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A BBC boss tipped to land a powerful job running the Corporation’s news coverage sought assurances from Martin Bashir that he would not talk publicly about his infamous interview with Princess Diana – just weeks before the full extent of the rogue reporter’s deception was finally exposed.
Internal BBC emails obtained by The Mail on Sunday reveal that Jonathan Munro, head of BBC news gathering, contacted Bashir ahead of last November’s 25th anniversary of the Panorama special.
He wanted to know if the then BBC religion editor intended to co-operate with a series of documentaries by rival broadcasters about the programme that were set to cause embarrassment for the BBC by showing how Bashir used duplicity to land his scoop.
Bashir eventually confirmed to Mr Munro: ‘I do not plan to say anything about the interview.’
Mr Munro’s concerns appear to have reflected a mounting nervousness among BBC bosses that the Corporation was about to be rocked by a major scandal.
Email exchange: Internal BBC emails reveal that Jonathan Munro (pictured above), head of BBC news gathering, contacted Martin Bashir ahead of last November’s 25th anniversary of the Panorama special
It came six weeks before the BBC released explosive documents from a 1996 internal inquiry into how Bashir obtained the interview. The inquiry had been ordered after whistleblowers alerted bosses to concerns about the reporter’s methods.
Just three weeks after the BBC disclosed the documents, Diana’s brother
