UK police repeats it won't start criminal investigation into Princess Diana's Panorama interview

British police has once again refused to launch a criminal investigation into Princess Diana's Panorama interview, stating that it did not find enough evidence of criminal activity.

The Metropolitan Police had started an investigation into the 1995 interview last year after receiving "correspondence alleging unlawful activity," but announced in March this year that it won't be "appropriate" to begin a criminal investigation against the interviewer Martin Bashir. The police also assured that the matter will be re-assesed if "any significant new evidence come to light."

Keeping with its promise, the police reconsidered a criminal probe into the matter after an independent inquiry by Lord Dyson published in May discovered that Bashir had used "deceitful" methods to secure the interview with the British royal. "Specialist detectives" examined the Dyson report, looked at the law, and sought independent legal advice from prosecutors and the British government, but once again refused to launch criminal proceedings into the matter, reports BBC.

Scotland Yard said in a statement on Wednesday, "In March 2021, the Metropolitan Police Service determined it was not appropriate to begin a criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful activity in connection with a documentary broadcast in 1995. Following the publication of Lord Dyson's report in May, specialist detectives assessed its contents and looked carefully at the law - once again obtaining independent legal advice from Treasury Counsel as well as consulting the Crown Prosecution Service."

"As a result, MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) has not identified evidence of activity that constituted a criminal offence and will therefore be taking no further action," the statement concluded.

It comes despite the statements from those close to Princess Diana, including her sons Prince William and Prince Harry and her brother Charles Spencer, that the consequences of the interview destroyed her life. Rosa Monckton, a close friend of Diana, previously said that the lies Bashir peddled to secure the interview made the royal extremely paranoid and eventually contributed to her death.

"Diana lost her royal title. Had she retained it, she would have still been in the embrace of the Royal Family when in Paris on August 31, 1997. And she would almost certainly not have been in the incapable hands of a speeding drunk driver employed by Mohamed Al-Fayed, who owned the Ritz Hotel where she and his son, Dodi, had dined," she said.

Harry also said in his statement following Dyson's report, "The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life."