The BBC has written to the royal family to apologise for the circumstances surrounding the Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, it is understood.
The corporation has returned the awards it received for the explosive television event in 1995, when Diana told journalist Martin Bashir: “Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
An inquiry found the BBC covered up the “deceitful behaviour” Bashir used to secure his headline-making world exclusive and “fell short of high standards of integrity and transparency”.
The journalist was in “serious breach” of the BBC’s producer guidelines when he faked bank statements and showed them to Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, to gain access to the princess, the report said.