Martin Bashir won't be investigated by police for 'manipulating' Princess Diana into Panorama interview

The Metropolitan police has decided not to launch a criminal investigation against Martin Bashir, who has been accused of using false theories and forge documents to manipulate Princess Diana into giving the infamous BBC Panorama interview.

An investigation was started into the matter after a report in the Sunday Times in October 2020, which alleged that Bashir showed two false bank statements to Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, citing that a member of his staff was being paid to leak information about their family, thus gaining his trust and access to the British royal. However, following the months-long probe, Scotland Yard police has decided that it won't be "appropriate" to begin a criminal investigation against the journalist, reports People.

"In recent months the Metropolitan Police Service received correspondence alleging unlawful activity in connection with a documentary broadcast in 1995. This was carefully assessed by specialist detectives. They obtained legal advice from Metropolitan Police lawyers, independent counsel and from the Crown Prosecution Service," Commander Alex Murray said in a Scotland Yard release on Thursday.

"Following this detailed assessment and in view of the advice we received, we have determined that it is not appropriate to begin a criminal investigation into these allegations. No further action will be taken," the statement further read.

The release assured that the matter will be re-assessed if "any significant new evidence come to light."

Bashir, who is now the BBC News religion editor, is currently recovering from heart surgery and health complications related to COVID-19. The 58-year-old has yet to comment on the fresh allegations against him.

Meanwhile, several people close to Diana have come forward to corroborate her brother's claims about the interview which also led to her divorce from Prince Charles. Rosa Monckton, who chose Diana as a godmother for her daughter, went on to say that the infamous interview also played a huge role in the Princess's death in a car crash two years later.

Monckton said that Diana, who showed a "sudden change" in her behaviour after she came in contact with the journalist, started making hurried decisions with long-term implications due to her paranoia.

"Among those decisions was the fact that Diana lost her royal title. Had she retained it, she would have still been in the embrace of the Royal Family when in Paris on August 31, 1997. And she would almost certainly not have been in the incapable hands of a speeding drunk driver employed by Mohamed Al-Fayed, who owned the Ritz Hotel where she and his son, Dodi, had dined," Monckton explained.

Diana's former love, Hasnat Khan, also expressed similar sentiments noting that Bashir was a "cunning man" who "filled her head with rubbish." The Pakistan-born cardiologist revealed that it was a young Prince William who finally convinced his mother to sever ties with the journalist, reportedly telling her: "Mummy, Martin Bashir isn't a good person."

The Duke of Cambridge had also publicly supported a fresh investigation into the matter last year. He had said: "The independent investigation is a step in the right direction. It should help establish the truth behind the actions that led to the Panorama interview and subsequent decisions taken by those in the BBC at the time."