ANNIE LEIBOVITZ - LEIBOVITZ: BBC HEAD 'RIGHT' TO GO

LEIBOVITZ: BBC HEAD 'RIGHT' TO GO

Annie Leibovitz, the celebrity photographer whose shoot with the Queen sparked a BBC crisis has said the controller of BBC One was right to resign in the wake of the affair.

Peter Fincham, as well as Stephen Lambert, head of production company RDF Media, stepped down after misleading editing of a trailer promoting a BBC documentary about the Queen suggested the monarch had stormed out of a photography session with Leibovitz.

It was reported the Queen had been angered by the photographer's suggestion that she remove her crown to give the pictures a "less dressy" tone.

But an independent inquiry led by former BBC executive Will Wyatt was highly critical of the corporation for permitting RDF's editing of the trailer.

The 58-year-old photographer, famed for her work with Vanity Fair, told the Times yesterday that although the Queen could be a "little feisty", the BBC had caused their own problems over the affair.

"I think the BBC missed the whole point. They had an interesting piece to film without having to go to the extreme of making it up so it looks as though she's walking out," she said.

"The BBC has a very important image and name," she continued. "You want to be able to trust them and from that point of view, if they went to that extreme of someone losing a job then I guess that's what has to happen.

"I was actually quite honestly amused by all the controversy. But when it comes down to it, it was totally incorrect that they falsified what happened."

Leibovitz added: "The only thing they missed about the Queen was her great resolve. She went in and she worked the shoot. She was extraordinary."

Mr Wyatt's inquiry revealed that after Leibovitz's "less dressy" comment, the Queen paused, laughed and carried on, rather than storming out of the photoshoot.