I am satisfied that the Diana note is a genuine document.'Д®arl Spencer has told a new Panorama programme: 'I have seen the content of the letter. 'Within a few hours, Mr Bashir obtained a note dated 22 December 1995, signed by her which supported what he had said. 'They accepted that he was telling them the truth, but asked him to provide independent evidence that Princess Diana had not been shown the documents. Crucially, he told them that he had not shown them to anyone. Lord Dyson's report said: 'Mr Bashir gave them an account of the faking of the documents. The note was written after Mr Bashir was asked by BBC executives to provide evidence Diana had not been shown fake bank statements as he tried to gain access to her. 'I consented to the interview on Panorama without any undue pressure and have no regrets concerning the matter.'

The letter, dated 22 December 1995, said: 'Martin Bashir did not show me any documents, nor give me any information that I was not previously aware of. In the note, she defended her decision to be interviewed by Mr Bashir and she had 'no regrets'. It comes as a letter which Diana wrote over a month after the programme aired has been published by the inquiry for the first time.

They did not scrutinise Mr Bashir's account with the necessary degree of scepticism and caution: they knew he had lied three times when he said that he had not shown the fake statements to Earl Spencer (these were serious lies for which he gave no explanation)Дў:06 William: 'Deceitful' BBC interview failed my mother.

The new inquiry said Lord Hall and Mrs Sloman failed to interview Earl Spencer, which 'was a big mistake'.In particular, it did not address the specific question of whether, by showing the fake statements to Earl Spencer, Mr Bashir was able to secure an introduction to Princess Diana and thereby an interview.It said the 1996 investigation did not achieve its purpose of getting to the bottom of what Mr Bashir had done or why he had done it.A 1996 investigation conducted by Lord Hall, who was director of BBC news and current affairs when the Diana interview was screened, and Anne Sloman was woefully ineffective, the report found.The BBC 'fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark' in the subsequent investigation.The inquiry found this behaviour was in serious breach of the 1993 edition of the BBC's producer guidelines on straight dealing.

By gaining access to Princess Diana in this way, Mr Bashir was able to persuade her to agree to give the interview

By showing Earl Spencer the fake Waller and Jephson/Aylard statements and informing him of their contents, Mr Bashir deceived and induced him to arrange a meeting with Princess Diana.

The report said it is likely that these statements were created by Mr Bashir and contained information he had fabricated.

A few days later, probably on 14 September, Mr Bashir also produced to Earl Spencer other bank statements which, he said, showed payments into the account of Mr Jephson and Richard Aylard (the Prince of Wales' former private secretary).

Nobody has criticised him for accepting the commission The report said Mr Wiessler is an entirely reputable graphic designer who did freelance work for the BBC.

Mr Bashir showed the documents to Earl Spencer on a date early in September 1995.Mr Bashir commissioned fake bank statements from graphic designer Matt Wiessler, purportedly showing payments by Penfolds Consultants and News International into the bank account of Alan Waller, a former employee of Earl Spencer.What are the main findings of the 127-page report? Mr Bashir also showed him mocked-up documents, relating to a former employee of the earl, that Mr Bashir also used as he tried to gain access to the princess.

How to fake bank statement