Page 278 - They Also Served

from losing its licence fee, as mooted by the prime minister, Hussey’s relationship with Birt became increasingly strained. In 1995, Birt informed Hussey, at the last minute, that he intended to broadcast the Martin Bashir interview with Diana, Princess of Wales. The timing was designed to give the pro-royal family Hussey no time to formally object. As has since been proved, the interview was set up under false pretences, and the corporation has compensated some of those caught up in the web of deceit.
Hussey served his full time and retired in 1996. A somewhat Woosterish figure, he once said, ‘I have always enjoyed being thought a fool. It gives you an immediate advantage over those around you’. Created Baron Hussey of North Bradley he died in 2006. A tall, powerful man, Hussey bore his disability stoically, refusing painkillers and taking a whisky if his wounds gave him trouble, and a second if the first did not work.
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