The Queen's Castle - Windsor Royal Year documentary - Page 2

runaway princess · #21 07-28-2005, 07:43 PM

It was hilarious when Harry was playing a polo match...and the commentator was excited as Harry was...he was screaming his head off.....and also we got behind the scenes of Charles and Camilla's wedding...that was awesome!

ElisaR · #22 11-23-2005, 03:31 PM

I bought the DVD!

I haven't finished to watch it yet, but I think it's a great documentary, very interesting, original and funny. :)

Princejohnny25 · #23 11-23-2005, 03:34 PM

I loved the documentary. It was very nice and you got to know Prince Phillip better. I liked how they gave us an insider view of the royal wedding. St. Georges hall is magnificent. They did a great job restoring it.

I watched it on CBC months back. It will play in the USA in Feburary on PBS. I dont know why it took so long to show in the US.

Australian · #24 11-24-2005, 02:00 AM

I thought this documentary was excellent, it gave us a look of everything behind the scenes and it was terrific.
So much work goes on behind the scenes just to complete one day at the royal residence lol. I wouldnt mind all that fuss made over me!

Maybe i can start some new rules in my own home, request that my flag gets raised everytime i enter the house, and everything is all set out for me :)
Maybe i should wake up now :)

BeatrixFan · #25 12-28-2005, 11:58 AM

Well, I got the DVD for Christmas and here's my review;

The Queen's Castle was first broadcast in March and April 2005. In 4 hour long programmes, we were given our first glimpse into life at Windsor - not only the Castle, but the entire estate. The DVD is a true joy, coming in a neat and well designed case. I was suprised to see that it is in fact, a two disc set with one DVD providing the original 4 episodes and the other giving over two hours of extras.

The Wedding of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall was briefly shown in the fourth episode of the series, and was broadcast a day after the actual event. The first extra is about 30 minutes of footage from the wedding and focusses on the preparations. We see the florists decorating the rooms of the Castle as well as the cooks working at high speed to provide what appears to be fantastic food. A nice touch is one kitchen worker toiling over a cottage pie for the Queen's dinner. The Extra's section has one dissapointing feature - it doesn't actually have a commentary. In between footage, a black screen with white text is displayed and it's a DIY commentary. The Royal Wedding section is rather limited - we see Princes William and Harry quite a lot, but the major focus of the piece is of course the bride. The arrivals are kept to the likes of Joanna Lumley and Stephen Fry with a dissapointing lack of footage of the foreign royalty that attended the wedding. The highlight is seeing the Duchess of Cornwall kissing William and Harry as the crowds wave the happy couple off for their honeymoon.

The major advantage of the Extras DVD is the guided tour around Windsor with The Duke of Edinburgh.

It is a fascinating item and the Duke shows his flair for managing the Castle. We see him wandering around the Windsor Farm Shop as well as giving a frank interview about the Windsor fire of 1992, the death of George VI and the basic management of such a historic landmark. His Royal Highness shows his amazing knowledge and seems to know all there is to know about Windsor. The tour is 'unedited' and so we see the Duke complaining about the planes that fly over Windsor and his concern for the camera crew ; "Have you got transport? Make sure you have a good lunch".

The DVD is truly the best fly-on-the-wall documentary made about the Royal Family. It isn't based around media scandal or personal problems - the focus is the Castle. From the Military Knights who live in their grace and favour apartments to the cleaners who vacuum walking backwards - we learn things about the Queen's Castle that we never knew before.

The actual series itself shows exactly how stressful the Queen's job is. I was delighted to see Her Majesty coming down to the dining room to inspect the table before the guests arrived - it was a true homely touch and showed the Queen to be a caring and considerate hostess. The splendour of the Castle was also wonderful to see and the Duke of Edinburgh explains how the Royal Collection is distributed throughout the Royal Residences.

For Royal watchers and those who enjoy seeing the 'behind the scenes' action, this DVD is a must. It is a well put together set but does focus more on the every day workings of the Castle. For those who like footage of the Royal Family, the 'extras' DVD provides more than the actual series DVD but has the same insider information as 'A Royal Family'. It is a great set and reasonably priced and has something for everyone.

**Marengo** · #26 12-28-2005, 08:15 PM

Thanks for your review on the DVD, coinsedently I saw the first part today on the Discovery Channel. They disapproved a androginious St.George logo in this episode. BTW, Prince Phillip is such a funny and friendly man! Hard to believe he is around 80 years old. I loved the way he talked about 'treehuggers'. Probably he and his eldest son would be shocked to hear this, but they resemble each other very much, not only in looks but also in voice and ironic comments & understated humor.

BeatrixFan · #27 12-28-2005, 08:21 PM

I totally agree Marengo - I warmed to the Duke of Edinburgh so much when I saw his interview. The 'treehuggers' comment made me laugh and I liked;

Interviewer : Can you tell us about the Copper Horse Sir?
Philip : Well it's a horse made of copper with the sun behind it - what more is there to say?

I think you're right - Philip and Charles are alike. I was suprised at how different Philip's voice is to the Queen's. That will sound strange but I hope you understand what I mean. I thought it would be frightfully posh - but it wasn't really. I can see why the Queen fell for him all those years ago.

**Marengo** · #28 12-28-2005, 08:31 PM

well, I understood that as soon as I saw the pictures of him in his 20-ties

But seriously, he seems to be a funny man, and I actually like most (if not all) of the comments he make. For me, a foreigner he spoke english as it should be spoken, very clear and perfect. To my foreign ears an accent like that seems posh. I would have liked a small greek accent though, just for the sake of romance.
I am always surprised by the queen as well, to see her in a relaxed moment, genuinly smiling and making a funny remark.

**Warren** · #29 12-29-2005, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marengo

I am always surprised by the queen as well, to see her in a relaxed moment, genuinly smiling and making a funny remark.

Unfortunately, this is one side of Queen Elizabeth we occasionally hear about, but very rarely see; she is said to have a sharp wit. Another of the Queen's talents is mimicry, also said to be, on occasion, merciless. Surprisingly she sounds like she could be the life of the party. If only we could get an invite...

BeatrixFan · #30 12-29-2005, 08:48 AM

I was watching the banquet episode last night and the Queen walks in, looks at the table and sees a huge gold statuette on the table. She says, "I wasn't informed about this". And when the man tries to explain she says, "Oh no it's alright, I quite like it". She does appear very human - wandering around in a tweed skirt and a cardigan checking if everything's ok.

msleiman · #31 02-23-2006, 11:06 AM

Has anyone seen this program? I heard someway that there are 4 parts. We are only able to see 3 parts. Anyone know anything about it??

Georgina · #32 02-23-2006, 06:27 PM

I have seen the first two: The Banquet and Royal Ceremonies. It was pretty good and I learned alot about how the castle works. Prince Phillip and The Queen can be seen throughout, so it's a good treat for those who aren't able to see them up close. Next week it will feature more of Prince Phillip and the wedding of Charles and Camilla.

**HRH Kerry** · #33 02-23-2006, 06:51 PM

I've only seen one and that was episode two, Four Seasons. I saw more of Prince Philip than of Queen Elizabeth but I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to The Ranger. Windsor Castle is truly remarkable!:)

BeatrixFan · #34 02-23-2006, 06:55 PM

I think this is 'The Queen's Castle'. It's been renamed by the sound of it. I have it on DVD. Great series.

**HRH Kerry** · #35 02-23-2006, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

I think this is 'The Queen's Castle'. It's been renamed by the sound of it. I have it on DVD. Great series.

I tried pulling up The Queen's Castle on PBS to no avail. Here is the link on PBS if you're interested in viewing the page and the dvd for sale. http://www.pbs.org/opb/windsorcastle/

BeatrixFan · #36 02-23-2006, 07:21 PM

Thats the one. It was called 'The Queen's Castle' here. I've got it on DVD. There's 3 hour long episodes and it's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant series.

**Warren** · #37 02-24-2006, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

Thats the one. It was called 'The Queen's Castle' here. I've got it on DVD. There's 3 hour long episodes and it's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant series.

Since they are the same program under different names, I've merged this thread with the Queen's Castle thread.

Margrethe II · #38 02-24-2006, 02:44 AM

Like many of you,I myself have the DVD....Its wonderfu