Prince William and Duchess Catherine’s appearance on A Berry Royal Christmas With Mary Berry was filled with laughter, sweet anecdotes and a dollop of Christmas cheer.
But beneath the surface, the TV special, which aired in the UK on Monday night, has been branded a publicity stunt as a way to detract from the ongoing scandals surrounding Prince Andrew.
Prince William and Duchess Catherine have been accused of being part of a royal publicity stunt.
(Image: BBC)Speaking on British panel show Loose Women the day after the special aired, one of the show’s hosts Saira Khan said, “The royal family is in crisis, I believe, and the royal family can’t keep rolling these two out, letting us forget what’s going on,” referring to the disastrous interview Prince Andrew conducted to address his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
“I don’t think everybody buys into this ‘perfect prince’ and ‘perfect princess'” she added.
“I do feel that this is the perfect PR campaign, and let’s not forget … last night’s Mary Berry documentary started filming in September, which is the same month where Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Roberts gave her first interview to American TV.”
The TV host remarked that the Mary Berry documentary started filming in September, the same month Prince Andrew’s accuser Virginia Roberts gave her first interview to American TV.
(Image: Getty Images)Saira’s fellow panellists disagreed with her statements, saying that Prince William and Duchess Catherine had been working with these charitable organisations for years and that they weren’t “plucked out of the air” for the documentary.
But when Saira highlighted that she herself performs charity work whilst being a parent and managing her own career, she received support from fans on social media.
“Tbh I’m not a massive fan of Saira but I think she’s speaking sense here about the Royal Family. Why shouldn’t they do their fair share for charity and more?” one person remarked.
That wasn’t the only moment that raised eyebrows during the TV special.
Fans went into meltdown when a clip of Duchess Catherine appearing to brush off an affectionate touch from her husband was unearthed, with some even labelling it a ‘PDR’ (Public Display of Rejection)!
The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it move also made viewers suspect that the moment surely could have been edited out prior to airing.
Did Duchess Catherine brush off her husband’s PDA?
(Image: BBC)“Surprised they didn’t edit that out somehow. hav to believe they could have right? Or pan to a difft angle? They had to kno that shot would cause chatter 👀” one person tweeted.
Watch the moment in the player below to see for yourself.
