Upcoming play about Princess Diana’s infamous BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir will use ‘very limited number of quotes for legal reasons – after Prince William called for the exchange to never be aired again

• Only two or three liens from the disgraced interview will be used in the play  

An upcoming play about Princess Diana’s infamous BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir will use a ‘very limited’ number of quotes for legal reasons, after Prince William vowed for the exchange never to be aired again.

Only two or three lines from the disgraced interview will be used in the production, creator Jonathan Maitland, who worked alongside Bashir at the BBC and ITV, said.

The former journalist, who also wrote The Last Temptation Of Boris Johnson, insisted he will not use ‘substantial chunks’ of the interview because of the Prince of Wales’s view, and copyright law.

He said: ‘On the advice of lawyers, we can use a very limited amount of it, i.e. two or three lines – but only ones well known and famous enough to be in the public domain as historical quotes, like ‘there were three of us in this marriage’.

The play comes two years after a report by Lord Dyson concluded that the BBC had covered up ‘deceitful behaviour’ by Bashir, who used fake documents to earn Princess Diana’s trust.

An upcoming play about Princess Diana’s infamous BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir will use a ‘very limited’ number of quotes for legal reasons

Creator and former journalist Jonathan Maitland (pictured) insisted he will not use ‘substantial chunks’ of the interview because of the Prince of Wales’s view, and copyright law

It led to a furious Prince William demanding a boycott of the 1995 interview, blasting Bashir’s ‘lurid and false claims’ to fuel the ‘paranoia and isolation’ of his mother’s final years. 

READ ALSO: The Crown’s portrayal of Princess Diana’s BBC Panorama interview is ‘too kind’ and fails to convey a ‘wicked campaign’, claims journalist who helped uncover Martin Bashir’s deceit

The production, directed by Royal Shakespeare Company pro Michael Fentiman, is set to premier at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, London next month. 

It is described as giving ‘an insight into the story behind the interview: the woman who gave it, the man who made it happen, and the institute that broadcast it’.

Mr Maitland added: ‘There’s an awful lot of her trying to decide whether or not she should do the interview and, if so, what she should say.

‘Then there’s a kind of bit of the interview, but with kind of working around it… and then there’s a lot of the aftermath and the subsequent scandal and fall from grace of Bashir.’

Paul Burrell, Princess Diana’s former royal butler turned I’m A Celebrity Star, will also be played by an actor as a ‘narrator who breaks the fourth wall’. 

Last year, hit Netflix series The Crown was criticised for being ‘too kind’ when presenting the Panorama interview, with critics claiming the reality of the betrayal was ‘far worse’ than how it has been played out onscreen.

Prince William demanded a boycott of the 1995 interview following Lord Dyson’s report, blasting Bashir’s ‘lurid and false claims’ to fuel the ‘paranoia and isolation’ of his mother’s final years 

Prince Harry’s decision to use footage of the interview in his Netflix docuseries came despite both brothers previously slamming the BBC over the interview. Pictured: The brother’s together following the death of the Queen  

Andy Webb, who had previously spoken out against the BBC’s treatment of the former Princess of Wales, spent years trying to get to the bottom of Bashir’s interview.

While he praised The Crown’s depiction of the incident overall, he said some aspects portraying the ‘wicked campaign of deceit’ could have been improved. 

Writing in the Telegraph in November he said the scenes had been ‘carefully researched’ and showed how ‘horrendous’ the deception was, but said it fell short by depicting Bashir himself as the ‘lone assassin who duped his bosses as thoroughly as the Princess herself’.

He argued that in his opinion, there were also several people at The BBC involved in covering up Bashir’s deception.

Meanwhile, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were also criticised for using elements of the interview in their explosive Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, which aired last November.

Midway through the first episode of the series, clips are shown of Princess Diana speaking to the journalist. 

Footage from Princess Diana’s interview with Martin Bashir has been shown in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries

Journalist Andy Webb, who worked for the BBC, said The Crown has been ‘too kind’ in depicting the deceit. Pictured: Elizabeth Debicki and Prasanna Puwanarajah as Diana and Bashir in series five of The Crown

In The Crown’s last series, a four-minute long depiction of the 1995 interview is depicted, despite Prince William asking for it ‘never to be aired again’ when the Dyson report found Bashir had played on Princess Diana’s paranoia

Sources close to Prince of Wales at the time said he would have been ‘furious’ that his brother seemingly appeared to ignore his plea that the Panorama interview never be aired again.

‘Sadly once more it shows the gulf between the two brothers couldn’t be wider,’ one told the Mirror. 

READ HERE: Prince William ‘will be furious’ at clip of Diana’s interview with shamed BBC journalist Martin Bashir on Harry and Meghan’s Netflix series, sources claim

Before the clip is shown, Harry, speaking about his mother’s struggles with press intrusion, says: ‘I think she had a lived experience of how she was struggling living that life. She felt compelled to talk about it.

‘Especially in that Panorama interview. I think we all now know that she was deceived into giving the interview. But at the same time she spoke the truth of her experience.’

In the snippet from the Panorama interview used in the Netflix episode, Diana is shown saying: ‘I still to this day find the interest daunting and phenomenal. Because I actually don’t like being the centre of attention.

‘When I have my public duties, I understand when I get out the car I’m being photographed. But actually, it’s now when I go out of my door, my front door, I’m being photographed. I never know where a lens is going to be.’

The decision to use the footage comes despite both brothers previously slamming the BBC over the interview.

Prince Harry slammed the exchange as ‘unethical’, following the publishing of Lord Dyson’s report.

At the time he thanked those who took ‘some form of accountability’ for ‘owning it’, but said ‘the ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took [Diana’s] life’. 

Both brother’s received ‘unconditional apology’ letters from the BBC over Bashir’s conduct and the 25-year cover up. 

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