BBC viewers gobsmacked as David Dimbleby drops Royal Family bombshell

David Dimbleby shared the discovery he made during the final part of his BBC documentary exploring the British monarchy.

David Dimbleby

David Dimbleby revealed a surprising discovery he made at the Queen’s funeral (Image: BBC)

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How does the monarchy control media portrayal through censorship?

What specific footage was banned from Queen’s funeral broadcasts?

How does the monarchy control media portrayal through censorship?

What financial revelations did Dimbleby expose about the monarchy?

BBC viewers were floored after David Dimbleby shared a discovery he made while reporting at the Queen’s funeral. The final episode of his three-part BBC series, What’s The Monarch For?, aired on Tuesday (December 16) evening, exploring moments when the Windsors lost control of their public image and examining how far they were willing to go to win back the press and public support. The episode began with coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, which Dimbleby, 87, claimed was marked by a “solemn state funeral”.

It was at the funeral that the presenter made an “interesting” discovery about how the institution of monarchy “seeks to control its image”. He revealed: “The Palace were issuing instructions to the broadcasters about scenes in the broadcast which they can’t ever use again. And they’re quite small things.” Dimbleby revealed that during the Queen’s funeral in 2022, certain moments were time-stamped in a way that meant they could never be broadcast again.