A BBC podcast that was due to accompany a controversial documentary series exploring the relationship between the Royal family and the press has been delayed amid concerns about how Buckingham Palace will respond to the second episode.
The first instalment of the two-part series, The Princes and the Press, angered the Royal households for presenting “overblown and unfounded claims” as fact. The BBC also provoked ire by refusing to provide an advance copy of the final cut.
The second episode, to be broadcast on Monday night, is expected to further ruffle feathers as it focuses on the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Reports suggest it will accuse the Duke of Cambridge of briefing stories against his brother and revisit the Sussexes’ claims that they did not receive adequate support from courtiers.
A five-part podcast presented by Amol Rajan, the BBC media editor, who also hosts the programme, was due to be released alongside the series.
But BBC sources admitted that amid the ongoing controversy, it had been delayed and would instead be released as a box set at a later date.
One claimed it was “still in production” as they awaited royal reaction to last night’s episode.
The podcast, called Harry, Meghan and the Media, was to focus on the coverage of the Duchess of Sussex and allegations of sexism, racism and "strategic leaks".
In a teaser, Rajan, an avowed republican, referred to the “culture wars” to which he claimed the younger royals had been conscripted.
'A very modern drama'
He added: “Over the past year we have spent around 80 hours interviewing the people who wrote this very modern drama, the reporters, columnists and broadcasters who shape public opinion on royalty.
“Some of what they say is shocking, some of it is plain weird but all of it helps us understand why we are where we are.”
In a rare move, all three Royal households - Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace - joined forces to release a joint statement ahead of the first episode of the documentary series.
They said “A free, responsible and open press is of vital importance to a healthy democracy. However, too often overblown and unfounded claims from unnamed sources are presented as facts and it is disappointing when anyone, including the BBC, gives them credibility.”
A decision about whether to take further action, which could take the form of a formal complaint to BBC governors or to Ofcom, was delayed pending the final installment.
However, the show has already generated such a furore that there was understood to be little appetite to fan the flames.
The BBC2 series comes amid wider disquiet between the corporation and the royals, following the scandal over Martin Bashir's Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, which Prince William condemned earlier this year as "deceitful".
In producing Rajan’s series, the BBC approached all three households for comment and offered them the opportunity to put up a representative to be interviewed.
They each turned down the offer on the basis that they were not given enough information about the allegations being made and who was making them.
Aides believe they were not given a “proper right of reply,” insisting that they would never issue a response to such “scant,” unsourced information.
One brushed off the first episode as a "greatest hits of the stories already written” that the palace had never commented on in the first place.
By contrast, the Duchess of Sussex authorised her lawyer, Jenny Afia, to defend her against accusations of bullying former staff and to discuss her recent court case against the Mail on Sunday.
Omid Scobie, co-author of the Sussexes’ biography, Finding Freedom, also appeared, claiming that "negative stories" had been leaked about Meghan to “put her in her place”.
Senior BBC sources have insisted that it was entirely appropriate not to make the full programme available to the royal households ahead of broadcast.