BBC faces pressure to apologise after Jo Brand insinuated on Have I Got News For You that Prince Harry took cocaine
By Robert Mendick, and Edward Malnick
9:03PM BST 26 Oct 2013
The BBC was under pressure on Saturday night to make a public apology for one of its presenters insinuating that Prince Harry took cocaine.
The corporation’s satirical news programme Have I Got News For You (HIGNFY) suggested that the Prince snorted cocaine, in an item related to the christening of Prince George.
Jo Brand, the comedian and the show’s guest presenter, began by making jokes about the names of Prince George’s godparents and then – reading from an autocue – said: “George’s godparents include Hugh van Cutsem… I presume that’s a nickname as in Hugh van cuts ’em and Harry then snorts ’em.”
The camera then cut to Paul Merton, who genuinely appeared aghast at the joke, and that was then followed by a shot of the other team captain, Ian Hislop, who remarked: “Have we lost the lawyers?”
Hislop’s acknowledgement on air that Brand’s comment was defamatory suggests that the BBC was aware of the allegations it was broadcasting.
The programme is recorded on Thursdays, edited and then shown on Friday nights. All “risky” comments would have been vetted by a senior BBC executive.
Brand insisted on Saturday night that she did not write the joke but accepted “culpability” for reading it out.
The BBC also made a mistake in naming Hugh van Cutsem as a godparent. Prince George’s godfather is actually William van Cutsem. Hugh van Cutsem could refer to either William’s brother or else his father who died last month.
On Saturday critics rounded on the BBC for defaming the Queen’s grandson, who is a captain with the Army Air Corps and has served on two tours of duty in Afghanistan.
Lord Dannatt, the former head of the Army who presided over Prince Harry’s first tour of Afghanistan, said: “It might have been said as a joke but the suggestion is outrageous. It is a very unfortunate joke to make and most inappropriate.
“The Army operates random drugs tests. Drugs and being an attack helicopter pilot don’t go together.”
Anna Soubry, the Conservative defence minister, said: “That is disgraceful, shoddy, appalling and out of order. Prince Harry does an outstanding job in the Army and always goes the extra mile to help wounded service personnel and veterans.
“Jo Brand should not have stooped to that level and both she and the BBC should apologise. It is a really cheap shot at somebody who has no right of reply and they know will not sue for libel.
“The BBC should know better than to broadcast this. The programme is not live and this should have been edited out.”
Mrs Soubry, who was appointed the first female MP to become a defence minister in the recent reshuffle, added: “I would expect a full explanation from the BBC as to why this was allowed.”
Penny Junor, the Royal author and journalist, described the joke as a “cheap” shot.
Miss Junor said: “That sort of remark is the meat and drink of HIGNFY; very witty but just not fair. It’s too easy to get a cheap laugh at the expense of someone who won’t retaliate.”
Lance Corporal James Wharton, a gay soldier who has told how Prince Harry once rescued him from a homophobic attack by soldiers from a rival regiment, said: “Prince Harry is a tremendous role model for a lot of young people and remarks like that are just wrong.”
When he was 16, Prince Harry admitted to his father that he had smoked cannabis with older teenagers at his father’s house at Highgrove in Gloucestershire although there has never been any suggestion – until the BBC’s claim on HIGNFY – that he has ever taken class A drugs such as cocaine.
Prince Harry was recently photographed stripped naked at a party in Las Vegas after completing a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
On Saturday night Brand, a member of Republic, a pressure group which campaigns to abolish the monarchy, said she would not apologise for the comment.
She said: “I didn’t write it. I read it out from the autocue. I thought it was funny. I don’t really understand what the fuss is about.
“I am not going to apologise. I didn’t write it but I did say it so I am culpable in some way.”
A BBC spokesman said: “Have I Got News For You is a satirical news quiz and the audience is used to the often irreverent humour. This was clearly a tongue-in-cheek comment.”
A BBC source dismissed the joke as no more than a “play on words on the name Cutsem” combined with Prince Harry’s reputation as a “playboy” prince.
A Clarence House spokesman said: “This is not something we would respond to. It is not something we would comment on.”
The corporation was criticised last week for its coverage of the Royal christening, devoting only two minutes to the event on the flagship news programmes at 6pm and 10pm on BBC One.
Prince George has seven godparents, among them William van Cutsem, who is a friend of the Duke of Cambridge.
HIGNFY is made for the BBC by Hat Trick Productions, an independent programme maker with its content overseen by an executive producer from the BBC.
The corporation’s rules stipulate that independent producers should have a formal “compliance conversation” with a programme’s BBC executive producer when it is commissioned.
“These conversations should identify the specific problems and risks, and discuss and draw up a plan for compliance accordingly,” the BBC’s website says.
Hat Trick will also have had to fill in a BBC compliance form after the recording to flag up any possible conflict with the corporation’s editorial guidelines, including whether the programme included any language “which may offend”.
David Jordan, the BBC’s director of editorial policy and standards, also maintains an “early warning” list of programmes which might need to be handled with “extra care” because of the risks involved. It is not clear whether HIGNFY is on the list.