Prince William’ infuriated’ that Harry’s show used a clip of Diana’s infamous BBC Panorama interview

Prince William is understood to be “enraged” that a clip of the Panorama interview with his mother that he asked to never be shown again was used in his brother’s Netflix series.

While the Prince and Princess of Wales decided not to watch the Harry and Meghan documentary, a palace source confirmed that the couple were aware of its content.

Sources close to Prince William spoke of the heir to the throne being “disappointed” to learn that Prince Harry chose to include clips of his mother’s account of the collapse of her marriage from her 1995 interview with rogue BBC reporter Martin Bashir. .

William said last year that the footage “should never be broadcast again” after it was revealed that Bashir spread a staggering web of lies and slander to get his scoop.

But in an extraordinary move that ignored the Prince’s plea, the first episode of the Harry and Meghan documentary featured a clip from the Panorama interview, during which Princess Diana described the press’s interest in her as “daunting.” and phenomenal.”

Just before the footage is shown, Prince Harry tells interviewers: “I think now we all know that she was tricked into giving the interview, but at the same time she told the truth about her experience.”

BBC director-general Tim Davie insisted last year that the interview would never be shown again because of the “shocking” way in which it was obtained. He also pledged that the Corporation would not license his Panorama images “in whole or in part to other broadcasters.”

The Mail on Sunday learned that Netflix did not need to get permission from the BBC to use the clips, and instead used an exception within copyright law called ‘fair dealing’.

Under this arrangement, a broadcaster can legitimately use short snippets of another organization’s work to report on ‘current events’.

Experts say they simply have to make sure that the images have been previously broadcast to the public, that too many images are not used, and that they acknowledge who owns it. The ‘BBC Motion Gallery’ is listed as a source of footage in the end credits of the first episode of the Netflix documentary.

Crucially, the so-called “fair deal” defense means that Netflix and other broadcasters could continue to air clips of Bashir’s notorious interview without needing permission from the BBC.

Sarah Mountain, an intellectual property lawyer and partner at a law firm, said: “While the BBC may say ‘we won’t license anyone’, that’s not what happened here.”

“The BBC has no right to prevent people from dealing fairly with the work, provided that the applicable principles of copyright law have been complied with. So in a context of current events reporting and fair dealing, we could see more use of images.

Last year, a damning report by former High Court justice Lord Dyson confirmed that Bashir acted deceptively by forging bank documents shown to the princess to convince her that those close to her were being paid to betray her.

And in a searing statement outside Kensington Palace, Prince William spoke of his “indescribable sadness” after learning that the BBC’s failures had contributed to the “fear, paranoia and isolation” his mother experienced in her last years. years.

He called on broadcasters not to broadcast the interview, saying, “I am of the firm opinion that this Panorama show has no legitimacy and should never be broadcast again.”

BBC managers are understood to be baffled as to how Netflix got hold of the footage.

A BBC source said: ‘As we’ve said before, the BBC will never show the show again; nor will we license it in whole or in part to other broadcasters: the decision to show the interview is a Netflix matter.”

Bob Seely, a Conservative MP, said the BBC should demand that Netflix remove the clip from the documentary.

“For the sake of the BBC, you should write to Netflix and ask them not to use the material.”