Former BBC director resigns from current job after Princess Diana interview investigation

The former BBC director during the 1995 bombshell interview of the late Princess Diana resigned from his current job after an investigation found that a BBC journalist used deceitful methods to get an interview with her.

Tony Hall resigned as the board chairman of Britain’s National Gallery on Saturday and issued a statement saying he didn’t want to be a “distraction to an institution I care deeply about,” The Associated Press reported.

His resignation comes after retired Judge Lord Dyson made public an internal BBC investigation that showed journalist Martin Bashir used “deceitful behavior” to get Princess Diana to agree to an interview.

The 126-page report by Dyson showed that Bashir used falsified bank statements that said the media was paying associates of the princess’s family to help convince her to do the interview.

“As I said two days ago, I am very sorry for the events of 25 years ago and I believe leadership means taking responsibility,” said Hall, who served as the director of BBC news and current affairs at the time of the interview.

The British government will be reviewing the oversight rules of the news outlet following the report, the AP noted.

Prince Harry and Prince William both spoke out against the BBC after the news dropped.

“Our mother was an incredible woman who dedicated her life to service. She was resilient, brave and unquestionably honest. The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life,” Prince Harry said.

“It is welcome that the BBC accepts Lord Dyson’s findings in full, which are extremely concerning that BBC employees lied and used fake documents to obtain the interview with my mother; made lurid and false claims about the royal family which played on her fears and fueled paranoia; displayed woeful incompetence when investigating complaints and concerns about the program; and were evasive in their reporting to the media and covered up what they knew from their internal investigation,” Prince William said.