Prince William and Kate Middleton have overlooked the BBC in favour of ITV to film their Christmas charity fundraiser concert amid fury over the channel’s recent documentary, The Princes and the Press.
The couple’s decision to go with ITV over the BBC comes soon after the royals aired their grievances with BBC’s two-part documentary The Princes and the Press.
In response to the documentary, a joint statement from Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, and Kensington Palace read: ‘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.’
© Provided by Extra.ie The couple’s decision to go with ITV over the BBC comes soon after the royals aired their grievances with BBC’s two-part documentary The Princes and the Press. Pic: Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/Pool/dpaOne TV insider has suggested that the royal snub of the BBC was a result of the ‘terrible row over the documentary.’
The source said: ‘This is a real coup for ITV. It is a brand new format — the royals have never hosted a televised TV concert before. To have the Duchess leading on it is a big deal.
‘Naturally, most royal programming goes automatically to the BBC as the national broadcaster. Now it looks like they will work more with ITV in the future.’
© Provided by Extra.ie One TV insider has suggested that the royal snub of the BBC was a result of the ‘terrible row over the documentary.’ Pic: Chris Jackson – Pool/Getty ImagesThey added that ITV were ‘very surprised but delighted’ to receive the last-minute call to exclusively stream the concert.
‘It was all arranged to be on BBC1 but it was switched in the last few days because of the terrible row over the documentary.
‘And things are likely to get a lot worse between the Royal Family and the BBC before they get better as the second part of the documentary threatens to go further.’
