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The BBC broke the law by failing to disclose information about a note written by Princess Diana after her infamous interview with rogue reporter Martin Bashir, the Information Commissioner has ruled.
The Corporation was threatened with a charge of contempt of court and the prospect of a large fine after it was found to have flouted Freedom of Information laws.
The ruling is another embarrassment for BBC director general Tim Davie as he attempts to rebuild the Corporation’s reputation in the wake of the Bashir scandal.
Earlier this year, Lord Dyson, a former Supreme Court judge, condemned the ‘deceitful behaviour’ deployed by Bashir to land his 1995 interview with Princess Diana and condemned the BBC for covering up what it knew about his conduct.
Pictured: Rogue reporter Martin Bashir interviews the Princess of Wales for the BBC's Panorama in 1995
Bashir used fake bank statements to gain access to the Princess before telling her a litany of lies and smears.
In December 1995, Diana sent the BBC a handwritten note, saying Bashir ‘did not show me any documents, nor give me any information that I was not previously aware of’. But the note went missing for 25 years and was only rediscovered last year.
In his report, Lord Dyson said that in 1996, a member of BBC management had told someone who has never been identified to guard the note ‘with his
