Royal family lashes out at new doc, brands claims 'disappointing'

The royal family is unpleased over a new documentary making 'overblown and unfounded claims.'

Issuing a joint statemennt, as reported by Evening Standard, Buckingham Palace and Clarence House have responded to BBC Two's new documentary The Princes and the Press.

"A free, responsible and open press is of vital importance to a healthy democracy," the statement read, per the newspaper.

"However, too often it is overblown and unfounded claims from unnamed sources that are presented as facts and it is disappointing when anyone, including the BBC, gives them credibility."

The BBC defended its documentary and told BBC News the series is "about how royal journalism is done and features a range of journalists from broadcast and the newspaper industry."

The two-part series examines the years in which Prince William and Prince Harry have, as the BBC put it, "charted very different courses of their relationship with the media."

"The film charts the years leading up to and including the engagement and marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex," BBC Two's description adds. "Providing context for the princes' relationship with the media, the film examines some of the illegal activities engaged in by some newspapers in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including hacking and 'blagging', and how these techniques were used to target members of the royal family and their associates."