‘Her role as head of state was carried out in public without her private feelings ever intruding on what she had to do as sovereign,’ he adds. ‘So I think people really respect that ability to define what your duty is and then keep to it impeccably through all sorts of storms.’
It remains to be seen whether King Charles will continue in this regard, Dimbleby adds, but says, ‘I was impressed by the way that Charles took over immediately. I thought that was both thoughtful and dignified, and also reminded one that whoever is sovereign, it’s the idea of a sovereign that is part of our constitution.
‘Some people seemed to feel that Britain had fallen off the end of a cliff with the death of the Queen; on the contrary it seemed to suggest that our constitution was in quite good nick.’
In Days that Shook the BBC, Dimbleby shows quite a lot of the Maitlis interview with Prince Andrew, but none of the Bashir interview with Princess Diana. I get the impression that he was slightly sympathetic to Bashir, and felt the BBC treated him badly? ‘No. Certainly not.’ It was an absolutely gripping interview though, wasn’t it? ‘It was well done.’ And she was perfectly willing to do it? ‘Yes, that’s my view. Because she had tried to get Max Hastings to tell her story and he said she shouldn’t do it and he wouldn’t touch it.’ So no one could say she was coerced? ‘No. Because I think Bashir’s questions were quite open, he wasn’t trying to steer her. But it must be pretty horrible for William having to listen to that – three of us in this marriage – all that intimate stuff.’
He says in his book that political interviewing risks terminal decline, partly because there are few long-form interviews and also so many refuseniks. He was shocked that Liz Truss pulled out of her interview with Nick Robinson last month. ‘Unbelievable. Boris did exactly the same: he let Corbyn be interviewed by Andrew Neil but when it was his turn to have his feet held to the fire, he pulled out. I really think that’s awful. I think it’s dangerous actually, the manipulation… Johnson is a particularly egregious example of someone who manipulates – over the proroguing, and the Owen Paterson business – this unnervingly dishonourable behaviour all the time.’
Margaret Thatcher used to do an interview with him on Panorama every year and although she found it was nerve-racking, she did it because she believed that politicians ought to put their case across. ‘So I am very critical if it becomes just soundbites or – worse in a way – the sort of pretence of being open, doing phone-ins and talk-ins where actually you rule. The worst thing in the world is a one-to-one interview… like you’re doing.’
Eh? ‘I mean if you’re a politician and you’ve got more than one interviewer it’s easy because you can play them off against each other, but if you’ve got, say, Andrew Neil quizzing you face to face that is really testing, and it’s also really important.’
Dimbleby is probably best known for chairing Question Time, which he did for 25 years. The downside was that it meant he was often recognised in the street. ‘I have never resented it, but it has a price. I lost my privacy in public places and became self-conscious. And it was sometimes difficult for family or friends. If I’m in Paris or Rome I can relax and stop and look in shop windows and browse in bookshops but in London I can’t. That’s the curse of TV. But it’s the only curse. Otherwise it’s a blessing.’
Were his children embarrassed by having a famous father? ‘I don’t know. I certainly was by my father. It’s an odd idea and it probably makes me very private when you ask these questions.’
