The BBC has agreed to pay “substantial damages” to the former nanny of Princes William and Harry over “fabricated” claims that she had an affair with Prince Charles . The broadcaster issued a public apology to Alexandra Pettifer, also known as Tiggy Legge-Bourke, at the High Court in London over “false and malicious” allegations that she had an affair with Charles, became pregnant with his child and had an abortion.
The claims were used to obtain Martin Bashir's exclusive interview with Princess Diana on Panorama in 1995. Ms Legge-Bourke’s solicitor Louise Prince told the court that the allegations had caused “serious personal consequences for all concerned”, The Mirror reports .
Ms Prince added that the “totally unfounded” claims had “appeared to exploit some prior false speculation in the media” concerning Prince Charles and Ms Legge-Bourke. Ms Prince explained that Princess Diana “became upset with the claimant without apparent justification” after hearing of the allegations in 1995.
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While Ms Legge-Bourke had not known the source of the claims since they surfaced 25 years ago, her solicitor said it was now likely that they had arisen “as a result and in the context of BBC Panorama's efforts to procure an exclusive interview with Diana, Princess of Wales”.
Ms Prince said Ms Legge-Bourke “holds the BBC liable for the serious impact the false and malicious allegations have had”. She added: “Had the BBC not fallen short, the claimant and her family could have been spared 25 years of lies, suspicion and upset.”
In a statement, BBC Director-General Tim Davie said: “The BBC has agreed to pay substantial damages to Mrs Pettifer and I would like to take this opportunity to apologise publicly to her, to The Prince of Wales, and to the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex, 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 programme 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. Now we know about the shocking way that the interview was obtained, I have decided that the BBC will never show the programme again; nor will we licence it in whole or part to other broadcasters.”
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