The BBC has issued an apology after referring to the Princess of
Wales by her former name, Kate Middleton, during live coverage of
Armistice Day commemorations – a lapse that prompted complaints
from viewers.
Deadline reports that the
mistake occurred on the BBC News Channel as it reported on
remembrance events across the country. Although the corporation has
not disclosed how many objections were lodged, the volume and tone
of the reaction were sufficient for it to publish a formal
statement acknowledging the error.
A spokesperson for the broadcaster said: “During our
coverage of memorials to commemorate Armistice Day we mistakenly
referred to Catherine, Princess of Wales as Kate Middleton; these
were errors during hours of live broadcasting for which we
apologise. Throughout our Armistice Day coverage more broadly, we
referred to Catherine by her correct title.”
The language of the statement indicates that the slip was made
more than once during the prolonged live broadcast.
The incident also attracted political attention.
Jim Shannon, the DUP MP for Strangford, urged the corporation to
ensure its journalists were properly briefed on royal protocol.
“A reminder to @BBCNews to educate its broadcasters that the
Princess of Wales has not been ‘Kate Middleton’ since 2011,” he
said. “Her correct title is Catherine, Princess of Wales. Get it
right.”
The Princess of Wales had been attending Armistice Day
commemorations at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire
when the error was aired. The event included the sounding of the
Last Post before a national two-minute silence.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source royalcentral.co.uk ’
