BBC to pay 'substantial damages' to William and Harry’s former nanny over 'deceitful' claims
July 22, 2022, 9:19 am

BBC to pay 'substantial damages' to William and Harry’s former nanny over 'deceitful' claims

BBC offices in Scotland, UK/Pixabay

The BBC on Thursday (July 21) announced it will pay “substantial damages” to Prince William and Harry’s former nanny over “deceitful” allegations made against her by a journalist to get an exclusive interview with Princess Diana, the Anadolu Agency reported.

It said that journalist Martin Bashir, known for his infamous interview with Diana, claimed that royal nanny Alexandra Pettifer, formerly known as Tiggy Legge-Bourke, had an affair with Prince Charles while working as his assistant in 1995.

At London’s High Court, Pettifer received a public apology from the BBC after winning her defamation claim against the public broadcaster, it mentioned.

Pettifer said in a statement: “I am disappointed that it needed legal action for the BBC to recognize the serious harm I have been subjected to. Sadly, I am one of many people whose lives have been scarred by the deceitful way in which the BBC Panorama was made and the BBC’s subsequent failure to properly investigate the making of the programme.”

“The distress caused to the royal family is a source of great upset to me. I know first-hand how much they were affected at the time, and how the programme and the false narrative it created have haunted the family in the years since. Especially because, still today, so much about the making of the programme is yet to be adequately explained.”

Pettifer’s lawyers said in a statement that she was pleased the BBC agreed to apologize “unreservedly” and will “assist her in repairing the substantial harm it has caused her.”

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They added that the BBC also agreed to pay her a “substantial sum of damages,” as well as her legal costs.

The BBC’s legal team said the corporation “accepts that the allegations were wholly baseless, should never have been made, and that the BBC did not, at the time, adequately investigate serious concerns over the circumstances in which the BBC secured the Panorama interview.”

Tim Davie, director-general of the BBC, said: “Following the publication of the Dyson Report last year we been working with those who suffered as a result of the deceitful tactics used by the BBC in pursuit of its interview with Diana, Princess of Wales for the Panorama programme in 1995.”

The damning report into the interview, published in May 2021, found that Bashir used “deceitful behavior” to land his world exclusive 1995 interview.

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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.”

He termed it “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.”

He said: “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.”

Davie added that the program would never be shown on the BBC’s channels again.

Source: aa

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
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Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”