Martin Bashir‘s wife and daughter left their £1.7million family home this morning one day after the BBC journalist was condemned over how he secured his bombshell Panorama interview with Princess Diana.
The father-of-three’s wife Deborah Bashir, 63, and daughter Eliza, 25, were photographed carrying a suitcase and two overnight bags into a waiting Audi A5 outside their six-bedroom detached home in Hampshire.
The couple, who only recently moved into the Edwardian house after selling their large North London townhouse for £1.8million last November, also have two older children – Phoebe, 30, and Samuel, 32.
Today, the Audi pulled up outside before the driver got out and ushered in Mrs Bashir and Eliza – who did not say anything to waiting photographers – along with another woman before driving off.
Ten minutes later a woman from the BBC’s press office came over to the gathered media and gave a contact phone number for any further questions, saying that Mr Bashir’s family would not be commenting.
Neighbours at the scene told photographers that they did not know who 58-year-old Mr Bashir was, and had seen him going in and out of the property but without introducing himself to them.
It comes after Lord Dyson’s report yesterday savaged Mr Bashir and several senior BBC executives over their handling of the infamous 1995 broadcast that triggered one of the biggest crises in the Royal Family’s history.
Martin Bashir’s wife Deborah Bashir, 63, and daughter Eliza, 25, leave their £1.7million family home in Hampshire today
Mrs Bashir and her daughter Eliza are photographed carrying a suitcase and two overnight bags into a waiting Audi A5 today
The Audi car pulled up outside their Hampshire home today before the driver got out and ushered in Mrs Bashir and Eliza
Mr Bashir’s daughter Eliza holds a suitcase as she leaves the family home in Hampshire today, followed by her mother
Mr Bashir was pictured in The Mail On Sunday earlier this month looking glum outside his home on April 30 before driving away in his £66,000 dark grey electric Mercedes EQC 400 car parked nearby.
The Hampshire house was bought just days before the BBC announced that Lord Dyson would examine allegations that Mr Bashir forged bank documents and spun a web of deceit to land his career-defining scoop.
Smooth-tongued Martin Bashir could ‘charm the birds from the trees’
Martin Bashir was a smooth-tongued reporter who could ‘charm the birds from the trees,’ a report into his explosive interview with Diana, Princess of Wales said.
Mr Bashir, 58, made his career at the BBC with the stunning scoop, but an official inquiry found the corporation covered up his ‘deceitful behaviour’.
He faked bank statements and showed them to Diana’s brother Earl Spencer to gain access to the princess for the 1995 sit-down, a report by Lord Dyson said.
The inquiry painted the picture of a gifted reporter who was especially skilled at getting people to spill their secrets.
Though not a household name before the Diana interview, the report noted, he had been steadily building his experience as a TV reporter.
He joined the BBC’s current affairs department in 1989 on a programme called Public Eye, before switching to Panorama in 1992.
During his time on the investigative documentary series, Mr Bashir remained lesser-known than some of his colleagues – until his career-defining scoop in November 1995.
According to the report: ‘Although he did not have great experience, it is beyond doubt that he was an effective and skilled reporter.
‘Anyone who watched the interview with Princess Diana must have been impressed by his qualities as an interviewer. Quietly spoken and gentle, he exuded charm, warmth and, above all, empathy.’
Mark Killick was a senior reporter/producer on Panorama between 1988 and 1995 and knew Mr Bashir well, the report said.
He told Lord Dyson: ‘Martin’s greatest skill was he could persuade people to talk to him and on the record. It is a cliche, but he really could charm the birds from the trees.’
The report added: ‘Mr Bashir seemed to have no difficulty in persuading Princess Diana in the interview to disclose some most intimate personal matters as well as to express her views on all manner of other things, including the future of the monarchy.’
After the Diana interview Mr Bashir went on to forge a successful career on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 2003, he conducted a series of interviews with pop singer Michael Jackson for the controversial ITV documentary Living With Michael Jackson.
He later moved to the US where he co-anchored the current affairs show Nightline on ABC before moving to MSNBC, where he served as a political commentator until 2013.
He subsequently returned to the BBC as the broadcaster’s religion editor, a role from which he resigned this month citing ill health.
Mr Bashir has apologised for faking the documents and said it was ‘a stupid thing to do’, and ‘an action I deeply regret’, but added it had ‘no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview’.
According to estate agent details, the property, bought last November without a mortgage, Land Registry documents show, boasts a large landscaped garden, is ‘beautifully refurbished throughout’ and has ‘elegant reception rooms’ arranged over three floors.
One onlooker said at the time: ‘He seems to be keeping a very low profile. His car is very flashy, so maybe that’s why he hasn’t got it parked on his drive. I don’t think he wants to be recognised.’
The father-of-three moved to the leafy county after selling his London townhouse to Lucy Litwack, owner of the Coco de Mer lingerie firm, last November.
It comes as William and Harry condemned the BBC for its treatment of Diana, saying their mother’s Panorama interview fuelled her ‘fear, paranoia and isolation’ and a wider ‘culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life’.
The furious royal brothers issued scathing statements on the corporation’s actions after an inquiry found the broadcaster covered up ‘deceitful behaviour’ used by Mr Bashir to secure his headline-making interview with their mother in 1995.
Mr Bashir was in ‘serious breach’ of the BBC’s producer guidelines when he faked bank statements and showed them to Diana’s brother Earl Spencer to gain access to the princess, a report by Lord Dyson said.
The findings of the 127-page document have prompted developments, with Scotland Yard, which previously said it would not launch a criminal investigation into Bashir’s actions, now saying it will ‘assess’ the report to ‘to ensure there is no significant new evidence’.
Speaking during a visit to Portsmouth today, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was ‘obviously concerned by the findings of Lord Dyson’s report’.
He said: ‘I can only imagine the feelings of the royal family and I hope very much that the BBC will be taking every possible step to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.’
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said ministers would be looking into whether there were BBC governance issues outside of the remit of Lord Dyson’s reports that needed reviewing.
Mr Buckland told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘My colleague the Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, has rightly said that we should look at the governance structures of the BBC.
‘They have apologised, which is appropriate, but clearly the wider issues of governance and the way things are run now need to be looked at.’
In his rebuke of the BBC, the Duke of Cambridge said: ‘The interview was a major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse and has since hurt countless others.
‘It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her.
‘But what saddens me most, is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived.
‘She was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions.’
Calling for the documentary never to be aired again, William, 38, said: ‘In an era of fake news, public service broadcasting and a free press have never been more important. These failings, identified by investigative journalists, not only let my mother down, and my family down; they let the public down too.’
Away from the Panorama scandal, Harry has admitted in his new documentary series with Oprah Winfrey, the trauma of his mother’s death led him to use alcohol and drugs to ‘mask’ his emotions and to ‘feel less like I was feeling’.
The Duke of Sussex, 36, said in his statement about Diana’s interview: ‘Our mother was an incredible woman who dedicated her life to service. She was resilient, brave, and unquestionably honest.
Mr Bashir is pictured last month looking glum outside his home before driving away in his £66,000 Mercedes EQC 400 car
Diana, Princess of Wales is pictured during her bomshell Panorama interview with BBC journalist Martin Bashir in 1995
BBC journalist Martin Bashir and his wife Deborah at the British Academy TV Awards (Baftas) in London in May 2000
‘The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life. To those who have taken some form of accountability, thank you for owning it.
‘That is the first step towards justice and truth. Yet what deeply concerns me is that practices like these-and even worse-are still widespread today.
‘Then, and now, it’s bigger than one outlet, one network, or one publication. Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed.
‘By protecting her legacy, we protect everyone, and uphold the dignity with which she lived her life. Let’s remember who she was and what she stood for.’
In the aftermath of the bombshell report, an ex-BBC executive who was part of the 1996 internal investigation into Bashir‘s interview with Princess Diana quit Ofcom.
Tim Suter left his role with the broadcast regulator by ‘mutual agreement’, it revealed in a statement today.
Ofcom’s chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes said: ‘By mutual agreement, Tim Suter, Ofcom board member and chair of Ofcom’s content board, is stepping down with immediate effect. We would like to thank Tim for his contribution to Ofcom.’
Tim Suter has left his role with the broadcast regulator, it revealed in a statement today
Suter was previously the managing editor of weekly programmes in BBC News and current affairs.
He spoke to graphic artist Matt Wiessler and was one of the executives who quizzed Bashir about the faked documents.
Suter was at the BBC for 15 years, having started as a radio drama producer before moving on to documentaries and then joining Newsnight.
The former producer was a founding partner at Ofcom in 2003 and was responsible for all aspects of content regulation.
Among the issues he handled was the reform of the rights framework for the independent production sector.
Earlier in his career, in 1999, he joined the Department for Culture, Media and Sport as a specialist advisor to the Secretary of State.
He was later appointed Head of Broadcasting Policy, overseeing the 2003 Communications Act and the creation of Ofcom.
Earlier today, the Prime Minister told reporters during a visit to Portsmouth that he was ‘obviously concerned’ by Lord Dyson’s findings.
‘I can only imagine the feelings of the royal family and I hope very much that the BBC will be taking every possible step to make sure nothing like this ever happens again,’ he added.
The comments came as ministers threatened an overhaul of BBC governance – and Tory MPs insisted the corporation faces ‘existential’ questions.
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland confirmed that the government would be looking at ‘wider issues’ after ‘damning’ failings were exposed.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has suggested there could be drastic reforms to the BBC’s structure before its charter is renewed.
During an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, it was put to Mr Buckland that some people thought the police should be involved following Lord Dyson’s inquiry.
Robert Buckland replied: ‘That, of course, is a matter for the police and the independent prosecutorial authorities, and I’m not going to say anything to prejudge or to influence any such line of inquiry.
‘But I think anybody reading the headlines and the summary of Lord Dyson’s findings will be struck by his use of those words, fraud and deception and the like, and clearly those sort of issues, I’m afraid, could and do arise.’
Asked if a second inquiry was needed to look at wider questions not in the remit of Lord Dyson’s work, such as the handling of whistleblowers, Mr Buckland said: ‘I think all of us need to carefully comb through the report and if indeed there are issues that specifically Lord Dyson wasn’t able, due to the remit that he was given to look at, then there should be, and I’m sure there will be, an opportunity to do just that. ‘
Mr Buckland said the government will ‘take time’ to look at the details of the Dyson report.
‘There may be issues that Lord Dyson wasn’t asked to cover that need to be looked at more widely, so it is a very serious moment for the BBC,’ he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
‘They have apologised, which is appropriate, but clearly the wider issues of governance and the way things are run now need to be looked at.’
He added on Sky News: ‘An apology is a start but I don’t think it’s the end of it.’
In a tweet posted last night, Mr Dowden said: ‘Lord Dyson’s report reveals damning failings at the heart of the BBC.
‘We will now reflect on Lord Dyson’s thorough report and consider whether further governance reforms at the BBC are needed in the mid-term Charter review.’
The broadcaster is in talks with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport over the next licence fee settlement, which would begin in 2027.
But Downing Street said the review will only look at the corporation’s governance and regulation, not its editorial independence.
Following the publication of Lord Dyson’s report into the handling of the Panorama interview of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman was asked if the BBC’s editorial independence was under threat in an upcoming review of the Royal Charter under which it operates.
The PM said he was ‘obviously concerned’ by Lord Dyson’s findings about the corporation’s conduct in the episode 25 years ago
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden raised the prospect of major changes in a tweet last night
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland confirmed that the government would be looking at ‘wider issues’ after ‘damning failings’ were exposed by Lord Dyson’s investigation
He pointed to a statement made by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden who said ministers would now consider whether further governance reforms were needed, and added: ‘I would point you to the details of the mid-term charter review which, as you know, takes place between 2022 and 2024 and it can only look at the way the BBC is governed and regulated.’
The inquiry found that the BBC fell short of ‘high standards of integrity and transparency’ over Bashir’s 1995 interview with Diana.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said there were ‘searching questions’ for the BBC in the wake of the report by Lord Dyson into its handling of the Panorama interview of Diana, Princess of Wales.
She told Sky News: ‘With a free press and free media, the media themselves and our broadcasters, and the national broadcaster, has a huge sense of responsibility with the way in which they investigate, review and conduct their own media reports.
‘So there will be very, very strong searching questions for the BBC post the publication of this report.’
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘The way the BBC now reacts to this will help people decide whether or not it has learned its lessons and whether as a publicly funded organisation it stands for the highest standards in journalism.
‘At the moment it is in the dock for the lowest standards. If they try to brush this under the carpet it will enrage people. This was a terrible deception and it has taken 26 years to get to the bottom of it. The BBC must be very clear about what it does next.’
Former Brexit minister Steve Baker said: ‘I hope this disgraceful, trust-shattering affair – which went all the way to the very top, to a future director general – is firmly in the past.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden suggested there could be drastic reforms to the BBC’s structure before its charter is renewed
‘If this sort of thing was still being done by the BBC very serious questions would have to be asked about its existence in its current form.’
Fellow Conservative backbencher Andrew Bridgen warned of ‘a further erosion of trust between the BBC and its increasingly dissatisfied licence fee payers’. He said the BBC ‘has power and authority but no proper accountability to anyone.
‘The BBC needs to go subscription and move into a proper management structure where they are accountable to their customers.’
Julian Knight, chairman of the culture committee, said: ‘This forensic report by Lord Dyson finally gets to the truth of the events behind the BBC Panorama interview.
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‘It raises a number of unacceptable failings by the BBC in its internal investigation of the events behind the interview.’
In a tweet posted last night, Mr Dowden said: ‘Lord Dyson’s report reveals damning failings at the heart of the BBC
The comments came as a report from MPs found the BBC is ‘complacent’ in the face of declining audiences, with 200,000 people per year cancelling their licence fee.
The public accounts committee accused it of having ‘ducked the hard choices’ on cuts to frontline staff and said it was ‘unambitious’ about reform.
Meg Hillier, chairman of the cross-party committee, said: ‘Moving bits of this titanic organisation around the country, reorganising the deck chairs, just won’t cut it in the face of intense and rapidly changing global competition.’
