Buckingham Palace is said to be concerned about a major change at the BBC that has come to light in recent das.
It’s been confirmed that the BBC is cutting the number of full time staff at its Events team which is responsible for coverage of some of the biggest royal moments in national life.
In the past few years, it’s led coverage of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and the Coronation of King Charles III.
And it’s also broadcast events including the royal wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Now, it will be cut from six staff to one person. However, the one remaining member of staff is Claire Popplewell who has won several awards and who has been involved in some of the biggest events covered by the team which also manages broadcasts of other major moments as well as royal events.
The BBC said that it was normal practice to employ a wide range of freelance staff to cover big events.
However, concerns have been raised about the amount of intense effort needed to cover unexpected events such as royal deaths. In 2022, the BBC had extensive coverage of the national mourning for Queen Elizabeth II as well as the lying in state, attended by the Royal Family and world leaders, ahead of her funeral which was broadcast across its channels for much of September 19 2022 as events unfolded.
Buckingham Palace is said to be worried that the cuts to the team will lead to production quality being changed and could see big royal events becoming less prominent in schedules.
There is unlikely to be another major royal wedding for at least a decade, if not two, as the only members of the family who would see their marriages covered in such a way would be Prince George, who is now 12, Princess Charlotte, who is about to turn 11 and 7 year old Prince Louis.
The next potential Jubilee would come in 2047 which would be the 25th anniversary of the accession of King Charles III. Weddings and jubilees are easy to predict and usually come with plenty of notice for preparations. The Palace is concerned that less predictable events, such as deaths and periods of mourning, could see a downturn in production values.
The cuts have been made as the BBC looks to slash more than £500 million from its annual budget. A spokesperson for BBC Studios said ”We’re proposing some changes that will help us stay strong creatively and continue to deliver a range of high-quality programmes – whilst managing our costs in a challenging and fast‑moving market.”
