The BBC is accused of being “anti-British” over reported plans to slash its TV team behind broadcasts of royal occasions and veterans’ remembrance events. The broadcaster is purportedly cutting staff numbers at BBC Studios Events Productions to just one member. The team stands behind coverage of state events, such as the Queen’s funeral, King Charles’ coronation and the annual Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph.

Critics accused the corporation of prioritising other events, such as the Glastonbury Festival, over more traditional occasions. A source said the small team, which covered the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and funeral recognised by BAFTA, already operates with no more than six permanent staff and costs “peanuts” compared to the millions the broadcaster spends on filming the Glastonbury Festival.

The redundancies are said to have been announced last week, coming just one day after the team secured a Royal Television Society Award for its live broadcast of Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January 2025, commemorating 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

A source told The Daily Mail that expecting a single person to oversee coverage of significant historic events – such as VE Day and D-Day anniversaries – would be impossible, given that such productions require months of planning and coordination, even when supported by freelance staff.

A spokesman for the BBC has said viewers would not notice any change in their coverage, adding that the move was part of the corporation’s aim at being more efficient.

“As a prudent commercial business with a mandate to maximise returns to the BBC, we regularly look at how we’re set up and where we can work more efficiently,” they said.

“We’re proposing some changes that will help us stay strong creatively and continue to deliver a range of high-quality programmes – whilst managing our costs in a challenging and fast‑moving market.”

Meanwhile, insiders at Buckingham Palace are believed to be uneasy about the potential impact on royal programming if the team is heavily reduced, amid concerns this could lead to a decline in production standards and a loss of the prominence such broadcasts have traditionally received.