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It’s the “secret meeting” that raised eyebrows among royal circles: in late September Prince William reportedly held private talks with the Director-General of British broadcaster the BBC.
The reported subject? The prospect of the Prince of Wales potentially appearing in a documentary to mark the 30th anniversary of his late mother Princess Diana’s death.
As whispers about the meeting did the rounds, royal sources were quick to deny William would be involved in any such programme.
The Daily Mail reported the heir to the throne had decided against any such move in order to avoid further conflict with his estranged brother Prince Harry – who is also thought to be eyeing up a potential Netflix documentary on his mother.
However, one royal expert thinks this might not be the end of the story.
Tom Sykes – the man behind The Royalist substack – weighed into the matter with his thoughts in a video.
“What can William do in response if he doesn’t want to make his own film, which I think we probably all agree is the correct course of action?” Sykes asked.
“Well, can he give his tacit endorsement to a responsible film made by ITV? Could, for example, photographs or access to the family archive or access to the royal archives, be provided?
“That is something that can be done, and that I suspect is the nature of this meeting that was being held with Matt Brittin, the Director General of the BBC on Thursday,” the royal expert added.
“I suspect there is negotiations going on to see who is going to be allowed to make this film, what level of access they are going to be given to the Royal Archives, which friends of Diana’s are going to be given the nod to cooperate.”
The expert went on to suggest that the potential course of action from Prince William would indeed be an “incredibly shrewd play”.
“Don’t be the front man of it. It’s not appropriate, especially with your brother doing what he’s doing,” Sykes continued.
“Especially in the context that you said you weren’t going to do it, and we want to believe, and we do believe that you are a man of your word.
“So great, but a fantastic filmmaking team made by a network he trusts – he has good relationship with – I mean, please let that film exist. Please let it exist. I want to watch it.”
Of course, Prince Harry’s reported desire to be part of a doco to pay tribute to his mother’s memory is well know.
Speaking on the Mirror’s YouTube show Pod Save The King, the outlet’s royal editor Russell Myers slammed such a move.
“Of course it is the 30th anniversary of her tragic death next year, everybody has been trying to have their say and they will be of course next year. Archewell productions are apparently going to produce it, as they’ve got this sort of first look deal with Netflix,” the expert said.
“I mean the rest of the things they’ve been producing haven’t done too well. We had the Invictus documentary, we had the Polo documentary that absolutely bombed. And I just think this is beyond the pale for Harry to be saying ‘Well I’m going to do this now’.
Sources have previously told Woman’s Day that the Duke of Sussex wants his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to be “heavily involved” in any TV tribute.
In his video, Tom Sykes shared more detail on the matter – raising an “very interesting rumour” he had been told: that Meghan “wants to narrate” the film.
The expert suggested that the Diana doco is, in fact, the reason that Harry came back to the UK.
“The Diana film explains it, doesn’t it? If you were going to make a defining documentary about Princess Diana… you need to be here. You need [Diana’s ancestral home] Althorp. You need London in the background. You need Kensington Palace in the background, even if you can’t film too close,” he explained.
“You need people who knew her – as many as possible – ones ideally who don’t mind being dead to Prince William for the rest of their life.”
The expert went on to say current events were “all about the road to August 2027” – and how William and Harry will approach the anniversary of Diana’s death.
“There are so many potential flashpoints between now and then,” he concluded.
