BBC bombarded with complaints over Prince William, Prince Harry documentary

BBC is being bombarded with complaints after airing its new documentart The Princes and the Press.

The documentary is a two-parter which examines Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship with the media.

However, viewers claimed it to be “disrespectful” to the royal family and lodged more than 150 complaints to the broadcasting company with some insisting that that programme should not have aired.

Ahead of the second part, which aired on Monday, Prince William and other royal criticised the corporation in a joint statement.

The statement shown at the end of programme from the Royal households said: "A free, responsible and open press is of vital importance to a healthy democracy.

“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.”

In a statement, the BBC defended the documentary and said: "The Princes and the Press explored the relationship between the media and the monarchy, focusing on the younger royals.

"It included interviews with a range of print and broadcast reporters who follow the royals closely."

The statement added: "We conducted more than 80 hours of interviews and sought views from a wide variety of contributors.

"This included approaches to Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and Clarence House for comment or for a representative to be interviewed for this series.

"A joint statement issued by them was included in both programmes."