Channel 4 News has turned down an interview with the Prince of Wales after refusing to sign a “draconian” contract with a string of demands including the pre-vetting of all questions and right to control editing.

The extremely tight level of control and censorship has not stopped some outlets from broadcasting interviews: Sky News ran an interview late last month covering topics including global warming. A spokesman for Sky News refused to comment on the broadcaster’s decision to agree to the terms laid down by Clarence House.

However, Channel 4 News felt that it could not conduct an interview under such terms, which included a 15-page contract full of limitations and restrictions. It cancelled an interview with Prince Charles that was due to be conducted by Jon Snow on Sunday at the British ambassador’s residence in Paris, on the eve of the Paris climate change talks.

The decision to pull out of the interview would have ultimately been made by Ben de Pear, the editor of Channel 4’s flagship news programme.

Channel 4 News said it would be happy to carry out an interview but not with such a restrictive contract.



“We do not sign pre-interview agreements, and interviewees appear on Channel 4 News on that basis,” said a spokesperson. “We would still be delighted to interview Prince Charles.”

It is not clear if other media outlets, such as ITV News and BBC News, have agreed to run interviews with Prince Charles.

The contractual stipulations surrounding Prince Charles were first made public by the Independent, which cited clauses in the contract such as: if the interviewer goes off script, Clarence House staff present have the right to “intervene and halt filming”.

A spokeswoman for Clarence House said the Prince of Wales received hundreds of requests for interviews and no media outlet was obligated to sign the standard contract.



“The issuing of broadcast contracts is standard practice across the royal households,” said the spokeswoman. “The Prince of Wales receives hundreds of requests for interviews from media organisations around the world. No media organisation is under any obligation to approach the Prince of Wales for an interview or enter into a contract negotiation.”

She added that the restrictions were to ensure “factual accuracy”. “All broadcasters that do [an interview], are keen to ensure that they do not breach any of the relevant broadcast rules and go to great lengths to protect their independence in this regard,” she said. “The contracts are put in place to ensure factual accuracy and protect the broadcaster as well as the interview subject.”