BBC chief vows to stay after apology to Queen

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) The head of BBC One said today he would not resign after the broadcaster was forced to apologise to the Queen for wrongly implying that she had stormed out of a photo shoot.

The BBC blamed a production company for sending it clips edited out of sequence which implied the monarch had lost her temper when asked to remove her crown.

The promotional trailer for a documentary, which was shown to media on Wednesday, wrongly gave the impression that the Queen had then stormed out of the shoot with American celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Peter Fincham, the BBC One controller who presented the footage to journalists, said he had portrayed the events unaware that they gave a false impression.

''What is regrettable is the mistake that was made in the editing of this particular sequence,'' he said.

''That came to light, came to my attention well after the presentation. That's why I'm here to apologise for it.'' The Queen, who was being filmed for the behind-the-scenes documentary, was depicted as apparently having flounced out of a room at Buckingham Palace with an aide carrying her robes.

The trailer showed Leibovitz asking the monarch, who had worn her crown and formal robes for the sitting, to remove her crown. The Queen gave her an icy stare and replied: ''Less dressy, what do you think this is?'', pointing to her outfit.

The footage that followed showed the Queen walking briskly down a corridor, telling her staff: ''I'm not changing anything. I've had enough dressing like this thank you very much.'' But the footage which appeared to show her storming out was actually filmed earlier as she made her way to the sitting.

The BBC apologised to the Queen yesterday, blaming the production company, RDF Media Group, producer of hit shows like ''Wife Swap'', for supplying the footage edited out of sequence.

The apology prompted critical headlines in newspapers, coming days after the BBC was ordered to pay an unprecedented 50,000 pound fine for faking a phone-in contest on ''Blue Peter''.

''BBC grovels to the Queen,'' said the Daily Mail's front page headline while the Times called it a ''Crisis of trust after BBC says sorry again''.

The documentary, ''A year with the Queen'', will be aired later this year.

REUTERS SW PM1350