BBC To Donate $1.6M To Charities Linked With Princess Diana
deadline.comThe BBC has donated £1.4M ($1.6M) to charities linked to Princess Diana following the Martin Bashir scandal.The sum has been divided between Centrepoint, English National Ballet, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, The Leprosy Mission, National Aids Trust, The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and The Diana Award.The BBC stressed the donations will come from commercial revenue rather than the licence fee, which may have elicited criticism.The move comes after a report last year from Lord Dyson identified “clear failings” over the way in which the notorious Panorama interview between Bashir and Diana was secured in 1995.The BBC has since apologized to those involved.“The BBC had indicated its intention to donate to charity the sales proceeds derived from the 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales,” said a statement.“The BBC has now done so.
Given the findings of Lord Dyson, we think this is the right and appropriate course of action.”In a bid to draw a line under the saga, the BBC recently said it will “never screen” the interview again and urged other broadcasters to follow suit, although a recent Sky doc did include the footage.Diana is currently the subject of numerous documentaries to mark the 25 year anniversary of her death.
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