A 1969 documentary about the British royal family, which was supposedly banned by Queen Elizabeth II for decades for giving the public an overly intimate view of the royals, has been mysteriously leaked onto YouTube.
The almost 2 hour film was watched by 30 million people in June 1969 when it was first broadcast, and remains one of the UK’s most-viewed television broadcasts. Soon after the Queen asked the BBC not to show it again. The BBC estimates more than 350 million watched it worldwide.
It was first broadcast on BBC 1 on 21st June 1969, and on ITV the following week.
It was reportedly the idea of Lord Mountbatten’s son-in-law, Lord Brabourne, according to History, and Prince Philip agreed it would humanize the royal family and strengthen the monarchy, despite the disapproval of some royals.
“I never liked the idea of ‘Royal Family,’ I thought it was a rotten idea,” Princess Anne stated in the 2015 book, Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family, as seen in the clip below. “The attention which had been brought upon one ever since one was a child, you just didn’t need any more…I don’t remember enjoying any part of that.”
Filming for Royal Family started in 1968 and Richard Cawston, the chief of the BBC Documentary unit, followed the family around for 18 months.
Some of the moments captured included Prince Philip grilling sausages at Balmoral and Queen Elizabeth II making small talk with former U.S. President Richard Nixon.
Queen Elizabeth films with President of Tanzania – © IMAGO / United Archives International
“We were all a little bit nervous of showing it to the Queen because we had no idea what she would make of it,” Michael Bradsell, the film’s editor, told the Smithsonian channel in a 2017 special. “She was a little critical of the film in the sense she thought it was too long, but Dick Cawston, the director, persuaded her that two hours was not a minute too long.”
But like many things not long after it appeared on YouTube it was removed again, according to reports the BBC requested YouTube to remove it.