BBC told to release 3,000 emails over Princess Diana’s controversial Panorama interview

THE BBC has been told to release 3,000 emails on the scandal over Martin Bashir’s 1995 interview with Princess Diana.

A legal tribunal judge said the Beeb had been “inconsistent and unreliable” over a Freedom of Information request by journalist Andrew Webb.

He was probing what BBC bosses knew about a 2020 “cover-up”.

Bashir, who got the Panorama interview via deception, quit in 2021.

Judge Brian Kennedy has now ordered the BBC to release the emails.

In a statement, the BBC accepted mistakes were made and said it is considering the judgment.

Diana’s brother Earl Spencer said: “We know there are 38 emails between Bashir and senior people at the BBC in the autumn of 2020.”

Lord Spencer, 59, added: “My suspicion is that they were cooking up a story to try and make him unavailable during a time of particular interest in Diana’s interview, which was the 25th anniversary.

“It’s about people who are still in power in the BBC who have taken decisions that I question, and the judge has certainly questioned.

“I believe the BBC should be guarded by responsible senior figures and not hidden behind to protect their careers.”