BBC star in controversial Royal family documentary attacked Kate Middleton and Prince William as ‘frauds’

Amol Rajan hosted The Princes and the Press (Picture: BBC)

It’s been revealed that the host of the controversial BBC documentary The Princes and The Press, Amol Rajan, previously called the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ‘total frauds’ and called Prince Philip a ‘racist buffoon’.

The journalist, who was previously editor of the Independent, made the comments when writing in the paper back in 2012.

Penning an open letter to Princess William and Kate Middleton after the couple announced they were expecting their first child, he called on them to ‘renounce the luxuries of royal patronage and aristocracy’, saying that ‘everyone will be a winner’ if they did.

He also said that ‘’either of you have a special claim on the glorious city of Cambridge so quit pretending you do,’ and described their public role as a ‘total fraud’.

The 38-year-old journalist also said in a previous column that Prince Philip was a ‘racist buffoon’ and described Prince Charles as ‘scientifically illiterate’.

Amol has addressed the reports on social media, calling his comments ‘foolish commentary from a former life’.

Amol addressed the developments on Twitter (Picture: John Phillips/Getty Images for Advertising Week)

It comes after The Princes and The Press attracted criticism from the Royal Family, with the three main royal households hitting out at the programme for airing ‘overblown and unfounded claims’.

The documentary explores the relationship of the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex with the media.  

Writing on Twitter, he called the previous comments ‘foolish commentary from a former life’.

‘In reference to very reasonable questions about some foolish commentary from a former life, I want to say I deeply regret it,’ he said. ‘I wrote things that were rude and immature and I look back on them now with real embarrassment, and ask myself what I was thinking, frankly.

‘I would like to say sorry for any offence they caused then or now. I’m completely committed to impartiality and hope our recent programmes can be judged on their merits.’

The documentary has been criticised by the Royal family (Picture: Geoff Pugh – WPA Pool / Getty Images)

A BBC spokesperson said: ‘Once journalists join the BBC, they leave past views at the door. Amol is an experienced BBC journalist who reports on all of the topics he covers in an impartial way and in line with the BBC’s editorial guidelines.’

Documentary The Princes and The Press included suggestions that royal sources had been briefing journalists behind the scenes in its first episode, including potentially leaking negative stories about other households.

More: BBC

But it stopped short of repeating allegations that William’s aides briefed against his brother Harry in the aftermath of the younger prince’s decision to quit the royal family.

The three main royal households issued a rare joint statement blasting the broadcaster for ‘overblown and unfounded claims’ in The Princes and the Press.

The Princes and the Press is available to stream on the BBC iPlayer

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