How Queen Elizabeth And Prince Philip Made The Mistake Of Exposing Their Daily Lives

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip committed a huge gaffe in 1969 when they agreed to open their lives to the public. Even though the royal couple’s intentions were good, the move exposed private details about their household.

In the book “The Firm,” royal author Penny Junor said that the decision was the beginning of the end for the Windsors. In 1969, the film “The Royal Family” aired on BBC and ITV.

The film followed the Queen, Prince Philip, their children, the Queen Mother and more for an entire year during both formal and informal occasions. The viewers caught a glimpse of the family’s private side when they were at play, which was something that they hadn’t seen before.

In the book “The Little Princesses,” royal author Marion Crawford said that the film was far more revealing than anything that she has ever written. “‘The Royal Family’ was arguably the first example of royal ‘spin’ nearly 20 years before the term beam common currency,” she said.

According to Junor, what the film did was to make people hungry for more. After seeing Prince Philip cooking sausages in the kitchen, they became curious as to what he and the other royals do in other parts of their home.

The royal author said that in a sense, the Queen and her advisers became the “architects of their own misfortune” because the public felt that royal privacy was no longer of utmost importance. And Guy Black, the former director of the Press Complaints Commission, also questioned the sincerity and accuracy of “The Royal Family.”

He said that the image of one big family was questionable because this isn’t how normal families are like in the real world. This means that even though the Queen’s family was followed for an entire year, the film made them look as though they have the perfect family.

“The film certainly opened the door and once that door is open its very difficult to shut it,” Sir Edward Ford said. “You can open it wider, but it’s difficult to shut it. It was a mistake, but this is with hindsight,” he added.