LONDON - In an unprecedented and rare personal statement and blistering attack on the BBC, Prince William said it brought him "indescribable sadness" that Martin Bashir's interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, had "contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation" in her final years.

The royal spoke out after the publication of a report which concluded that the former Panorama reporter had used “deceitful behaviour” to induce Diana, Princess of Wales, to agree to the 1995 interview.

The Duke of Cambridge blamed the "failures" of BBC bosses for the harm done to his mother, after an inquiry concluded Bashir used "deceitful behaviour" in a "serious breach" of the broadcaster's guidelines to secure the Panorama interview in 1995.

His brother Prince Harry went further by directly linking the interview to their mother's death.

After a six-month inquiry, retired judge Lord Dyson accused the BBC of effectively covering up Bashir's wrongdoing.

Within weeks of the bombshell Panorama interview, concern began to grow in the BBC that Bashir may have hoodwinked the Princess into taking part.

The 127-page report, which was released this afternoon, concluded that Bashir "deceived and induced" Earl Spencer, the brother of Princess Diana, into arranging the interview, in which Diana famously declared that "there were three of us in this marriage".

The BBC's current director-general Tim Davie has said the corporation accepts "in full" the findings of Lord Dyson's report. Bashir apologised in a statement but maintained he remains "immensely proud of that interview".