The monarchy has to change to more ‘in tune’ with the country, David Dimbleby has said.
But the veteran broadcaster, 87, believes Prince William will make ‘radical alterations’ when he succeeds his father as monarch.
Mr Dimbleby spoke out this morning ahead of his three-part documentary airing on the BBC that will delve into the extent of the power that the Royal Family still wields.
The programme, titled What’s the Monarchy For?, airs just weeks after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his prince and Duke of York title following fresh revelations about his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The BBC itself has also in recent weeks faced fresh criticism over its cover-up of reporter Martin Bashir‘s deception in securing his bombshell TV interview with Princess Diana.
The new documentary comes following polls that show how public support for the Royal Family dipped slightly after the latest news about Andrew emerged.
Mr Dimbleby has covered dozens of royal events, including the funerals of Princess Diana in 1997 and Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, he said the monarchy will have to adapt to survive, but does not believe that Britons would vote to ditch the monarchy altogether.
The monarchy has to change to more ‘in tune’ with the country, David Dimbleby has said. Above: The broadcaster with Queen Camilla at a Clarence House reception in March
‘The idea of a republic, I was thinking about it,’ he said.
‘To find a president that would suit England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, I’m not sure it is easy as the Republican movement think, so I suspect our future is a monarchy but it does need to be a monarchy that fits the 21st century, it can’t be one that is just, you know, a flamboyant display of power and wealth.
‘It has got to change in some way so that it is more in tune with a country that is after all no longer top dog and maybe can no longer quite sustain that level of grandeur.’
He does though suspect that King Charles, who as the Prince of Wales became notorious for expressing forthright views and was alleged to have tried to influence government decisions via his ‘black spider’ memos to ministers, may not have given up pushing his opinions in private.
‘I am interested that he may not quite have abandoned it, and I am curious about the role that he plays,’ Mr Dimbleby said.
‘But, as I say, William certainly seems to take a different view, we don’t yet know what it is.’
The broadcaster admitted he was shocked when he examined the workings of the monarchy for his new series.
‘Almost everything surprised me, because I had never really looked at it in depth,’ he said.
King Charles, who as the Prince of Wales became notorious for expressing forthright views and was alleged to have tried to influence government decisions via his ‘black spider’ memos to ministers, may not have given up pushing his opinions in private, Mr Dimbleby claims
‘And we had wonderful interviews with the most senior members of the Palace hierarchy, the private secretaries to the Queen, about moments when they thought they had got it a bit wrong, Diana’s death for instance.
‘They have a wonderful way of talking about it, “we were a bit behind the curve”.’
Prince William recently insisted that he will not be afraid to make difficult decisions as monarch, telling Canadian actor Eugene Levy that ‘change is on my agenda’.
Mr Dimbleby said: ‘What Wiliam’s on about is, if the monarchy is to remain popular in the future, it has got to make changes, [there have] got to be some radical alterations.
‘I don’t know what he is thinking of but we posit one or two in the [programme].’
The broadcaster’s new documentary will also examine royal finances. Mr Dimbleby said King Charles is Britain’s ‘first billionaire’ monarch.
David Dimbley presented Question Time for nearly 25 years, retiring in 2018
He added of the Royal Family: ‘They have a load of concessions about money, the tax that they pay voluntarily, taxes that they don’t pay and I look at all that, and the workings of the Duchy [of Cornwall] and the way that money is spent, and how the Duchies operate, it is all contentious matters that people have looked into but I think is interesting.’
His latest comments come after he slammed the BBC’s reluctance to criticise the Royal Family and admitted he was surprised by the ‘degree of control’ the Palace has over the corporation.
Speaking at the Henley Literary Festival in 2022, the former Question Time presenter accused the broadcaster of avoiding topics ‘they feel their viewers will not like’ after returning to cover the Queen’s funeral last month.
And he highlighted topics such as things like ‘the power that the palace has to change taxation legislation’ and contrasting views on whether the Duchy of Cornwall should be paying capital gains tax.
He said: ‘All those issues are never touched by the BBC because I think they feel their viewers will not like it – a visceral feeling.
‘I think it is wrong and these things should be properly examined.’
What’s the Monarchy For? begins on Tuesday at 9pm on BBC One.
