Spiritual healer blames Martin Bashir for Princess Diana's death

A friend of Princess Diana, Simone Simmons, said the royal would still be alive today had she not done that infamous BBC Panorama interview with Martin Bashir.

The spiritual healer blamed the British journalist who she said "conned" the Princess of Wales "into doing the programme." She said the 58-year old did not just use forged bank documents but also straight-out lied to the royal's face during the interview.

"He lied to her. He said her home was bugged and phones were tapped. He was an out and out b*****d," Simmons told The Sun adding that Bashir destroyed Princess Diana "psychologically and made her paranoid — saying the royals wanted to bump her off and distrust her loyal staff and friends."

The 61-year old remembered going on her hands and knees as she and the royal looked everywhere for non-existent wiretaps. The princess even contacted British Telecom. She said Diana wrongfully sacked her driver on false claims that he leaked information to the press.

Simmons said she remembered seeing Bashir for the first time at Kensington Palace. She recalled how Princess Diana was so excited when told that the interview will focus on her charity works. The royal even prepared "a lot of information on the table about her charities."

"She came in very excited and said 'Simone, he is going to do a programme about my charities, isn't that wonderful'. I thought it was brilliant. But as time went on nothing transpired and we all know what happened," she said as she revealed her nickname for Bashir as the Poison Dwarf because his interview led to Princess Diana's divorce from Prince Charles, losing her HRH titles, and ultimately her death in a tragic car crash.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Diana would still be alive today if she hadn't spoken to Bashir. I hope they throw the book at him. Justice should be done," Simmons added.

Bashir reportedly used "deceitful" means to obtain his interview with Princess Diana. He allegedly used forged bank statements that showed two senior courtiers receiving pay from security services in exchange for information on the royal. He used the papers to get Diana's brother Earl Spencer to talk her into doing the programme. The result of an investigation into the Panorama interview will be released on BBC1 on Thursday.