"Royal Family" (1969) - Ground-breaking TV docco about the Royal Family's year

[sarahedwards2]

Originally Posted by HRHHermione

Oh, and how stunning does Princess Anne look in this still image from the film- the one next to Prince Phillip? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...ew-Royals.html

Anne, no reading at the dinner table!

[Warren]

Part 3 of the surprisingly good 4-part documentary series "The Windsors, A Royal Family" (1994) contains a segment on the 1969 "Royal Family" documentary film.

Apparently, after the success of Lord Mountbatten's TV series, Lord Brabourne (married to Mountbatten's eldest daughter and a film and television producer in his own right) proposed the idea of a film showing the "domestic" side of the Royal Family with an emphasis on "getting to know" the Queen.

Philip Ziegler provides some commentary: initially he believed it was a most successful propaganda film which brilliantly achieved its aim (it was broadcast in the same week as the Investiture of the Prince of Wales).
However, he, like many others, now believes it was a mistake.

Some snippets from the original fim are shown.

"Royal Family" (1969) begins around the 44.20 mark...

The Windsors: A Royal Family (1994)

[An Ard Ri]

Have they ever been released on dvd?

[Dman]

I didn't think the film was a mistake at all. I just think the royal family and other royal historians got a bit scared of the film after viewing it. Now they do documentaries all the time.