BBC chief in promise over royal row

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

Peter Fincham, the man who helped discover Ali G before moving to BBC1 as the flagship channel's controller, has maintained that Director-General Mark Thompson backs him.

But the BBC Trust, the body which represents licence fee payers, still has to issue its conclusions over the affair with Mr Thompson reporting to it on Wednesday.

Media regulator Ofcom, which ordered the unprecedented £50,000 fine against the BBC over Blue Peter, has been drawn into the new controversy, with calls for it to investigate.

The BBC says it was alerted at around 7pm on Wednesday - the day the footage was aired to journalists - that it had made a mistake, and Mr Fincham was immediately told.

A scene of the monarch walking out of a photocall after being asked by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz to remove her crown because it was "too dressy" was, in fact, the Queen walking in.

But the clips were still being shown on BBC news bulletins after 7pm and the corporation did not apologise publicly to the Queen until around noon on Thursday for the misleading scenes. By then, stories about the monarch storming off in a strop had already gone around the world.

The BBC says that it agreed the timing of the press statement, which admitted that the footage had been edited in the wrong sequence, with Buckingham Palace.

Asked when he realised there had been a mistake, Mr Fincham told the Today programme: "Later that day, obviously not in advance (of the presentation) at all."

Of the events, Mr Fincham said: "Of course lessons are to be learned. We'll learn them and we hope we won't do them again."