UK: Royal Family issues joint statement criticising documentary by British broadcaster

After BBC aired its documentary programme, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and Clarence House issued a rare joint statement saying that it was ‘disappointing’ that the British broadcaster chose to air the allegations surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan’s departure. The broadcaster was accused of providing credibility to ‘overblown and unfounded claims about the UK Royal Family as the controversial documentary about Prince Harry and William was aired. The programme had also included an interview with Meghan Markle’s lawyer. 

As per PTI, the joint royal statement said, “A free, responsible and open press is of vital importance to a healthy democracy.”

"However, too often it is overblown and unfounded claims from unnamed sources that are presented as facts and it is disappointing when anyone, including the BBC, gives them credibility," it notes.

The documentary, which was presented by an Indian-origin journalist at BBC, Amol Rajan, alluded to the royal sources who spoke to journalists behind the scenes. The documentary was described as telling the story “of one of the most dramatic periods in modern royal history” and traces how both brothers of the royal family dealt with the press in recent years. 

Prince William ‘targeted’ by media 

In the same documentary, ‘The Princes and the Press’, former ITV News royal editor Tim Ewart suggested that the media might have turned on Prince William because the Duke of Cambridge “failed to play the game”. Tim also said that there was “resentment” in the media that only increased after perceptions that his wife, Kate Middleton did not cooperate as much as the media hoped. This eventually drove the press to write critical articles about Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. While speaking on episode one of the two-part BBC documentary, Ewart described the media as "like a puppy”.

Ewart told the programme, “They will roll over and let you tickle their tummy for a while, but eventually they'll bite you...For some reason there was a slight growth in resentment. I think it was particularly about Kate.”

He added, “The photographers felt that she wasn’t giving them the best shot. She was using her hair to hide her face and so on and so forth. “And the question of William and Kate’s enduring popularity, ‘Were they being quite as friendly with the media as perhaps everybody would have wanted?’, came out.”

(IMAGE: AP)