‘Since when has she been answerable to Witchell?’ Backlash against the BBC’s ‘pompous’ veteran
THE BBC’s veteran Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell faced a backlash last night after questioning whether Buckingham Palace undermined public trust by failing to reveal the Queen had been admitted to hospital.
In forthright comments, Mr Witchell said that journalists and the public had not been ‘given the complete picture’.
He added: ‘The problem, it seems to me, is that rumour and misinformation always thrive in the absence of proper, accurate and trustworthy information.’ But his remarks provoked criticism online.
‘Nicholas Witchell is honestly so infuriating,’ one Royal watcher wrote on Twitter.
‘The Queen is 95 and like most her age, she’ll be in and out of hospital for various tests because that’s what happens at that age no matter how fit you are. She doesn’t need to disclose her every move, let her have some dignity.’
Another Twitter user wrote: ‘He’s a pompous a***, full of his own self importance. Bring back Jennie Bond. She was classy.’
A third asked: ‘Since when has the Queen been answerable to Nicholas Witchell?’
A BBC stalwart, Mr Witchell, 68, famously provoked royal displeasure in 2005 when, during a press conference in the Swiss ski resort of Klosters, he asked Prince Charles about his forthcoming marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles.
Under his breath, Charles was heard to mutter to Princes William and Harry: ‘I can’t bear that man. I mean, he’s so awful, he really is.’
One Twitter user this weekend joked: ‘I don’t agree with Prince Charles on many subjects – apart from Nicholas Witchell.
‘I bet they’ll be setting a room aside in the Tower before they’ve minted a coronation coin.’