Prince Harry, William Break Silence on Princess Diana's 1995 Interview Probe, Say Deceit Contributed to Her 'Paranoia'

After a reporter used deceptive tactics to convince Princess Diana to sit for a 1995 interview that rocked the royal family and Britain to its core, Prince William released a statement Thursday blasting the BBC for leading to his mother's "fear, paranoia, and isolation."

"It fills me with indescribable sorrow to know that the BBC's shortcomings led greatly to anxiety, paranoia, and alienation that I recall from those final years with her," William said in a statement released from Kensington Palace, USA Today reported. Diana died in 1997.

Prince Harry, William's younger brother, released a statement from his office in California, where he now resides. He blamed their mother's death in a car accident in Paris while being chased by paparazzi in "a society of exploitation and unethical practices."

The Duke of Cambridge, Diana's eldest son, remarked about an independent inquiry into the BBC, its "Panorama" news program, and reporter Martin Bashir, released earlier Thursday in London. In a severe breach of the public broadcaster's rules, Bashir used "deceptive behavior," including making false bank accounts, to secure the explosive interview, and then refused to investigate genuine questions posed in the aftermath competently, the Dyson Report found.

William, 38, said the BBC's acceptance of the report's conclusions was welcome, but he was also highly concerned. According to the inquiry, the BBC staff lied and used fabricated documents; made lurid and false statements about the royal family that fueled paranoia in his mother; exhibited woeful ignorance while reviewing allegations about the program; and "hid up" what they learned from their internal investigation.

Deceitful interview believed to contribute to Princess Diana's paranoia

Harry, 36, has previously stated that he and his wife, Duchess Meghan, left their royal positions last year due to bigotry in the British media and disruptive tabloid conduct. He, too, is worried about the activities detailed in the BBC report.

"What really worries me is that activities like these and worse are still prevalent today. It was then, as it is now, larger than a single source, network, or publication. Nothing has improved since our mother died as a result of this. We protect others by preserving her reputation and upholding the integrity with which she lived her life. Let us not forget who she was and what she represented," Harry said in his statement, as per the NBC News.

Last year, the BBC appointed Lord John Anthony Dyson, a retired Supreme Court justice in the United Kingdom, to investigate claims that Bashir lied to Diana to land his interview, which more than 20 million people saw. After a documentary titled "The Diana Interview: Revenge of a Princess" aired on ITV last November, accusations were leveled against Bashir.

Bashir reportedly had a graphic artist make false bank accounts, which he then persuaded Diana that royal workers were being paid to spy on her. Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, said that he discovered that BBC was aware of the forged bank accounts. He requested an apology from the network for falsifying records that introduced Bashir to his sister.

BBC sends apology letters to the Royals

The BBC has sent letters of apologies to Prince Harry, Prince William, and the Queen concerning the Princess Diana Panorama interview controversy. The BBC has also written to Prince Charles to apologize after a scathing report showed the network "falls short of the high levels of honesty and openness that are its hallmark," said the royal sources.

The royal family had received letters, according to palace reports, but they would not be published. In 1995, an investigation into journalist Martin Bashir and BBC bosses was opened into how the then-unknown journalist managed to get the royal scoop.

Per The Sun, Martin Bashir responded to the issue, saying: "This is the second time I've voluntarily cooperated entirely with an inquiry into incidents that occurred more than 25 years ago. I apologized then, and I apologize again now, for having requested mocked-up bank statements. It was a foolish thing to do, and I sincerely regret it. Yet I stand by the testimony I gave nearly a quarter-century ago, and again more recently."

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Prince harry, BBC, Interview