Last Sunday 17th., the very night Prince William (2nd in line for the British throne) arrived in our country, TVNZ screened The Queen, a film looking at the immediate aftermath of the death of his mother, Princess Diana!!TVNZ says the screening was pure coincidence and makes no apologies for what some describe as grossly insensitive: "The decision was made weeks ago. Nobody cross-checks our schedule with royal travel itineraries and there's no reason why they should."
WRONG! Given that the Prince has not visited in nearly five years and all media (including TVNZ) have reported it extensively, TVNZ would have known of the upcoming tour and SHOULD have cross-checked. [Prime Minister John Key announced on October 12th that the prince "may" come to NZ in 2010, then on November 2nd said he "would" come, and an itinerary was released in December.]
Now it's unlikely the busy prince had time to watch tv, but anything is possible. And with the majority of NZers still supporting the monarchy, the discomfort felt by many viewers is apparent and could/should have been avoided. TVNZ: "To have pulled the programme at the last minute would have drawn unnecessary attention to it."
WRONG AGAIN! To have knowingly RUN the programme on that very day was tactless, amateurish, gauche and quite frankly unacceptable. TVNZ had over two months to 'join the dots' and find an alternative. This faux pas should never have happened.
Take this one on the chin, TVNZ: you dropped the ball.
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