BBC to Air Royal Doc

LONDON, November 6: The BBC will go ahead with the broadcast
of Monarchy: The Royal Family At Work,
the documentary series at the heart of the “Crowngate” scandal that claimed the
job of BBC One controller Peter Fincham last month.

Stephen Lambert, the chief creative officer of RDF Media,
which produced the documentary, also stepped down over the affair. The troubles
began in July, when Fincham previewed footage from the special to reporters. It
appeared to show the Queen “walking out in a huff” from a photo session with
Annie Leibovitz. The news made headlines worldwide, before it was revealed that
the trailer had been edited out of sequence. The scene depicting the Queen
leaving the shoot was in fact one of her walking in.

The controversy prompted a review of about 1 million hours
of BBC output and an independent report by former BBC executive Will Wyatt. He
concluded that no BBC or RDF executives “consciously set out to defame or
misrepresent the Queen in the tape… Nor was there ever a possibility that the
misleading sequence could have been included in the finished documentary to be
broadcast by the BBC.” However, Wyatt added, “the incident reveals
misjudgments, poor practice and ineffective systems as well, of course, as the
usual helping of bad luck that often accompanies such sorry affairs.”

In announcing that BBC One will proceed with the broadcast
of the five-part series, Jana Bennett, the director of BBC Vision, noted: "There
has never been any doubt about the integrity of the films themselves: they are
a serious and important look at the way the monarchy works. With exceptional
access, viewers will get a remarkable picture of the work of The Royal Family
over the course of a year."

The series will be completed by a new project team, set up
and supervised by the BBC and consisting of staff from the BBC, from RDF
Television and from the television production freelance community. It will air
before Christmas.

Denys Blakeway will head up the production team as an
independent executive producer reporting to the BBC commissioning executive
Martin Davidson. All profits from the series will be given to charities nominated
by The Royal Household and agreed by all parties.

—By Mansha Daswani