An ex-press secretary to the Queen lashed out today at BBC’s decision not to publish a 2-part documentary Hosting by Anti-monarchist Amolrajan about William and Harry’s After Megxit, a tumultuous relationship The royals threatened their lawyers with war against the corporation because of disputed claims made in the show.
The Duke of Cambridge, the Queen and Prince Charles are reportedly threatening to boycott the broadcaster over the two-part series believed to contain ‘incendiary’ claims about the brothers smearing each other in the press and a row over whether the BBC failed to give the royals a proper right of reply.
The monarch and her heirs are together expected to collectively complain to regulator Ofcom for the first time in history, with lawyers braced to launch action after it begins at 9pm.
Buckingham Palace also seems to be alarmed that Amol Rajan, an avowed republican who used to call the monarchy ‘absurd,’ was chosen tonight to host the show.
Dickie, the former Queen’s press secretary Dickie Arbiter stated that the selection of Mr Rajan “calls into question all the business about bias and the BBC.” Is it an objective appraisal? It’s still a mystery.
The BBC2 show, called The Princes and the Press, is being edited right up until broadcast and may repeat ‘disputed’ allegations that the siblings briefed smears against each other to the press via their aides.
Earlier this year William attacked the BBC after its failings were exposed surrounding the Martin Bashir Panorama interview with his mother Diana, which the Duke of Cambridge branded ‘deceitful’.
Claims by Omid Scobie that William and his staff leaked a story about Harry’s mental health were cut from ITV film Harry and William: What Went Wrong? After Kensington Palace refuted the claim, it was broadcast on July 1, just hours after being cut from ITV film Harry and William: What Went Wrong?
MailOnline spoke with Richard Fitzwilliams (royal commentator): The Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William made public their concern about the BBC’s two-part programme. This shows that they think the programs might contain incendiary materials.
“The Palace’s reported protests run the risk that they will increase viewing numbers, but the Palace believes that viewers may see a viewpoint that may not be well-supported.”
According to his aides, Prince William has not briefed Harry about the Megxit story. This was in protest at a BBC documentary that will be broadcast tonight.
An earlier photo of the Queen and Prince Charles on their way to Balmoral Estate Cricket Pavilion. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have reportedly threatened to boycott broadcaster Ofcom and make complaints to Ofcom.
A veil of secrecy has been drawn around the content of the programme, which has been written and is presented by Amol Rajan (pictured), who called the monarchy ‘absurd
EXCLUSIVE-Revealed: August’s father George Brooksbank was killed just days after Princess Eugenie gave birth to her first child.
Last week, it was announced that George Brooksbank, pictured here with his wife Nicola, had died. Although he had been battling covid for the past year, he survived and met his grandson August in February. It’s not known whether Jack’s mom was there.
MailOnline is able to reveal that Princess Eugenie’s father, George Brooksbank (dad of Jack), died on Sunday.
George Brooksbank, 72, passed away in the week of August’s Baptism at the All Saints Chapel in Windsor Great Park, which was attended by the Queen.
MailOnline received this report from a royal insider: “George was in hospital last year with Covid, and wasn’t quite the same.” He was unwell for a while. Jack’s father died before the Christening. It was a hard time. According to another source, George was able to survive five weeks of being on ventilator. It had also been a miracle that George lived long enough for August’s birth.
Eugenie and Jack both put on a brave face yesterday and decided the Christening should go ahead despite suffering the secret heartbreak of Mr Brooksbank’s passing. Along with the Queen, who has been resting for nearly a month on the advice of a doctor, Eugenie’s parents Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, are understood to have attended with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and other senior royals. It is unknown if Jack’s mother Nicola was able or not to travel.
The Royal Family was devastated by the death of Mr Brooksbank just prior to the twin Christenings of August Tindall and Lucas Tindall (son of Zara Tindall) August Brooksbank was born February 13th, Princess Eugenie’s first child. Jack Brooksbank also had his first grandchild. The Queen’s ninth great-grandchild, he is also her ninth. He is the 13th child in line for the throne.
George Brooksbank fell ill after being put in intensive care last April for the coronavirus. Before the pandemic the retired chartered accountant and company director split his time with his wife of 36 years Nicola at their homes in Wandsworth, south London, and Bordeaux, France.
The Etonian old man Jack, the son of the queen’s granddaughter, was found in stable but serious condition at the hospital. This occurred during the first national lockdown. His wife Nicola, 68, also caught Covid but was able to recuperate at home.
Jack and Eugenie were warned by doctors to prepare for the worst. Jack’s dad was placed on a ventilator for 5 weeks. He was able to recover from his life-threatening bout with the virus, and was discharged from hospital in June.
According to sources, Mr Rajan (38) is “experienced enough for him to share his opinions with others.”
According to BBC, Part 1 of this event is about “the princes’ relationships with media” and “charts years leading up and including engagement and marriage by the Duke and Duchess Sussex”. This information was taken from 2012’s Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Part II ‘examines 2018, 2021 and beyond, an era of turmoil for the royals which includes Archie MountbattenWindsor’s birth and royal tours to the Sussexes & the Cambridges.
Richard Fitzwilliams said: ‘BBC guidelines require all news and current affairs documentaries to offer ‘an appropriate and timely opportunity to respond’ according to the Ofcom Broadcasting Code. It is obvious that it would be appropriate after Panorama’s debacle, which was almost unbelievable.
The BBC said that although the programme’s contents have not yet been made public, it was incontrovertible that no one from the royal household has been allowed to review them or respond to claims. Further controversy is now facing the BBC, something it was clearly trying to avoid.
Aides to Prince William did not brief against his brother Harry during the Megxit saga, sources insisted yesterday following a row over a new BBC documentary.
Insiders from the Royal Family denied that Harry and William were involved in briefing wars, just before a program that examined the brother’s troubled relationship to the media.
William, Prince Charles, and the Queen are reported to have joined hands to protest to the BBC. They threaten to boycott future broadcasts with the BBC unless they can give the Palace the right to address potentially harmful allegations.
The BBC2 program, The Princes and The Press airs at 9 pm tonight. It examines the coverage of Harry and Meghan in British newspapers.
Courtiers have not been shown the two-part documentary, and sources told the Mail on Sunday that they believed it would include claims that William and Harry – or their advisers – briefed against each other.
According to a senior royal source, the documentary was referred to as “tittle-tattle” and stated that Queen Elizabeth II had been ‘upset’ by the controversy over it.
According to some insiders from Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, and Clarence House they were particularly upset that they weren’t given the opportunity to see the show or to respond to such claims.
Quickly, sources dispelled any suggestions that William or Harry’s royal aides were involved in a briefing war during Megxit.
According to sources, the exact opposite was true. Senior royal aides refused repeatedly to be drawn into a public conflict of words despite Oprah Winfrey’s explosive interview with the Duke and Duchess.
The Daily Mail received this statement from a source: “It was clear at the top that no-one wanted to go down that rabbit hole. Even though people were being provocated by the Sussexes.
It was the palace mantra that silence would benefit to eliminate the negativity. Queen Elizabeth issued a personal statement stating that the family needed to address certain matters privately.
Last night, royal insiders stated that they did not want to censor the broadcaster nor the program makers. However, the royal household members all felt they had a right to reply.
BBC guidelines stipulate that news and current affairs documentaryaries must offer the right for reply whenever appropriate.
The BBC spokeswoman said that the program was all about royal journalism. It features journalists from both radio and print.
In the midst of an investigation into the troubled relationships between the media and the royals, Royal insiders claimed Harry and William had not been involved in a briefing warfare.
Royals, Prince Charles, Prince William, Kate Duchess and Prince Harry, leave the 2020 Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey, London, where they are followed by Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess.
Two of her great-grandsons were christened yesterday by the Queen, despite recent health difficulties
Mother’s word: Zara Tindall (left) and Princess Eugenie (right) arrive at the christening yesterday
Interviews with journalists for this programme include Jonny Dymond from BBC Royal, Camilla Tominey’s Associate Editor at Daily Telegraph, Omid Scobie (US journalist) who co-authored Finding Freedom: A Biography of Harry and Meghan.
Amol Rajan (presenter at Radio 4’s Today program and self-declared republican) presents the film.
This hour-long episode focuses on the year following Queen’s Diamond Jubilee 2012, and the positive media reactions to the rise of a new generation.
In the second episode, we look at the last three years and how it has impacted the relationship between them. Harry and William admitted that they were on different paths in 2019.
RICHARD KY: This new documentary by the Royal Family is not just inexplicable, but it’s also very dangerous. Is it any surprise that Courtiers are now thinking carefully about what future projects they might have with BBC?
Even with the absurd standards set by BBC, it is incredibly ironic that the BBC broadcasts a two-part major documentary on briefing wars among members of Royal Family. While the flames from the Martin Bashir scandal are still burning.
How counter-productive it was for the Corporation to deny the Palace the screening of tonight’s first instalment, called the Princess And The Press.
Are you surprised that Courtiers have been thinking carefully about their future collaboration with BBC? Next year’s Platinum Jubilee tributes for Queen Elizabeth II are the most important.
While it’s unusual for three royal houses, Prince William, Prince Harry, and Queen Elizabeth, to join forces in threat of a boycott of the national broadcaster of Canada, it shows the stakes. This shows a collective sense of disgust at the programme.
Richard Kay writes Richard Kay: It’s very rare for three royal houses to join forces in the threat of a boycott of our national radio station.
The BBC refused to let the Palace see tonight’s opening instalment, titled the Princess And The Press writes Richard Kay
A veil has been put on the contents of the programme. They were written by Amol Rajan, an ambitious republican who used to call the monarchy “absurd” and called the media a propaganda outlet for the Royal Family. So far, so predictable.
While everyone is open to hearing the opinions of their star broadcaster, it may be surprising that the BBC refused them a right to reply.
It is quite true that the Palace argues it’s impossible to comment on the program without actually seeing it or understanding its claims in depth.
Officials are particularly concerned by reports, revealed in yesterday’s Mail on Sunday, that the film suggests William and his brother – or advisers working for them – ‘briefed against each other’ to the media in the damaging fall-out surrounding Harry and Meghan’s acrimonious exit from royal life.
This is why aides insist that the contrary of what the truth means. They claim there was an actual refusal to enter into a public dispute of words between brothers, despite Oprah Winfrey’s provocative interview with the Duke and Duchess and frequent ‘unhelpful’ interventions from their friends.
Hours before the broadcast, claims that William and his team had leaked Harry’s story on mental health were removed from an ITV prime-time documentary by Richard Kay
Richard Kay, Pictured with Jack Brooksbank and Princess Eugenie (Pictured) explains that over the years the relations between the Corporation’s monarchy and its Corporation have often been fraught.
All this when compared to the trust issues exposed by Lord Dyson’s inquiry into Martin Bashir’s manipulation of Princess Diana into giving her famous 1995 Panorama interview looks both terrible and ridiculous. The BBC’s lack of sensitivity to all that was left from that episode makes it seem extraordinary.
Although the relations between the Corporation’s monarchy and its Corporation have been difficult over time, the simmering tensions around Bashir have led to it reaching a toxic new depth.
Prince William made a strong attack on the lying behaviour of Panorama reporter, as well the BBC’s shameful covering up of his activities.
According to him, his mother was not only failed by a reporter who was out of line but also by leadership at BBC who turned a blind eye rather than answering the difficult questions.
Bashir is not over.
The broadcaster has paid around £750,000 to former graphic designer Matt Wiessler – made a scapegoat in the scandal after he raised concerns with his bosses at the BBC that fake bank statements Bashir had asked him to mock up had been used to secure the Diana interview – and other claims for compensation are in the pipeline.
Photographed: Zara Tindall (granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II).
Martin Bashir, BBC reporter interviewing Princess Diana 1995
All of this background aside, it is hard to believe that the BBC could not see that such an incendiary program would not provoke a strong reaction from Buckingham Palace or other royal households.
According to Sunday’s Mail, Royal sources condemned the documentary for being ‘tittletattle’.
And there was growing worry at BBC last night despite their claim that Harry and William will have a ‘context’ to the film.
A Corporation representative said that the film has caused anxiety among the hierarchy. “But you also wonder if the hierarchy has thought about how they will receive it.
The so-called briefing warfare is one area. It is not my understanding that any suggestion that the brothers allowed aides in order to plant smears about each other will be vigorously rejected.
Previous allegations that William and his team had leaked information about Harry’s mental health were cut out of a prime-time ITV document hours before the broadcast was scheduled to air in July.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Rajan had been working on his program and was already interviewing journalists about the Royal Family.
Questions they were asked included whether they become ‘too close’ to the royals, whether the relationship between the Press and the royals is ‘sycophantic’ and how stories about the Royal Family are presented or ‘spun’.
No matter what tonight’s program or next week’s first part may contain, there is one certainty: The Palace’s intervention will guarantee that the programme has a wider audience than it might have received on BBC2.