Princess Diana in never-before-seen picture shared by brother Earl Spencer hours before Bashir reveal
A NEVER-before-seen picture of Princess Diana has been shared by her brother Earl Spencer today.
Earl Spencer, 57, shared a throwback black and white photo of himself and Diana as children - just hours before a report into her infamous interview with Martin Bashir is revealed.
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He wrote alongside the picture: "Some bonds go back a very long way."
Royal fans shared their thoughts on the heartfelt post, with one writing: "That's a lovely photo."
Another said: "How thoughtful she looks even at this age."
It comes as a report into Martin Bashir's Panorama interview with Diana is set to be released at 2pm this afternoon.
Lord Dyson's report is expected to find that Bashir allegedly "used deceitful methods" to secure the interview with the princess.
The formal report is set to reveal how Bashir and BBC bosses "breached" guidelines to bag the interview, in which Princess Diana sensationally declared “there were three of us in this marriage."
The six-month inquiry conducted by Lord Dyson will reportedly condemn senior BBC executives at the time over allegations of a cover up, according to the
According to the newspaper, the retired judge has concluded that Bashir mocked up bank statements that were shown to Earl Spencer and allegedly used to win over his trust and gain access to his sister.
A source said: "It will be a true eye-opener."
'PHONES BUGGED'
In notes made by Diana's brother seen by the Telegraph, allegations include that that Princess Diana’s telephones were bugged and that she was being followed.
Richard Ayre, the BBC’s controller of editorial policy in 1995, said that he had informed Lord Dyson in evidence given in January that Bashir would have breached guidelines in mocking up the statements and showing them to Earl Spencer.
Mr Ayre added that he would never have allowed the statements to be faked and shown to Earl Spencer.
He told the Telegraph: "The use of deceit in making factual programmes would have been permissible only in the case of investigating serious crime… and where prima facie evidence of the guilt of that person being investigated had already been obtained.
"Those circumstances clearly don't apply to an interview with the Princess of Wales. It would not have been acceptable to use significant deceit in this case."
DIANA 'CONNED'
Diana would still be alive today if she had not been “conned” into speaking to Bashir, her pal has sensationally claimed.
She claims Bashir poisoned the princess with lies — insisting her phones were bugged and staff were selling stories — to win her trust.
Spiritual healer Simone, 61, has given evidence to the inquiry.
Simone told The Sun: “Diana was conned into doing the programme, and it wasn’t just forged bank documents.
“I was there the first time Martin Bashir was at Kensington Palace.
“She had a lot of information on the table about her charities because she was led to believe Martin Bashir was doing an interview about them.
“She came in very excited and said ‘Simone, he is going to do a programme about my charities, isn’t that wonderful’. I thought it was brilliant.
“But as time went on nothing transpired and we all know what happened. He lied to her. He said her home was bugged and phones were tapped.
“He was an out and out b*****d. He destroyed her psychologically and made her paranoid — saying the royals wanted to bump her off and distrust her loyal staff and friends.
“We nicknamed Martin Bashir the Poison Dwarf. The interview led to her divorce and losing her HRH titles.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Diana would still be alive today if she hadn’t spoken to Bashir.
“I hope they throw the book at him. Justice should be done.”
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Simone claims the princess was so in thrall of Bashir she used him to help heal her relationship with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.
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She says Bashir’s remarks about bugged phones led Diana to contact British Telecom.
Simone also says she and Di were on their hands and knees looking for non- existent microphones in plug sockets.
