages to…The Prince of Wales [Charles], and to the dukes of Cambridge [William] and Sussex [Harry], for the way in which Princess Diana was deceived and the subsequent impact on all their lives.

“It is a matter of great regret that the BBC did not get to the facts in the immediate aftermath of the program when there were warning signs that the interview might have been obtained improperly.

“Instead, as The Duke of Cambridge himself put it, the BBC failed to ask the tough questions. 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.”

The BBC assured the funds are sourced from the broadcaster’s commercial revenue and not the Licence Fee.