David Dimbleby: What's The Monarchy For? 3parts Power Without Accountability (Dec25)
Part 1: Secrecy Spin & Control Part 2: Tax Exemption & the Royal Slave Trade Part 3: Charles' Adultery; Diana's Death & PR Control Freaks BBC One What's the Monarchy For? - Series 1: Episode 1 Broadcaster David Dimbleby has reported on countless royal occasions – from weddings to funerals and jubilees. But often he feels his role has been to help the palace and the people inside it present themselves as they want to be seen. Now, as recent events put the family under the spotlight, Dimbleby probes politicians and royal insiders on fundamental questions about the institution at the heart of our national life. In this episode, we are told the monarch is politically neutral and would never influence the running of the country – but is that really true? How much power does the king or queen really have? And in a world where political leaders are continuingly under attack, what role is there for our unelected head of state? Featuring interviews with royal insiders alongside political players such as David Cameron and Jacob Rees-Mogg. 9pm 2 Dec 2025 What's the Monarchy For? Series 1: Episode 2 Over the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the Windsors amassed extraordinary private wealth without us really noticing. How did they do it? David Dimbleby shines a light on the secrets of royal money, revealing how Charles became the first billionaire to take the throne. From tax exemptions to lobbying government, we discover how Queen Elizabeth II oversaw the most lucrative change to royal funding in two centuries. David puts George Osborne in the hot seat to answer why the monarchy costs the taxpayer more than ever before and asks: is it worth the public cost? 9pm 9 Dec 2025A BBC One What's the Monarchy For? - Series 1: Episode 3 Contains some strong language. For a king or queen, what really matters is the impression they make on their subjects – their image – and whatever they can do to burnish it helps ensure the monarchy’s survival. In this film, David Dimbleby questions his role as a royal commentator over the years, as well as that of broadcasters, including the BBC. He’s joined by interviewees, including journalist Ian Hislop, royal aides and palace insiders, to trace the moments when the Windsors lost control of their image and asks how far they were willing to go to get the press and the public back on side. As the glare of public scrutiny on some family members intensifies – while others bask in the warm glow of positive coverage – what changes must the family make in order to survive? 9pm 16 Dec 2025 We all had a right to see Prince Charles's letters. But not any more, it seems - by Rob Evans https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/04/prince-charles-letters-black-spider-memos-freedom-information Whatever you made of the Prince of Wales’s lobbying, ministers have since restricted freedom of information: the shutters have come down The latest set of letters, covering the period 2006 to 2009, shows the prince lobbying once again for pet causes. He wanted ministers to reverse spending cuts that were being lined up in homeopathic medicine, urged them to conduct a trial of complementary medicine in England, and demanded a say over the allocation of taxpayers’ money for community projects. Charles has long been accused of meddling in matters of government, but, aside from a few leaks, the public knew little of what he had actually been doing. He was alleged to be sending to ministers a stream of letters, dubbed the black spider memos because of his scrawly handwriting, but the public were not allowed to read them, or even know how many he was writing. And that ultimately what this long battle has been all about – to see what the heir to the throne has been telling ministers in private, and how those ministers have reacted. Some greeted the publication of the batch of letters with a shrug – and even a yawn, suggesting that they were tedious. Others were less convinced that it was appropriate for an unelected royal to be seeking to alter the official policies of government. Publication of the letters have helped the public to make up their own minds. In a democracy, the public should be able to see how policies are being made and altered, and who is influencing that process. However the tightening-up of the Freedom of Information Act brings to an end this brief glimpse into Charles’s lobbying. The shutters have come down, and the public will now be unable to find out, for instance, whether his letter-writing has waxed or waned as he gets closer to the throne. Ten years ago, he wanted Blair to bring in a badger cull, but the Labour government resisted the idea. More recently, David Cameron’s government has implemented a cull. Did Charles, for example, lobby Cameron and his ministers over this policy change? We don’t know, and – in the government’s eyes – have no right to know.
Part 1: Secrecy Spin & Control Part 2: Tax Exemption & the Royal Slave Trade Part 3: Charles' Adultery; Diana's Death & PR Control Freaks BBC One What's the Monarchy For? - Series 1: Episode 1 Broadcaster David Dimbleby has reported on countless royal occasions – from weddings to funerals and jubilees. But often he feels his role has been to help the palace and the people inside it present themselves as they want to be seen. Now, as recent events put the family under the spotlight, Dimbleby probes politicians and royal insiders on fundamental questions about the institution at the heart of our national life. In this episode, we are told the monarch is politically neutral and would never influence the running of the country – but is that really true? How much power does the king or queen really have? And in a world where political leaders are continuingly under attack, what role is there for our unelected head of state? Featuring interviews with royal insiders alongside political players such as David Cameron and Jacob Rees-Mogg. 9pm 2 Dec 2025 What's the Monarchy For? Series 1: Episode 2 Over the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the Windsors amassed extraordinary private wealth without us really noticing. How did they do it? David Dimbleby shines a light on the secrets of royal money, revealing how Charles became the first billionaire to take the throne. From tax exemptions to lobbying government, we discover how Queen Elizabeth II oversaw the most lucrative change to royal funding in two centuries. David puts George Osborne in the hot seat to answer why the monarchy costs the taxpayer more than ever before and asks: is it worth the public cost? 9pm 9 Dec 2025A BBC One What's the Monarchy For? - Series 1: Episode 3 Contains some strong language. For a king or queen, what really matters is the impression they make on their subjects – their image – and whatever they can do to burnish it helps ensure the monarchy’s survival. In this film, David Dimbleby questions his role as a royal commentator over the years, as well as that of broadcasters, including the BBC. He’s joined by interviewees, including journalist Ian Hislop, royal aides and palace insiders, to trace the moments when the Windsors lost control of their image and asks how far they were willing to go to get the press and the public back on side. As the glare of public scrutiny on some family members intensifies – while others bask in the warm glow of positive coverage – what changes must the family make in order to survive? 9pm 16 Dec 2025 We all had a right to see Prince Charles's letters. But not any more, it seems - by Rob Evans https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/04/prince-charles-letters-black-spider-memos-freedom-information Whatever you made of the Prince of Wales’s lobbying, ministers have since restricted freedom of information: the shutters have come down The latest set of letters, covering the period 2006 to 2009, shows the prince lobbying once again for pet causes. He wanted ministers to reverse spending cuts that were being lined up in homeopathic medicine, urged them to conduct a trial of complementary medicine in England, and demanded a say over the allocation of taxpayers’ money for community projects. Charles has long been accused of meddling in matters of government, but, aside from a few leaks, the public knew little of what he had actually been doing. He was alleged to be sending to ministers a stream of letters, dubbed the black spider memos because of his scrawly handwriting, but the public were not allowed to read them, or even know how many he was writing. And that ultimately what this long battle has been all about – to see what the heir to the throne has been telling ministers in private, and how those ministers have reacted. Some greeted the publication of the batch of letters with a shrug – and even a yawn, suggesting that they were tedious. Others were less convinced that it was appropriate for an unelected royal to be seeking to alter the official policies of government. Publication of the letters have helped the public to make up their own minds. In a democracy, the public should be able to see how policies are being made and altered, and who is influencing that process. However the tightening-up of the Freedom of Information Act brings to an end this brief glimpse into Charles’s lobbying. The shutters have come down, and the public will now be unable to find out, for instance, whether his letter-writing has waxed or waned as he gets closer to the throne. Ten years ago, he wanted Blair to bring in a badger cull, but the Labour government resisted the idea. More recently, David Cameron’s government has implemented a cull. Did Charles, for example, lobby Cameron and his ministers over this policy change? We don’t know, and – in the government’s eyes – have no right to know.