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Queen's lawyers confront documentary makers

12/08/2007

Lawyers representing the Queen have warned the BBC that it stands in breach of contract over a documentary about the monarch.

A trailer of the show, A Year with the Queen, showed the monarch storming out of a photo shoot over a trivial incident when she was in fact arriving for the session with a celebrity photographer.

Farrer and Co, the Queen's solicitor, wrote to production company RDF Media group and the BBC saying that a violation of the terms of the contact had occurred.

The BBC has apologised to the Queen over the incident and RDF Media have admitted to "manipulating the chronology" of the footage.

A spokesman for RDF told the paper: "The [BBC's] investigation is ongoing. [RDF's chief executive] David Frank is in conversations with the lawyers and the BBC. He's in contact with our lawyers and the Palace lawyers - he has been talking to everyone that has been in touch."

Mark Stephens, a senior media lawyer with Finers Stephens Innocent, believes the Queen has a strong case for breach of contract.

"The Queen agreed to appear in a programme subject to standard editorial guidelines and controls.

"The editorial standards of the BBC require them not to present a false picture. If they do portray someone in a false light, they have breached their contract," he added.

There are doubts over whether the programme, which was scheduled to be broadcast in September, will ever be aired.


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