Royal Family (film)

Royal Family was commissioned by Elizabeth II to celebrate the investiture of her eldest son, Charles, as Prince of Wales.{{cite journal|last=Bastin|first=Giselle|title=Filming the Ineffable: Biopics of the British Royal Family|journal=Auto/Biography Studies|date=Summer 2009|volume=24|issue=1|pages=34–52|doi=10.1080/08989575.2009.10846787|s2cid=220313542|url=http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/abs/summary/v024/24.1.bastin.html|access-date=21 August 2013}} It was directed by Richard Cawston,{{cite book|author=Alan Rosenthal|title=Writing, Directing, and Producing Documentary Films and Videos|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9jgqxRE8ioC&pg=PA72|edition=4|year=2007|publisher=SIU Press|isbn=978-0-8093-2742-3|pages=72–73}} scripted by Antony Jay{{cite news|last=Hardman|first=Robert|title=Yes, Ma'am|url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/7325988/yes-maam/|access-date=16 August 2013|work=The Spectator|date=20 October 2011}} and narrated by Michael Flanders. The film was jointly produced by the BBC and ITV.{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/b8939653ce7340c49a20cdfec821c7c5|title=Royal Family - BBC One London|access-date=21 January 2019|website=BBC Genome|date=21 June 1969 }}

It was the idea of William Heseltine, then the royal Press Secretary, and television producer John Brabourne (son-in-law of Lord Mountbatten), who both believed that showing the family's day-to-day life on TV would help to revive public interest in an institution widely seen in the Swinging Sixties as out of touch and irrelevant.{{cite book|author=Alan Rosenthal|title=The New Documentary in Action: A Casebook in Film Making|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qpd6WEltDOsC&pg=PA200|year=1972|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-02254-6|pages=201–209}}

Cawston was approached in March 1968 and filming began on 8 June at Trooping the Colour. A total of 43 hours of material were shot for the documentary. Editing started in March 1969 while filming came to an end in May. All scenes had to be agreed to by an advisory committee chaired by the Queen's husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.{{cite book|author=Robert Hardman|title=Her Majesty: Queen Elizabeth II and Her Court|url=https://archive.org/details/hermajestyqueene0000hard|url-access=registration|year=2012|publisher=Pegasus Books|isbn=978-1-4532-4918-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hermajestyqueene0000hard/page/211 211]–214}} However, Cawston was allowed to shoot everything he wanted, later recounting "I never asked for things which I thought would be in bad taste; therefore, there was never any question of asking for something that would have to be turned down". The Queen saw the film in its entirety one month before the broadcast.

The 110-minute documentary covers a year in the Queen's life. It gives an insight into the private side of the family, as well as the role of the monarchy in the 20th century. A typical day sets the tone, beginning with an official audience, followed by lunch and an afternoon garden party. In the evening, the Queen chooses a dress to wear to the opera.

File:President Richard Nixon visiting Buckingham Palace with Britain's royal family.jpg with the Royal family at Buckingham Palace, 1969]]

File:Queen Elizabeth II in 1969.png

Later in the film she, Prince Philip, and their children enjoy a barbecue at Balmoral Castle, Scotland.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/trying-to-be-useful-twentyfive-years-ago-the-windsors-attempted-to-recreate-their-public-image-using-a-television-film-to-portray-the-royal-family-as-ordinary-hardworking-people-as-this-final-extract-from-a-new-book-on-the-dynasty-shows-it-was-a-ploy-that-went-terribly-wrong-1423599.html|date=19 June 1994|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611004024/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/trying-to-be-useful-twentyfive-years-ago-the-windsors-attempted-to-recreate-their-public-image-using-a-television-film-to-portray-the-royal-family-as-ordinary-hardworking-people-as-this-final-extract-from-a-new-book-on-the-dynasty-shows-it-was-a-ploy-that-went-terribly-wrong-1423599.html|archive-date=11 June 2015|author=Richard Tomlinson|title=Trying to be useful: Twenty-five years ago, the Windsors attempted to re-create their public image …|newspaper=The Independent on Sunday}} In another scene, the Queen buys Prince Edward an ice-cream from a shop. At one point, Charles is practising the cello when a string snaps in his younger brother Edward's face. Members of the family are shown eating breakfast, watching television,{{cite book|author=Nick Fraser|title=Why Documentaries Matter|url=https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/why-documentaries-matter|year=2012|publisher=Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism|isbn=978-1-907384-09-7|pages=38–39}} water-skiing, playing host to the British Olympic team, and having lunch with Richard Nixon, then President of the United States. The film includes a royal tour of South America and also shows Princess Anne visiting a gas rig in the North Sea.

At the end, the Queen is shown discussing with her family an earlier conversation with the Home Secretary, who had described the then American ambassador, David K. E. Bruce, as a "gorilla", a term Elizabeth said she found "very unkind". However, she recounted her meeting with the guest by saying, "I stood in the middle of the room and pressed the bell, and the doors opened, and there was a gorilla. And I had the most terrible trouble in keeping a straight face — you know, he had a short body and long arms."{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/royal-family-documentary-most-shocking-moments_n_6012dbbec5b61cb95351b859|title=A Rare Royal Family Documentary Briefly Hit YouTube. Here Are Its Most Shocking Moments.|work=HuffPost|first=Carly|last=Ledbetter|date=29 January 2021|accessdate=5 December 2022}}

Royal Family was first broadcast on BBC1 on 21 June 1969 and on ITV the following week on 28 or 29 June.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/mostwatched/1960s.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051122221448/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/mostwatched/1960s.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 November 2005|title=bfi {{!}} Features {{!}} Britain's Most Watched TV: 1960s|date=22 November 2005|access-date=2 October 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamy.com/jun-20-1969-royal-family-first-complete-film-portrait-of-british-royalty-image69442083.html|title=Stock Photo - Jun. 20, 1969 - Royal Family first complete film portrait of British Royalty: Ready for its BBC television premiere on Saturday, June 21st, and on ITV on Sunday June 29th|last=Limited|first=Alamy|website=Alamy|language=en|access-date=1 October 2019}} It was later broadcast in Australia on 21 September 1969. It was seen by 30.6 million viewers in the United Kingdom.{{cite book|author=Ian Bradley|title=God Save the Queen: The Spiritual Heart of the Monarchy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KaQxOBHa7ogC&pg=PA202|year=2012|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-4411-9367-4|page=202}} The commentary had to be altered slightly for American audiences in a version that was broadcast in the US. Owing to the film being seen by three-quarters of the British public at the time, there was no televised Royal Christmas Message in 1969, with a repeat of the film shown simultaneously on BBC1 and BBC2 on Christmas Day instead.{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/6b709b4abacf4875889e71d32d0d193b|title=Royal Family - BBC One London - 25 December 1969|website=BBC Genome|date=25 December 1969 |access-date=29 January 2021}} Queen Elizabeth II issued a written message to avoid the possibility of over-exposure.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30589349|title=A Point of View: The story of the Queen's Christmas speech|date=28 December 2014|website=BBC News|access-date=23 January 2019}} The documentary was shown on BBC 2 on 6 February 1972 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne.{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?adv=0&q=Royal+Family+Cawston&media=all&yf=1923&yt=2009&mf=1&mt=12&tf=00%3A00&tt=00%3A00#search|title=Search results|access-date=21 January 2019|website=BBC Genome}} It was last aired on television on BBC 2 in August 1977 as part of the channel's Festival 77 celebration of the Queen's Silver Jubilee.

The film, protected by Crown copyright, has not been shown since the 1970s as it was deemed to be "of its time and for its time" in later years. According to Heseltine, "we put very heavy restrictions on it because we realised it was a huge shift in attitude". In the 1990s, the film could be viewed privately at the BBC by researchers with permission from Buckingham Palace, for a fee of £35. Broadcasters have been allowed to use short clips in other documentaries; for example, as part of the BBC's The Duke at 90 in 2011, to celebrate Prince Philip's 90th birthday or during the BBC's coverage of the death of the Queen in 2022.

In 2011 it was announced that clips would be made available for public viewing as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. It formed part of an exhibition called Queen: Art and Image, which also featured photographs of the monarch from across the years.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8255483/Royal-family-documentary-revived-four-decades-on.html|title=Royal family documentary revived four decades on|date=13 January 2011|access-date=21 January 2019|author=Anita Singh|website=The Telegraph}}

In 2021 the film was leaked and published online. It was later taken off YouTube due to a copyright claim after the BBC sought to have it removed. It was later reuploaded by several channels and was not taken down.{{cite web|website=House and Garden|date=29 January 2021|title=The Banned 1969 Documentary on the Royal Family has been Leaked on YouTube|url= https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/article/royal-documentary-leaked-on-youtube|accessdate=31 May 2022}}

Royal Family has been accused of revealing too much about the royals. David Attenborough—controller of BBC2 at the time—warned Cawston that his film was in danger of "killing the monarchy". According to a letter Attenborough wrote at the time: "The whole institution depends on mystique and the tribal chief in his hut… If any member of the tribe ever sees inside the hut, then the whole system of the tribal chiefdom is damaged and the tribe eventually disintegrates".{{cite news|last=Tominey|first=Camilla|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/28/1969-royal-family-documentary-revealed-ordinary-family-placed/|title=The 1969 Royal Family documentary revealed an ordinary family placed in an extraordinary situation|work=The Telegraph|date=28 January 2021|access-date=28 January 2021}} The film critic Milton Shulman wrote "every institution that has so far attempted to use TV to popularise or aggrandise itself has been trivialised by it".

A review in The Times concluded that Cawston's film had given the nation "an intimate understanding of what members of the Royal Family are like as individual people without jeopardising their dignity or losing the sense of distance".{{cite book|author=Milton Shulman|title=The Ravenous Eye: The Impact of the Fifth Factor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3piZAAAAIAAJ|year=1973|publisher=Cassell|isbn=978-0-304-93851-3|page=119}} The journalist Peregrine Worsthorne remarked: "Initially the public will love seeing the Royal Family as not essentially different from anyone else … but in the not-so-long run familiarity will breed, if not contempt, familiarity".

In later years, some blamed the film for a growing lack of deference towards the monarchy. However, William Heseltine had no regrets, calling it "a fantastic success".

In the 2016 Netflix series The Crown, the episode "Bubbikins" features the filming of the documentary, showing the planning, execution, and reactions.{{Cite web|last=Rieden|first=Juliet|date=2019-11-23|title=The True Story of the Royal Family's BBC Documentary, Which Hasn't Been Seen Publicly in Decades|url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a29686896/royal-family-1969-bbc-documentary/|access-date=2021-04-12|website=Town & Country|language=en-US}}

The Telegraph took the opportunity to review the film after it was leaked on the internet: "the Windsors are totally unguarded, natural, non-media trained, it's like watching the original reality TV show … the family don't know how they are expected to behave on camera, so they just behave like themselves".{{cite news|last=Bennion|first=Chris|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/fascinating-charming-bbcs-royal-family-humanises-windsors-much/|title=Fascinating and charming, the BBC's Royal Family humanises the Windsors far better than The Crown|work=The Telegraph|date=28 January 2021|access-date=28 January 2021}}

• Royal Heritage (1977)
• Elizabeth R: A Year in the Life of the Queen (1992)
• Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work (2007)

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|author=Richard Cawston|title=Royal Family: The Story in Pictures from the Historic Documentary Film|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YD96GwAACAAJ|year=1969|publisher=Hamlyn|isbn=978-0-600-37514-2}}
• {{cite book|editor=Mandy Merck|title=The British Monarchy on Screen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zL37sgEACAAJ|year=2016|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-9956-4}}

• {{IMDb title|id=0251380|title= Royal Family}}
• [https://archive.org/details/royal-family-1969_202101 The documentary on Archive.org]

{{Elizabeth II|state=collapsed}}

{{Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh}}

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Category:1960s British films

Category:1969 television films

Category:1969 films

Category:1969 documentary films

Category:1969 in British television

Category:BBC television documentaries

Category:Cultural depictions of Richard Nixon

Category:Documentary films about British royalty

Category:ITV documentaries

Category:Films about Elizabeth II

Category:Films shot in Scotland

Category:Films with screenplays by Antony Jay

Category:Television censorship in the United Kingdom