Princess Diana's Brother Claims He Was 'Groomed,' 'Deceived' By BBC Journalist

Princess Diana's brother Charles Spencer has claimed that BBC journalist Martin Bashir "groomed" him to get access to his sister.

In a new op-ed for The Mail on Sunday, Spencer called on police to continue investigating the deceitful methods used by Bashir to secure his bombshell 1995 "Panorama" interview with Princess Diana.

This came after former royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke won her case against the BBC over Bashir's "totally unfounded allegations" about her. An official BBC inquiry had found that in an effort to land his interview with Princess Diana, Bashir manipulated the late royal into believing that Legge-Bourke had become pregnant by Prince Charles and produced fake bank statements as proof.

Spencer, 58, wrote in the op-ed that Bashir also manipulated him in an effort to get close to the late Princess of Wales.

"I feel that I was groomed... shown forged bank statements; I was told of underhand payments, of spying, and of appalling deception. But, all along I was the one being deceived in order for Mr. Bashir to get to my late sister," the 9th Earl Spencer wrote.

He added that his sister was "extremely vulnerable" at the time as information shared only with her close friends was leaked to the press.

"She was understandably rattled by this," Spencer continued. "Looking back, I suspect she was a very early victim of 'phone-hacking' by unknown perpetrators, but nobody knew about this criminal practice in 1995, so she was accepting of the outrageous claims that dark forces were at work."

He went on to say that he was often asked "by concerned members of the public" why police have not prosecuted those involved for "what various senior lawyers have told [him] is clearly unlawful and criminal behavior."

"I hope the police will reconsider their responsibilities in this matter. Only they have the power to get to the bottom of this terrible scandal, which led Diana to feel even more exposed and alone, and deceived her into forgoing those who cared for her and would have protected her," he added.

Spencer claimed that Princess Diana was told lies that "led to her speaking in a way that set her on a course where she was without due protection when she needed it most."

"All those responsible must be held to account," he added.

Prior to his op-ed, Spencer shared his reaction to former nanny Legge-Bourke's win via Twitter, saying that while he was "delighted" that another innocent victim was vindicated, it was also baffling to him that "no criminal charges have been leveled against those responsible."

Legge-Bourke, who was employed as a nanny to Prince William and Prince Harry in the '90s, received an apology and an undisclosed "substantial" sum from the network Thursday, the BBC reported.

The BBC also issued a formal apology to Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry and said it would never again broadcast Princess Diana's 1995 interview.

"I would like to take this opportunity to apologize publicly to her, to The Prince of Wales, and to the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex, for the way in which Princess Diana was deceived and the subsequent impact on all their lives," BBC director general Tim Davie said in a statement.

Metropolitan Police previously announced Bashir had "not identified evidence of activity that constituted a criminal offense," according to the BBC.