Royal Family (found British documentary film; 1969)

Title card for the documentary.

Status: Found

Royal Family was a 1969 British documentary about Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and the general royal family. For the very first time, cameras were allowed to capture conversations and the intimacy of the family in their daily routines and life.

Background

The documentary, shot through 18 months with a reported total of 43 hours of footage shot for it. It has been known to have aired four times in England (Once on BBC One in 1969, Once again by the BBC in 1972, and twice on ITV) and once in Australia, also in 1969. It hasn't been shown since due to a request from the royal family itself, who considered that a documentary that portrayed them as normal people was a mistake. Due to its negative reception, hardly any of it has been shown or found since.

Availability

At the time, only a very brief black and white preview was available. In 2011, ninety seconds of color footage was broadcast as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. While the original footage and outtakes are still preserved and stored away at an undisclosed location, no further footage is known to have been made available, due to it being protected under Crown Copyright. In 2021, the full documentary was leaked onto YouTube. It would later be copyrighted by the BBC and removed shortly after its upload. Despite this, the entire documentary is still online thanks to mirrored uploads, and can now be viewed on the Internet Archive.

Gallery

The color footage that was re-released in 2011.

External Link

• The documentary's Wikipedia page. Retrieved 06 Aug '18

• CNN article on the leak. Retrieved 17 Oct '22

• Internet Archive page. Retrieved 17 Oct '22