BBC pulls Princess Diana documentary after intervention from royal family

Just days before it was set to air the controversial documentary Reinventing the Royals, BBC2 has pulled the program from its schedule — and the Radio Times reports that lawyers representing the royal family are responsible.

The premiere of Reinventing the Royals, which follows the spin doctor hired to mend Prince Charles' relationship with the media following the 1997 death of Princess Diana, has been indefinitely postponed over the objections of "lawyers known to represent senior members of the royal family, including the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall." Unlike most of the BBC's documentaries about the royal family, Reinventing the Royals was made without the direct cooperation of the royals.

The documentary's revelations include the first television interview with Sandy Henney, who worked as Prince Charles' press secretary at the time. "He was getting some pretty virulent criticism — bad father, unloving husband," says Henney in a transcript at the Radio Times. I think he was pretty hurt... If you've got a middle-aged balding man and a beautiful princess, it's a no-brainer as to who is going to get the media coverage."

Article continues below

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

In a statement, the BBC said Reinventing the Royals won't air until they resolve an unspecified "number of issues, including use of archive footage."

Explore More

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.