A REPUBLICAN journalist and lecturer tore into the royal family on BBC Question Time branding them a “hideous cartel”.
Ash Sarkar, senior editor at Novara Media, blasted the “grubby dealings” between the institution and the tabloid media which have been exposed in Harry’s autobiography Spare as the panel engaged in debate about who had come off worst following the revelations.
And in a rare occurrence on the BBC, Sarkar was able to let loose with her republican stance and rip into the behaviour of the royal family who other members of the panel claimed had an important “constitutional role”.
Presenter Fiona Bruce looked taken aback as Sarkar used her platform to express how she really felt about the institution and the way they "feed each other to the wolves".
Sarkar, who has previously called for the UK national anthem to be replaced with a “grime banger”, said: “What the autobiography lifts a lid on is the very grubby dealings between the institution of the palace and the tabloid media where, instead of being able to be a family, which is defined by love and nurturing and caring for one another, the royals have been turned into this hideous cartel where they are feeding each other to the wolves in order to advance their own interests.
“And I recognise this is a minority opinion in this country but I do think that is a quality inherent to monarchy. I think princes and dukes are good names for musicians and dogs, I don’t think they’re great titles for human beings.
“When you look at the misery these people have inflicted on one another, I think of them as zoo animals who’ve been bred in captivity and they leave these existences where they’re clearly very unhappy but we just say ‘oh isn’t it so good for tourism?’”
Sarkar, who has lectured on political theory at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge and the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam, added she felt like she “knew too much” about the family.
She added: “I feel like I know too much about these people and it’s driving me insane.”
Sarkar also used the opportunity to highlight how part two of the Leveson Inquiry – which looked into press practices following the News International phone hacking scandal - was dropped which she said suggests “where power is truly wielded in this country”.
After ex-Tory MP Anna Soubry challenged her on “grubby dealings” being revealed in Harry's book, Sarkar said: “I’m not taking sides because I’m a republican, I’ve got integrity, I can’t stand any of them, but I do think it lifts the lid on press practices.
“One of the things you can tell about where power is truly wielded in this country is the fact we were supposed to have Leveson part two and it got kicked into the long grass because no politician wants to get on the wrong side of Rupert Murdoch.”
