Princess Diana's explosive Panorama interview led to her tragic death, says friend

Princess Diana was exploited for partaking in bombshell Panorama interview - something that ultimately led to her death - says her close friend Rosa Monckton.

Monckton said had it not been for the interview, Princess Diana would have still been alive.

The interview, conducted by BBC's Martin Bashir, "forensically exploited" and contributed to her untimely death, she added.

Penning a piece for Daily Mail, Monckton wrote, "Diana changed from being very concerned with day-to-day matters, just like any normal friend, to suddenly becoming obsessed with plots against her."

Monckton said Diana got disturbed so much that she started to suspect that Prince Charles was having an affair with her sons' nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke, and changed her landline number at Kensington Palace.

"She believed Bashir's outrageous claims — one of his skills, clearly, was in exploiting her susceptibility to the idea that she was being spied on by 'enemies.' He even commissioned forged documents to prove this," she added. "You have to remember that this was a woman who spent all her married life being chased by the paparazzi. Little wonder she was susceptible."

Earlier, it was reported that Bashir had forged bank documents to pressure Diana into agreeing for the said interview.

Shortly after, BBC said it will hold a 'robust investigation' into the matter and hold people responsible.

"The BBC is taking this very seriously and we want to get to the truth. We are in the process of commissioning a robust and independent investigation. The recent stories have highlighted some concerning issues. The BBC must hold ourselves to the gold standard of journalism," Tim Davie, BBC's director-general, said.