Why This Throwback Photo Princess Diana's Brother Just Shared Has People Emotional
Princess Diana is as much beloved today and she was when she was alive. Especially by those who knew her best, like her younger brother Charles Spencer. On May 20, an investigation done by the BBC resulted in the network apologizing to him for her tell-all interview 25 years ago and it must be dredging up some old memories, as he immediately took to Twitter to share a sweet throwback picture.
In 1995, Princess Diana gave a tell-all interview to Martin Bashir (the one where she says there were three people in her marriage), but it's recently been the subject of some controversy. After a long investigation, the network recently found that he had deceived Diana and her brother in order to get her on TV. According to the investigation, Bashir faked bank documents that she showed to Spencer in order to gain his trust. At the time, landing the Princess Di interview was as big as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's sit down with Oprah Winfrey, but it was done under false pretenses.
Lord John Dyson, a former justice of the British Supreme Court, said in a 127-page report, via the New York Times, "Without justification, the BBC fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark." The apology to Spencer was long overdue, and judging by his social media posts, he has had his sister's back for all of his life.
Charles Spencer has always had Diana's back
Charles Spencer wrote in response to the findings of the investigation into his sister's interview with Martin Bashir, "I'd like to thank the TV journalist Andy Webb for his tireless professionalism in bringing the Bashir-Panorama-BBC scandal to light. If he hadn't have pursued this story for well over a decade, and shared his findings with me last October, today's findings wouldn't have surfaced." And then he also posted the above picture of him and Princess Diana as kids, hanging out in their bathing suits.
He captioned the photo, "Some bonds go back a very long way." And indeed they have, as many people noted in the Twitter thread that Spencer has dedicated his life to defending his sister and protecting her legacy. One person wrote, "Thank you for looking out for your sister to this very day! I do hope you are close to her sons, especially Harry." Another added, "Protecting your sister's memory and ensuring that their is some kind of justice. watching the interview there was some coarsive behaviour from Martin Bashir. It was quite evident. It is a never-ending tale of betrayal for Diana, Princess of Wales."
While he can't bring his sister back, the formal apology from the BBC likely feels like a whole new chapter for Spencer.