Royal family threat to BBC over princes documentary

The Queen and Princes Charles and William have written to object to ‘tittletattle’ two-part programme

THE QUEEN, Prince Charles and Prince William are threatening to boycott the BBC over a refusal to let them see a documentary about the Royal family’s relationship with the media, according to reports.

In a rare move, the three households have united to complain to the corporation amid fears that tonight’s The Princes and the Press will repeat claims that Princes William and Harry briefed against each other through their aides.

The two-part programme, presented by Amol Rajan, comes amid tensions between the family and BBC high in the wake of the Martin Bashir scandal.

The BBC will not share the contents, partly due to the fact that the film is going through late edits to include the Duchess of Sussex’s apology for misleading a court over whether she had given authorisation for an aide to brief the authors of a biography about her.

The palace is said to have threatened to refuse to co-operate with the corporation on future projects if they are not given the right to respond to the documentary which airs on BBC Two.

It comes just months after an independent inquiry found Martin Bashir’s BBC interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, was obtained through deceit and the failings covered up by BBC bosses.

In the wake of the inquiry, the Duke of Cambridge issued a scathing statement and is said to have been working to ensure changes at the corporation.

Mr Rajan, the BBC’S media editor, had said at the time that his employer was “severely injured, probably scarred for ever” by Lord Dyson’s findings.

Insiders said that as a result the BBC is also sensitive about its relationship with the Royal family in the wake of the report and it is understood that they are going through The Princes and the Press line by line to ensure sensitivity.

But despite meetings between the Duke of Cambridge’s aides and the BBC, they are determined that the “investigation” will not be shown to courtiers. The Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge are said to have issued a joint complaint to TV bosses warning of a “tri-household” boycott.

It is unclear whether the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have raised concerns or were contacted.

A source told the Mail on Sunday that the Queen was “upset” that the “tittletattle” documentary would air without anyone at the palace seeing it.

It is the second time the Royal family has intervened over coverage of the rumoured feud between the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex.

Earlier this year, just hours before the documentary Harry and William: What Went Wrong? was due to broadcast, ITV removed claims by Omid Scobie, the Sussexes’ biographer, that Prince William and his staff planted a story about Prince Harry’s mental health.

There is concern that the documentary may repeat allegations consistently denied by the brothers. The BBC says the show will examine the years in which the Cambridges and the Sussexes have charted “very different courses” in their relationships with the media.

The first part covers the “years leading up to and including the engagement and marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex” and provides “context” for their relationship with the press by examining the “illegal activities” of some news outlets in the 1990s.

Mr Rajan, tipped to succeed Laura Kuenssberg as BBC political editor, has been a vocal critic of the monarchy. In the Independent in 2012 he called the notion of a hereditary monarchy “absurd” and Prince Charles “scientifically illiterate”.