The 1969 Royal Family documentary, which Queen Elizabeth specially asked to be locked in a vault after it aired, has recently resurfaced on YouTube after 50 years and a new generation of viewers have likened the film to a reality TV version of The Crown.
According to E! News, the Royal Family documentary "both shocked and amused" new viewers who were able to watch it before YouTube took everything down for copyright violation. Back when it first aired, the 110-minute home video captivated over 35 million viewers. It was the first time for the British public to see the royal family chatting, laughing, watching television together, and engaging in normal family routines to break down the mystery and myths that have followed them for decades.
One key moment that dispelled the myth featured Queen Elizabeth going to a local ice cream shop in Sandringham with Prince Edward, then 5 years old. Her Majesty was shown taking out her purse and handing her youngest son money to pay for his ice cream. According to Daily Mail, this negated the speculations that the royals don't carry around any money since they don't have to pay for anything.
Another key moment featured Prince Charles, then in his early 20s, showing Edward a cello when a string accidentally snapped on his youngest brother's face leaving Edward startled and almost in tears. According to reports, Prince Philip was upset about this scene but Queen Elizabeth had no objections to the clip.
Edward was also shown learning to read with a teacher. He was in the same class as his cousins, David and Sarah, the children of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones.
There was also a scene with the royal family picnic at Balmoral. As Prince Philip and Princess Anne were setting up the grill, 9-year-old Prince Andrew kept asking them questions about the stuff used for grilling. At one point, Andrew managed to climb to the roof of the family's Range Rover and then called out to his Papa. In that same picnic, Prince Charles and the Queen were filmed preparing the salad. Charles asked his mother to taste the salad dressing he mixed, and after dipping a finger on it, the Queen told his eldest that it's "too oily."
The royal family also allowed the documentary crew to film them during the Christmas holiday. While setting up the giant Christmas tree together, Princess Anne had to sternly call out to Andrew, who refused to get down from the step ladder.
But the most revealing moment of all involved a conversation Queen Elizabeth had with her family. The Queen, Philip, Charles, and Anne were all sitting at a small table for what looked like a happy family dinner. They talked about the Queen's father at one point, and then Her Majesty blurted out what happened to her that day when an unnamed official visited her office.
The Queen said she was told there would be a "gorilla" coming by, which she thought was an odd and unkind way to describe an official. But when she finally met him, Queen Elizabeth said that the official looked like a gorilla because he had a short body and long arms.
Her Majesty said she had trouble trying not to think about the description the whole time she was with the official. Charles then told his mom that he would have dissolved and walked out of the room if it was him. Incidentally, the documentary opened and closed with Charles as the future king and indicated that he could be taking the throne after he's 70 years old or "tomorrow," depending on the life of the Queen.
Near the end of the film was President Richard Nixon's visit to Buckingham Palace. He had a chitchat with the Queen, Philip, and Charles and told the future king that he saw him on television a few times and his daughters follow his TV appearances as well. This documentary was filmed around the time Charles had his investiture as the Prince of Wales.
