A top aide of Princess Diana has won a "substantial payout" from the BBC over the Martin Bashir scandal.
Patrick Jephson, Diana, Princess of Wales’ private secretary, has been paid a “substantial sum” in damages by the BBC over the way Martin Bashir obtained his 1995 Panorama Interview.
The organisation apologised “unreservedly” for the incident.
A BBC statement said: “The BBC and Commander Patrick Jephson have reached a settlement following publication of the Dyson Report.
“Commander Jephson was the Private Secretary to Diana, Princess of Wales. The BBC accepts and acknowledges that serious harm was caused to Commander Jephson as a result of the circumstances in which the 1995 interview with Diana, Princess of Wales was obtained, which have become apparent as a result of the Dyson Report.
“The BBC apologises unreservedly to Commander Jephson for the harm caused to him and has paid his legal costs.
"The BBC has also paid Commander Jephson a substantial sum in damages, which he intends to donate in full to British charities nominated by him.”
It is unknown how much the former private secretary was awarded, but it comes at the end of a decades long heartbreaking saga.
Martin Bashir was found to have used deceitful methods to secure his interview with the princess.
He used fake bank statements which falsely suggested individuals within the royal household were being paid to keep the princess under surveillance.
Mr Jephson told the PA news agency he will be donating the money to Ty Hafan, a children’s hospice for which he helped arrange Diana’s patronage in 1995 – the year of the Bashir interview.
He said: “After more than 25 years, it is a relief finally to reach a conclusion to this painful episode.
“I am grateful to Lord Dyson and the journalists whose tenacity has brought the truth to light and I now look forward to donating the damages I have been awarded to Ty Hafan, the hospice for children in Wales, in memory of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.”
The now infamous interview in 1995 featured Diana saying: "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
On top of that she made a number of shocking admissions, including that she suffered from an eating disorder and had tried to hurt herself.
A number of reports were conducted into the circumstances around the interview, and after the most recent, Mr Bashir said: "This is the second time that I have willingly fully co-operated with an investigation into events more than 25 years ago.
"I apologised then, and I do so again now, over the fact that I asked for bank statements to be mocked up.
"It was a stupid thing to do and was an action I deeply regret. But I absolutely stand by the evidence I gave a quarter of a century ago, and again more recently.
"I also reiterate that the bank statements had no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview. Evidence handed to the inquiry in her own handwriting (and published alongside the report today) unequivocally confirms this, and other compelling evidence presented to Lord Dyson reinforces it.
"In fact, despite his other findings, Lord Dyson himself in any event accepts that the princess would probably have agreed to be interviewed without what he describes as my 'intervention'.
"It is saddening that this single issue has been allowed to overshadow the princess' brave decision to tell her story, to courageously talk through the difficulties she faced, and, to help address the silence and stigma that surrounded mental health issues all those years ago.
"She led the way in addressing so many of these issues and that's why I will always remain immensely proud of that interview."
