A documentary about the British royal family, which Queen Elizabeth apparently banned, has found its way on YouTube recently and staff members at Buckingham Palace are reportedly in distress over its leak.
The Royal Family documentary, which aired on BBC in 1969, was a very personal look into the day-to-day lives of Queen Elizabeth, her husband Prince Philip, and their children, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. In a first and only attempt, cameras followed the royals for 75 days, upon Philip’s suggestion, to give the public some access to what really goes on in their lives.
The 110-minute film earned over 23 million views, a huge success for the network. It was then re-aired on ITV the following week with 15 million views. It was the very first time the British people saw their Queen in actual conversations and not simply doing a speech on TV or reading from a prepared statement on the radio. Her Majesty made comments in the video that would be deemed inappropriate today.
According to People, Queen Elizabeth regretted agreeing to the filming and airing of this documentary. Her Majesty apparently thought that the videos “cheapened” the family because, among other surprising details, it also showed clips of a topless Prince Charles on a jet ski.
Former BBC controller David Attenborough, who has been friends with the Queen for decades, also said that the documentary was a threat to the institution. He said that the royal family thrives because of its mystique and having a film that uncovers this mystery could disintegrate what they stood for.
From the time it was filmed, Princess Anne, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh’s only daughter, never thought that the documentary was a good idea. She said that it brought even more unwanted attention to them when the royals are already living under the spotlight.
Hence, the video was never shown again and was believed to be safely locked in a vault at BBC upon the Queen’s insistence. The British public has largely forgotten about the documentary until it was revisited in The Crown season 3 in 2019. It has been discussed on the internet since then and surprisingly turned up on YouTube in full this week.
A royal source told the Telegraph that the Palace asked BBC to sort out and act on the leak on YouTube since this a copyright violation. The Queen’s former press secretary, Dickie Arbiter, believes that the video was “nicked” from the network.
BBC’s spokesperson said that have approached YouTube to take down the video. However, the spokesperson also believes that this could be a lost cause. Once it’s already on the internet, anyone can simply download and re-upload the content.
