King Charles ironically gave nature show the axe for Coronation broadcast

King Charles, who has never shied away from his love for horticulture, had caused a nature-related show to be axed for the broadcasting of his and Queen Consort Camilla's Coronation ceremony.

According to The Mirror, BBC was forced to temporarily shelve a show as it had faced budget restrictions when broadcasting major events like the King’s coronation and Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.

Michaela Strachan, Autumnwatch, TV presenter revealed that she was "sad" over the cancellation of the show but understood that the move was the "right decision."

"It’s really sad," she said. 

"But when you think that budgets are getting smaller, the choice was either to strip the budget over all the programmes, or to strip one of the programmes – and I think that was the best decision."

She continued, "I would rather keep Springwatch at the heart of the Watches, and keep the budget. Of course, I’d rather we had all three, but if you’re faced with that decision...

"Let’s be honest. We have a cost-of-living crisis, people aren’t buying their TV licences, we’ve had a very expensive coronation and a very expensive Queen’s funeral, which has cost the BBC a lot of money."

She elaborated that "it was a shame" that the nature show was given the axe despite the positive reception David Attenborough’s series Wild Isles received. 

"It does seem a shame after everyone raved about Wild Isles. You would have thought that everyone would have been really keen to learn more."

"It was the right decision. Disappointing but the right one," she surmised.

The BBC cited "challenging times financially" and added that it will diversify its investments more into Springwatch and Winterwatch.