Inside PANORAMA SCANDAL

Thirty years on from the BBC's infamous interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, Woman investigates what really happened

- KERRY PARNELL

On 20 November 1995, the nation watched, transfixed, as Diana shared her deepest emotions on air - talking about everything from postnatal depression and bulimia to her affair and Charles' relationship with Camilla. 'There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,' she said. BBC journalist Martin Bashir (right) had secured the scoop of the century until the interview became a scandal all of its own.

How it started

Bashir first approached Diana's brother Earl Spencer, who introduced him to Diana. But Bashir's methods of gaining trust would later be questioned, over allegations he asked a graphic designer to fake bank statements showing payments from a newspaper to one of the earl's former staff, purportedly for information.

'I was groomed: I was shown forged bank statements; I was told of underhand payments, of spying, and of appalling deception. But, all along I was the one being deceived in order for Mr Bashir to get to my late sister, through me,' Earl Spencer later wrote in the Daily Mail. He added that 'Diana was extremely vulnerable' and 'accepting of the outrageous claims that dark forces were at work'.

What did Diana say?