Inside Windsor Castle (2017) s01e03 Episode Script
Happy Families (1952-1972)
1
Narrator: Windsor--
the oldest and largest
continually inhabited castle
in the world.
For 1,000 years,
it's been the symbol
of britain's royal dynasties.
For the queen,
this is a palace like no other.
Man: The windsor castle
is her home.
It is a family home as well,
and she feels
very comfortable there.
Narrator: 1,000 rooms,
hundreds of staff,
billions of dollars' worth of
paintings and fine furnishings,
5,000 acres of parkland.
Man: It's a great stage
on which the whole
royal business can be acted out.
Narrator: It's also where the
royal family hides its secrets.
Woman: There are
documents and letters there
that I think
probably every historian
would give their eyeteeth for.
Narrator: It's been
the queen's home for 80 years.
We'll reveal
what's really happened
behind the castle's
imposing walls.
The newly crowned queen
sets up home at windsor castle.
From the formal 1950s
through the less formal '60s
and into the 1970s,
we discover how she was torn
between the demands
of family and job.
We reveal where the queen mother
held her infamous parties.
Woman: She was never known
to be drunk,
but there were those
who would have said
that she was never ever
completely sober, either.
Narrator: Why the queen first
let the TV cameras
into the castle.
Man: It was an utter delight,
and we all loved it.
The world loved it.
Narrator: How the royal family
dealt with their own
black sheep.
Man: They just wiped him
off the face of the earth.
♪
Narrator: In February 1952,
George VI,
the king who'd steered britain
through the darkest hours
of world war II, died.
The keys to windsor castle
were handed to a new resident.
Princess Elizabeth,
his 26-year-old daughter,
became queen Elizabeth II.
Crowd: God save the queen.
God save the queen.
Narrator:
She would be the 40th monarch
to inhabit windsor castle's
rooms, parks,
palaces, and gardens
over its 1,000-year history.
Kate Williams: William the
conqueror built windsor castle,
and so when you're
in the castle,
it's not just
about Elizabeth II.
It's about all the monarchs
stretching right back to 1066.
Narrator: Elizabeth II
was not just a queen.
She was a wife and mother.
She and prince Philip had been
married for five years.
They had two children--
Charles, who was three,
and Anne, just one.
Windsor had been
her childhood home.
This was where she wanted
to raise her own family.
Paul burrell: Windsor castle is
very important to the windsors.
It's their family home.
Buckingham Palace is the office.
Windsor castle is their home.
Narrator: The family moved
into the private apartments
in the east terrace
of the castle's upper ward.
Burrell: The queen's suite
of rooms at windsor castle
is small compared to
the vastness of windsor castle.
Her tiny little corner
has a dining room,
prince Philip's rooms,
which adjoin the queen's rooms,
and that's it,
apart from the oak room,
which is their drawing room.
Narrator: The queen
made redecorating these rooms
a priority when she took charge
of the castle in 1952.
Williams: What she wanted to do
was make it absolutely perfect
for the large family
she hoped to have
with the Duke of Edinburgh,
and really, that was quite a job
because it was
in pretty bad decorative state,
it was very dated,
very victorian,
and most of all,
it was really very dark.
She wanted to make it
a family home, a relaxed home,
and make it much less stuffy,
and that's exactly what she did.
Narrator:
The heart of the queen's home
inside windsor castle
is the oak room.
Burrell: This is
a very cozy drawing room
that you'd find
in an English country house,
with soft furnishings,
with floral chintzes,
with a red carpet,
where the drinks trolley
is placed every day,
and that's where the queen goes
to get her gin and tonic
at 6:00.
This is her cozy space.
This is where
she feels comfortable.
Narrator: While the queen
made their little home cozy,
prince Philip
wanted to make it modern.
Philip eade: I mean,
prince Philip was keen
on bringing things up to date.
He was very attached
to modern technology.
When electric frying pans
came on the market,
he was very quick to buy one
and insisted on cooking
his own breakfast
until the queen complained
that the stench lingered
throughout the day.
Narrator: And it wasn't just
the cooking odors
that caused a stink.
Piers Brendon: She was advised
by all sorts
of very fuddy-duddy courtiers
who were stuck
in the last century.
♪
Narrator: Inside windsor castle,
every detail of every day
was controlled by a strict
hierarchy of courtiers,
such as the marker of the swans
and the page of the backstairs.
And Philip
was inextricably caught up
in windsor's bizarre traditions.
Since 1947, he belonged
to its most exclusive club--
the knights of the garter.
♪
Man: Once again, the pageantry
of the garter ceremony,
led by heralds and pursurvants,
members of the most noble order,
many familiar faces among them,
make their way
to St. George's chapel.
Narrator: Every year,
on the second weekend of June,
knights of the garter, or kgs,
file through windsor castle
to a service at their
spiritual headquarters--
St. George's chapel.
Burrell: To be invested
by the monarch
as a knight
or a lady knight of the garter
is the highest order of chivalry
that you could possibly have
bestowed upon you.
So, you're given
a ridiculous costume
and have to wear stockings
and a feathered hat,
and that's if you're a man.
Brian hoey:
It's an order of chivalry,
which means that, in essence,
you know, they would actually
draw their weapons
and protect the sovereign.
They are
her last line of defense.
God help us
if it ever comes to that
because most of them are
very, very ancient, indeed.
Narrator: The order of
the garter was founded in 1348
by king Edward III.
Born in windsor castle, Edward
spent much of his 50-year reign
transforming
the military fortress
into the ceremonial showpiece
it is today.
Marc Morris: Why they decided on
their symbol being a garter belt
is really anyone's guess.
Um, it seems more likely
that it was a military belt,
like a sword belt,
um, and that it was
a deliberately obscure symbol
because this was
a very elite club.
Remember
there are only 26 people
in this super select
chivalric club.
Narrator: Prince Philip realized
that some windsor traditions
were untouchable,
but there were other customs
he couldn't stand.
Brendon: The formality was
there. The flummery was there.
You know, periwigged flunkies
marching backwards and forwards,
and all that kind of thing,
which actually irritated
prince Philip.
Narrator:
When Philip tried to get rid
of the footmen's
old-fashioned wigs,
the bigwigs at windsor
were having none of it.
Hoey: The master
of the household
at that time was furious.
He said no, they've been
having it for 300 years.
Why shouldn't they have it now?
Narrator: Philip grew
increasingly frustrated.
In his world, men brought home
the bacon and laid down the law.
Brendon: He felt, I think,
that he had to try
and forge a role for himself,
but the courtiers wouldn't
allow him to take a part.
They were fearful
of his interference.
They didn't trust him.
He was frustrated
on every count.
♪
Narrator: The first major
conflict of the queen's marriage
and her new life at windsor
was brewing.
When he married the queen,
Philip knew he'd be playing
second fiddle in public,
walking two steps behind
his wife at official events.
But he soon found
it was the same in private, too.
Even behind the closed doors
of windsor castle,
Philip had no role.
He was barred from looking
at official papers
or discussing matters of state
with the queen.
To add insult to injury,
it was decided Philip's children
wouldn't take his family name,
battenberg,
but instead,
his wife's, windsor.
Eade: When this news hit him,
it came as a very dismaying
and shocking blow for him.
Brendon: He famously said,
"I'm just a bloody amoeba."
He, he didn't seem
to have a role.
Narrator:
Philip's job was to manage
the queen's private estates.
But this Alpha male
wasn't content
just to be royal arm candy.
Prince Philip was frustrated.
He was the man of the house
with no say in how it was run.
He was the head of the family
that didn't take his name.
Bored and resentful,
Philip was becoming a problem,
and only the queen
could help solve it.
Hoey: The queen decided that
she wanted to give Philip a job.
She--he needed to do something
because he was frustrated
obviously because there was no
official position for a consort,
for a male consort in this way.
Narrator:
And she found the solution
on windsor castle's doorstep.
In April 1952,
the queen appointed Philip
to the ancient title of ranger
of windsor great park,
putting him in charge
of 4,800 acres of parkland,
farmland, gardens,
golf courses, a racecourse,
and several stately homes.
The queen hoped windsor's
vast back garden
would keep Philip busy
and happy.
It did, but not quite
in the way she'd hoped.
When prince Philip was appointed
ranger of windsor great park,
he threw himself into the task.
He introduced
a herd of red deer,
planted avenues of trees,
and made windsor's farmland
profitable,
but then Philip decided to
combine business with pleasure.
In 1955, he converted an unused
airstrip in windsor great park
into one of the finest
Polo grounds in the world.
It was home to the club
Philip founded,
the guard's Polo club,
with himself as star player.
Eade: His wiry physique,
his exceptional eye
for the ball,
meant that he soon became
an extremely good player,
and the game became
one the great passions
of his young life.
Narrator: But this
seemingly harmless hobby
got Philip into new trouble.
He was so keen on the sport,
he wasn't just playing
at windsor.
He was traveling
all over the world.
Brendon:
He used his official position
to make the country pay
for his jaunts to play Polo,
and the treasury got very,
very cross about this.
Narrator: Philip's obsession
with Polo was keeping him busy,
but it was taking its toll
on his marriage.
Because although Philip
was there for the sport,
where there were Polo players,
there were parties,
champagne, and women.
Richard Kay: Well, there's,
there's obviously something
about horses and Polo
which excite passions
in, in human beings, too.
Narrator: In 1956,
American and Australian papers
began printing rumors
that prince Philip
was having affairs.
No evidence
has ever been produced
that Philip was unfaithful,
but historian Piers Brendon
believes the marriage
was in some trouble.
Brendon:
It seems to be fairly clear
that there was a certain, um,
breakdown.
There were, of course,
lots of rumors of infidelity,
none of which
have been stood up.
But it must be said that Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh,
had lots of opportunities
to misbehave.
Narrator: The queen's idea
for how to keep Philip busy
had somewhat backfired.
Just four years into her reign,
the gloss was coming
off the image
of the glamorous young couple
at windsor castle.
Brendon: There was a sense
that he wanted to escape
from the prison house, really,
that windsor represented.
Narrator: The queen needed
to keep Philip out of trouble
and out of the papers,
so, with her advisors,
she decided to kick her husband
out of the castle.
In November 1956, Philip waved
good-bye to his young family
and set sail on board
the royal yacht britannia.
He had been dispatched
across the globe
on a lengthy royal mission
to open the olympic games
in Australia.
Then when he was ready
to come back,
another mission was hatched.
The trip was extended
again and again.
Philip wouldn't see his family
or the castle for four months.
Brendon: It was all dolled up
as official business
or exploration
or world wildlife fund
or whatever it happened to be.
Narrator: The queen had dealt
with her problem husband
in traditional royal fashion.
She'd kept him away from
windsor, at least for a while.
But there was another
senior royal at windsor
who needed careful handling.
Catherine Mayer:
The queen mother
was very much a matriarch.
The warm and cuddly image
that a lot of people had
is not entirely accurate at all.
She was quite fearsome,
and they were also
all somewhat in awe of her.
Narrator: When the queen mother
was widowed in 1952,
aged just 51,
protocol dictated she couldn't
stay at windsor castle.
But it still took a year
to get her to leave.
Burrell: She was actually
prized out of windsor castle.
She didn't want to go.
She wanted to stay
at the castle.
Narrator: This granny
wasn't ready to retire.
For 16 years
while her husband was king,
the queen mother had been
the power behind the throne,
and she had no intention
of letting go.
So, if the queen mother couldn't
live in the seat of power,
the next best thing
was to live nearby.
Luckily, windsor has its own
granny annex in the garden--
royal lodge.
Christopher Warwick:
It sits in its own grounds,
extensive grounds,
within windsor great park,
and it's absolutely delightful.
Narrator: Royal lodge is three
miles south of windsor castle
in the grounds
of windsor great park,
close enough
for the queen mother
to keep her hand
on the reins of power.
Williams: At 9:30 every day,
the queen mother would
telephone her daughter
to tell her what she thought
was her duties for the day,
what she should do,
so that's an amazing amount
of power for the dowager queen.
Narrator:
And as a dutiful daughter,
the queen paid very regular
visits to her mother
in royal lodge.
Hoey: The queen used to
nip down there
just before lunch on a Sunday
and have a little aperitif
with her.
Narrator: The queen mother's
move to windsor's royal lodge
coincided with the end
of the official year of mourning
for her late husband.
It was time for her
to begin her new life.
Lady Colin Campbell: When queen
Elizabeth, the queen mother,
re-entered public life,
she did with a bang,
where every other dowager queen
had done it with a whimper,
and she continued banging
till she died.
Williams: So, the queen mother
begins to throw parties.
She couldn't, of course,
do this as queen.
As queen, you have to invite
who the government tells you,
the courtiers tell you,
you have a guest list,
you have to do this,
you have to do that.
But now she can also
really enjoy herself
and have these parties.
She can invite whoever she wants
and say to herself,
"well, I'm no longer queen,
but this has the upside
that I can have parties
with whoever I like,
spend money,"
which she spends a lot of,
"spend money, enjoy myself,"
and the most private place to do
this, of course, is royal lodge.
Narrator: An invite to one
of the queen mother's
weekend parties at royal lodge
was an invitation to excess.
Liam Cullen-Brooks:
They would start coming down
about 7:00,
half past 7:00, for drinks.
Then her majesty
would come through.
Usually she would have
gin and dubonnet.
Quite a lot of gin
and small amount of dubonnet
and ice and lemon.
Campbell:
She was never known to be drunk,
but there were those
who would have said
that she actually was never ever
completely sober, either.
Narrator:
Champagne flowed freely.
There was vintage krug
at well over $300 a bottle.
It's said the queen mother
bought so much veuve clicquot,
she was the company's
largest private customer.
Cullen-Brooks:
And then we'd serve dinner,
and that would usually go on
for a good hour.
Brendon: Amazing examples
of edwardian gluttony,
a huge breakfast
and then elevenses
and then lunch and then a huge
tea and then a great dinner
and finally,
sandwiches for supper.
It was absolutely extraordinary.
Um, it's amazing
that she survived to be 101.
Narrator: Entertaining on this
scale was incredibly expensive.
The queen mother's insatiable
appetites came at a huge price.
Along with the parties,
there was haute couture,
vintage champagne,
and racehorses,
not to mention four other homes
and 100 permanent staff.
When she died at royal lodge
on the 30th of march 2002,
the queen mother was reportedly
sitting on a debt
of $8 million.
Despite receiving
an annual allowance
of over $1 million
in today's money,
she overspent it every year,
sometimes six times over.
As long as the queen mother
indulged behind the closed doors
of royal lodge,
her extravagance remained
windsor's secret,
and her eldest daughter
Elizabeth
could quietly pay off her debts.
But her youngest daughter
Margaret's secrets
were not so easy to conceal.
Like the queen mother,
Princess Margaret
had to leave windsor castle
when her sister, Elizabeth,
became queen.
She was given an apartment
in her mum's house--royal lodge.
She needed it to escape from
the bright lights of London
because Margaret
was the ultimate party girl.
In town, her life was
a whirlwind of nightclubs,
cocktails, cigarettes, and men.
Warwick: Princess Margaret
always loved the company of men.
Don't forget she was
an incredibly beautiful woman.
Narrator: Margaret's partying
began to embarrass the queen
and worried her advisors.
Warwick: Tommy lascelles,
who was private secretary
to the queen,
considered Princess Margaret
to be dangerous,
dangerous to the monarchy
because she was a bit
of a loose Cannon.
Narrator: The truth was
Margaret was a lost soul.
Williams: Margaret's life
is very difficult.
Elizabeth has her own life.
She's married.
She's a mother. She's busy.
She's doing
a lot of engagements.
Margaret has
a very different life.
She's looking for a role.
She's lost.
She feels a bit
like she's in a black hole.
Narrator: Behind the big smile,
the Princess had a broken heart.
In 1953, she'd been engaged
to group captain Peter townsend,
a divorced father of two.
But Margaret had been told
she could only marry townsend
if she renounced her title
and royal income,
and in 1955, she made her choice
and broke off the engagement.
There were rumors that the
couple had made a secret pact--
if they couldn't
marry each other,
they wouldn't marry anyone else.
Then four years later,
there was news from townsend.
He'd fallen in love again
and was engaged to
a beautiful young Belgian woman.
Margaret may no longer have been
in love with townsend,
but she was still hurt
and humiliated.
Within hours
of hearing the news,
she made a momentous decision.
And just three months later
on march 3, 1960,
in the grounds
of windsor's royal lodge,
Margaret
made her own announcement.
Announcer:
Princess Margaret walking
with Mr. Antony Armstrong-Jones,
and they're obviously as happy
as any engaged couple could be.
Warwick: Who?
You know? Nobody knew
who Tony Armstrong-Jones was.
Even their closest friends
had no idea
that they were seeing
one another.
Announcer: He's 29, the same age
as Princess Margaret.
He was educated at eton
and at Cambridge,
and he's unconventional,
talented, and very popular.
Narrator: Tony Armstrong-Jones
was a cool society photographer.
In the grand salon
at royal lodge,
during a photo shoot for her
official 29th birthday portrait,
Princess Margaret had fallen
for the photographer's charms.
Anne de courcy:
When he took her photograph,
when he took
anybody's photograph,
he told them what to do,
and I think this was possibly
quite novel for the Princess.
Narrator: There was a powerful
spark between the two.
They were both glamorous,
party-loving people.
This looked to be a genuine
and passionate romance.
The Princess, it seemed,
was moving on.
[Applause]
On the 6th of may 1960,
she married Tony Armstrong-Jones
in a lavish state wedding.
The public lapped it up.
150,000 people lined the route.
300 million people
around the world watched on TV.
De courcy: The wedding
of Princess Margaret and Tony
was the first televised wedding,
and it was a huge success.
There was a sort of collective
"ahh" from the nation.
Narrator: Any grumbling
about Margaret's lifestyle
was silenced, for now.
♪
Back at windsor,
things were also looking up.
Somehow, somewhere on one of his
overseas trips in the fifties,
Philip had come to terms
with the hand he'd been dealt.
And as if to prove it, with
the arrival of two new princes,
Andrew in 1960
and Edward four years later,
the queen finally
had the large family
that she'd hoped would one day
fill windsor castle.
Cocooned inside the castle
in the 1950s,
the royal family were free
to do as they pleased.
But as the fifties made way
for the sixties,
this splendid isolation meant
that they were out of step
with the world outside,
a world that was changing fast.
♪
Kay: I mean, we were talking
about the swinging sixties.
The hippie era
was still going on.
Everyone had long hair.
But they were this extraordinary
nuclear royal family
with their short back and sides,
their tailored clothes.
They were an utter throwback.
Narrator: Inside windsor castle,
servants scraped and bowed,
while outside, protestors
campaigned for equal rights.
Inside there was chintz,
dubonnet,
and polite conversation.
Outside for some, there was free
love, drugs, and rock and roll.
To a new generation,
the royal family seemed
embarrassing and expensive.
Campbell: Obviously, the
changes that were taking place
in society generally
impacted upon the windsors,
and there was the doubt
that they would be able
to remain relevant.
Brendon: The monarchy was under
threat in all sorts of ways.
Narrator: As the Gulf
between the royal family
and the public grew,
the cost of the monarchy became
an issue, raised in parliament.
Their annual Grant
hadn't increased for years,
but rather than risk
an increase being refused,
the queen dipped
into her personal fortune.
But that just led to speculation
about how rich she was.
De courcy: I think
there was very little criticism
of the monarchy in the fifties.
I think in the sixties, there
was a feeling of irreverence,
no holds barred, and people
could start criticizing them.
There was this very convenient
punch bag, if you like,
that couldn't answer back,
and people began to attack them.
Narrator: For the queen,
these were difficult times.
No king or queen
is indispensable.
And if there was any doubt,
windsor castle contains
a permanent reminder.
The state apartments
in the upper ward,
today they host state functions.
400 years ago,
they were a prison for a king.
During the British civil war
in the 1640s,
Charles I clashed
with Oliver cromwell's
parliamentary forces and lost.
In 1648, he was imprisoned
in windsor castle.
Anna whitelock:
This was turning, you know,
the natural order on its head,
that the palace of the king
was now the prison of the king.
Narrator: Charles I
was tried and beheaded.
His body, and head, were buried
in St. George's chapel, windsor.
Whitelock: Charles I,
of course, in some sense,
is the ultimate test in case
of what happens
if you get it wrong.
Now, I don't think anyone's
suggesting that any monarch now
would find themselves
with their head chopped off,
however it does show how you
have to ride a very fine balance
between leading
and obviously being the monarch
and commanding respect
but also paying heed
to parliament
and to the people's will.
♪
Narrator: In the 1960s,
the queen wasn't
about to lose her head,
but the queen's advisors
feared she might lose
the public's support
and taxpayers' funding
if the growing unease
wasn't nipped in the bud,
so they came up with a plan.
They would show the public that
the queen wasn't out of touch.
In fact, she was just like them.
Brendon: I think the people
round the monarch, really,
um, felt that the,
the queen must be presented
in a sympathetic, a human way.
Narrator:
The plan was a huge risk.
A documentary
would show the world
the queen and her family as
they'd never been seen before.
Kay: Rather than just doing
a dutiful portrait
of how they go
about their, their functions,
it was decided that it should be
much more inclusive,
and a side of family life should
be seen for the first time.
Narrator: For 18 months,
the royal family allowed
a camera crew to follow them
as they went about
their everyday business
at windsor castle
and their other homes.
It was an extraordinary insight
into their private world.
So, when the queen watched
the film for the first time,
it was a tense moment for the
film's editor, Michael bradsell.
Michael bradsell: We were all
a little bit nervous
of showing it to the queen
because we had no idea
what she would make of it.
She was a little critical
of the film
in the sense that
she thought it was too long,
but dick cawston, the director,
persuaded her that two hours was
not a minute too long.
Narrator: A few clips
were released for preview
before the broadcast,
but only in black and white.
Prince:
Mummy, may I have my puppy?
Queen Elizabeth:
Well, we'll see if she's
Allowed out in the snow.
Here we are.
Princess Anne: Jump!
Come on! Come on!
Come on.
Prince: This is my,
this is my one.
Queen Elizabeth: Look how big
he is, and those big paws.
Princess Anne: He's a lovely
big tubby lab, this.
Narrator:
Then, on the 21st of June 1969,
the BBC broadcast
the historic documentary.
37 million viewers
were glued to their tvs
as they watched
the royal family eat meals,
share family memories,
and watch their own television.
It was a ratings smash,
and a public relations triumph.
Public support
swung back behind the royals.
Kay: It was an utter delight,
and we all loved it.
The world loved it.
Narrator:
And the royal family hated it.
An order was issued
from windsor castle--
the film must never
be shown again.
Brendon: The queen specified
that it was her copyright,
and as a result, she had
complete control over it,
and television companies
have tried down the ages
to be allowed
to show snippets of it,
and they have always said no.
Narrator: 90 seconds of the film
were released in 2011
for an exhibition to commemorate
the queen's diamond jubilee.
This footage found its way
onto YouTube,
where by 2017,
it had over 400,000 views.
The rest, together with hundreds
of hours of unseen footage,
has been locked away since 1969.
It hasn't been seen
for over 40 years
and may never be seen again.
Bradsell:
I really cannot understand
why the film has been shelved.
In a way, I think it would have,
uh, greater value
than it did at the time
because of,
with the passage of time
and the people's attitudes
change.
I just don't understand it.
Brendon: The queen's specialize
is in being aloof.
She has got to be this sort
of magical person,
but she's also got to be able
to identify with the people
or have them identify with her,
and the "royal family" film
had let too much daylight
into the magic of monarchy.
She'd become too human.
Narrator: The queen
and her advisors realized
that being too normal
was as dangerous
as being too different.
Brendon: And therefore,
I think what you've got
is a retreat behind the massive
walls of windsor castle.
Narrator: As the queen
at windsor castle,
Elizabeth II had spent much of
the first 20 years of her reign
trying to manage her demanding
family in difficult times.
Then, at the dawn
of the seventies,
a ghost from the family past
returned to windsor,
a ghost who would
force the queen
to confront painful memories
and dark secrets.
In 1972, against the spectacular
backdrop of St. George's chapel,
the queen's estranged uncle
returned to windsor castle.
He would cause no more trouble.
As king Edward VIII, he had
shamed the good name of windsor
and brought the monarchy
to its knees.
Three months earlier,
300 miles from windsor,
in a parisian townhouse,
the former king of england
lay dying.
In 1936, Edward VIII
had given up his crown
to marry the woman he loved,
and many of his family hated,
Wallis Simpson.
Warwick: You see,
the thing about Wallis Simpson
was that she was American.
She was divorced.
The two almost went hand in hand
as scandal.
Narrator:
But Edward was besotted,
and in December 1936,
he abdicated his throne in order
to marry Wallis Simpson.
He'd been king for just 327 days
when he left windsor castle.
[Clang]
The queen's father reluctantly
stepped into his shoes
to become king George VI.
Edward and Wallis Simpson became
the Duke and duchess of windsor
and left britain
for a life in exile.
Brendon: It was significant,
of course,
that he took the title windsor.
It invested him with dignity,
which perhaps
he didn't actually deserve.
Narrator: In exile in France,
the Duke and duchess piled shame
on the good name of windsor.
There were lavish parties and
holidays, extravagant jewelry,
and like some other aristocrats
of the time,
disturbing signs
of Nazi sympathy.
The royal family
responded with silence.
Brendon: The Duke of windsor
was ostracized until the end.
He became,
in the duchess' words,
"the world's number one
forgotten man"
because all the newspapers,
the newsreels, the radio,
everything,
just clamped down
and were silent about him.
They didn't,
they didn't criticize him.
They just wiped him
off the face of the earth.
Narrator: But whether the royal
family liked it or not,
royal blood
ran through the Duke's veins.
He would always be one of them,
and that meant
that when the time came,
he had the right
to be buried at windsor.
Andrew Morton: There had been
all kinds of discussions
about where the Duke of windsor
should be buried.
He made it clear
that he wanted to be buried
inside the grounds
of windsor castle at frogmore,
which is
the private burial ground
for members of the royal family.
Narrator: Despite his betrayal
of his royal heritage,
for the queen,
and more so for her mother,
the real problem
wasn't the Duke,
it was his wife,
the duchess of windsor,
a woman the queen mother
once described
as the lowest of the low.
Brendon: The queen mother
blamed the duchess
for her husband's early death.
She thought that the kingship
had been thrust
upon poor bertie,
who wasn't fit for it,
and it helped to cause
his premature death.
Narrator: When the Duke died
on the 28th of may 1972,
there was no doubt
he would be buried at windsor,
but it fell to the queen
to decide
who should attend his funeral.
On the 4th of June,
the day before the funeral,
a plane from Paris
touched down at Heathrow.
On board
was the duchess of windsor.
The royal family had put
their personal feelings aside
to invite the woman they'd
ignored for half a century.
Morton: In a way,
the irony is that for 50 years,
the royal family
had been implacable
against never meeting
Wallis Simpson,
and then in death,
they slyly open their arms.
Brendon: When it came to,
to his, his death,
there was a slight defrosting
of the, of the royal feud,
which had been going on, really,
ever since 1935.
Narrator: But the reconciliation
was only partial.
On the night before the funeral,
the duchess found herself
lodging at Buckingham Palace,
20 miles away
from the queen's real home.
Morton: The fact that she stays
at Buckingham Palace
is quite significant
because windsor castle is always
treated as the family home,
even though
it's a great fortress.
Buckingham Palace has
always been the office block,
the place where you put
visiting heads of states,
and she was treated
with that kind of distance.
Narrator: After the service,
cameras captured the moment
the queen mother spoke
to the frail-looking duchess.
Brendon: So, that when they came
together in that famous scene,
there was a, there was a brief
formal, uh, acknowledgement,
but it didn't really amount
to, to very much.
Morton: They just looked at her,
you know, like a bad smell
and said, okay, we'll go through
this and then good-bye.
Narrator:
While a ghost from the past
was laid to rest
in St. George's chapel,
on the other side
of windsor great park,
the next generation of royals
stepped into the spotlight.
♪
In 1972, prince Charles
was 24 and Princess Anne, 22.
They were good-looking,
rich, and eligible.
Kay: In Charles, and indeed
his younger sister Anne,
we had two bright young people
who suddenly became interesting
to the world
and certainly to the press.
Narrator: Their mother
and their aunt Margaret
had both conducted
their first serious romances
against the backdrop of windsor.
Now on the windsor Polo ground
their father had created
20 years earlier,
a tangled romantic web
was being woven.
It would change
not just their lives,
but the course of history.
Andrew Parker Bowles
was a good-looking soldier
and star Polo player.
In 1970,
he caught Princess Anne's eye,
and the two
began a passionate romance.
But it was complicated
because Andrew Parker Bowles
had an on-off girlfriend,
a feisty secretary
named Camilla shand.
And not to be outdone by
her boyfriend dating a Princess,
Camilla set her sights
on the prince.
Hoey: He'd been playing
in a Polo match,
and he was all hot and sweaty
and really in--
had been enjoying himself
anyway,
and she went up
and introduced herself,
tapped him on the shoulder.
It's said, she said to him,
"sir, my great-great-
grandmother, Alice keppel
was your
great-great-grandfather
Edward vii's mistress.
How about it?"
Narrator:
In the picturesque surroundings
of windsor great park,
against the backdrop
of a fairytale castle,
the heir to the throne
was smitten,
but marriage to Camilla
was out of the question.
Mayer: She was not considered
to be the right type,
in this ludicrously narrow view
of what kind of woman
he should marry.
Kay: Too racy. Too racy.
Her background, um,
she'd had a good,
fun early twenties.
In terms of, um, a consort,
she would have been deemed
to have had too much of a past.
Narrator:
And Anne's relationship
with Andrew Parker Bowles
was doomed from the outset.
Campbell: There was no question
of the fact
that no matter how much
Princess Anne
liked Andrew Parker Bowles
because he was a Roman catholic,
unless he changed his religion,
there was no prospect
of him marrying her,
so that was it.
Narrator: Anne dutifully
ended their affair.
Charles also did
as he was expected.
He joined the Navy
and left windsor,
and Camilla, in December 1972.
Andrew Parker Bowles
and Camilla shand were free
to rekindle their romance.
They married eight months later.
Mayer: Charles,
knowing about this, did nothing
to attempt to intervene
and stop that marriage.
He wouldn't have known
at that stage that she was,
you know,
clearly the love of his life.
Narrator: Charles put tradition
and duty first
and let Camilla go.
His decision would have
disastrous consequences.
♪
During 20 turbulent years
at windsor,
the queen defused
one problem after another.
But the next generation's
decision to put
their royal responsibilities
before their personal feelings
was like a time bomb ticking
beneath the walls
of windsor castle.
Eventually, it would explode.
Narrator: Windsor--
the oldest and largest
continually inhabited castle
in the world.
For 1,000 years,
it's been the symbol
of britain's royal dynasties.
For the queen,
this is a palace like no other.
Man: The windsor castle
is her home.
It is a family home as well,
and she feels
very comfortable there.
Narrator: 1,000 rooms,
hundreds of staff,
billions of dollars' worth of
paintings and fine furnishings,
5,000 acres of parkland.
Man: It's a great stage
on which the whole
royal business can be acted out.
Narrator: It's also where the
royal family hides its secrets.
Woman: There are
documents and letters there
that I think
probably every historian
would give their eyeteeth for.
Narrator: It's been
the queen's home for 80 years.
We'll reveal
what's really happened
behind the castle's
imposing walls.
The newly crowned queen
sets up home at windsor castle.
From the formal 1950s
through the less formal '60s
and into the 1970s,
we discover how she was torn
between the demands
of family and job.
We reveal where the queen mother
held her infamous parties.
Woman: She was never known
to be drunk,
but there were those
who would have said
that she was never ever
completely sober, either.
Narrator: Why the queen first
let the TV cameras
into the castle.
Man: It was an utter delight,
and we all loved it.
The world loved it.
Narrator: How the royal family
dealt with their own
black sheep.
Man: They just wiped him
off the face of the earth.
♪
Narrator: In February 1952,
George VI,
the king who'd steered britain
through the darkest hours
of world war II, died.
The keys to windsor castle
were handed to a new resident.
Princess Elizabeth,
his 26-year-old daughter,
became queen Elizabeth II.
Crowd: God save the queen.
God save the queen.
Narrator:
She would be the 40th monarch
to inhabit windsor castle's
rooms, parks,
palaces, and gardens
over its 1,000-year history.
Kate Williams: William the
conqueror built windsor castle,
and so when you're
in the castle,
it's not just
about Elizabeth II.
It's about all the monarchs
stretching right back to 1066.
Narrator: Elizabeth II
was not just a queen.
She was a wife and mother.
She and prince Philip had been
married for five years.
They had two children--
Charles, who was three,
and Anne, just one.
Windsor had been
her childhood home.
This was where she wanted
to raise her own family.
Paul burrell: Windsor castle is
very important to the windsors.
It's their family home.
Buckingham Palace is the office.
Windsor castle is their home.
Narrator: The family moved
into the private apartments
in the east terrace
of the castle's upper ward.
Burrell: The queen's suite
of rooms at windsor castle
is small compared to
the vastness of windsor castle.
Her tiny little corner
has a dining room,
prince Philip's rooms,
which adjoin the queen's rooms,
and that's it,
apart from the oak room,
which is their drawing room.
Narrator: The queen
made redecorating these rooms
a priority when she took charge
of the castle in 1952.
Williams: What she wanted to do
was make it absolutely perfect
for the large family
she hoped to have
with the Duke of Edinburgh,
and really, that was quite a job
because it was
in pretty bad decorative state,
it was very dated,
very victorian,
and most of all,
it was really very dark.
She wanted to make it
a family home, a relaxed home,
and make it much less stuffy,
and that's exactly what she did.
Narrator:
The heart of the queen's home
inside windsor castle
is the oak room.
Burrell: This is
a very cozy drawing room
that you'd find
in an English country house,
with soft furnishings,
with floral chintzes,
with a red carpet,
where the drinks trolley
is placed every day,
and that's where the queen goes
to get her gin and tonic
at 6:00.
This is her cozy space.
This is where
she feels comfortable.
Narrator: While the queen
made their little home cozy,
prince Philip
wanted to make it modern.
Philip eade: I mean,
prince Philip was keen
on bringing things up to date.
He was very attached
to modern technology.
When electric frying pans
came on the market,
he was very quick to buy one
and insisted on cooking
his own breakfast
until the queen complained
that the stench lingered
throughout the day.
Narrator: And it wasn't just
the cooking odors
that caused a stink.
Piers Brendon: She was advised
by all sorts
of very fuddy-duddy courtiers
who were stuck
in the last century.
♪
Narrator: Inside windsor castle,
every detail of every day
was controlled by a strict
hierarchy of courtiers,
such as the marker of the swans
and the page of the backstairs.
And Philip
was inextricably caught up
in windsor's bizarre traditions.
Since 1947, he belonged
to its most exclusive club--
the knights of the garter.
♪
Man: Once again, the pageantry
of the garter ceremony,
led by heralds and pursurvants,
members of the most noble order,
many familiar faces among them,
make their way
to St. George's chapel.
Narrator: Every year,
on the second weekend of June,
knights of the garter, or kgs,
file through windsor castle
to a service at their
spiritual headquarters--
St. George's chapel.
Burrell: To be invested
by the monarch
as a knight
or a lady knight of the garter
is the highest order of chivalry
that you could possibly have
bestowed upon you.
So, you're given
a ridiculous costume
and have to wear stockings
and a feathered hat,
and that's if you're a man.
Brian hoey:
It's an order of chivalry,
which means that, in essence,
you know, they would actually
draw their weapons
and protect the sovereign.
They are
her last line of defense.
God help us
if it ever comes to that
because most of them are
very, very ancient, indeed.
Narrator: The order of
the garter was founded in 1348
by king Edward III.
Born in windsor castle, Edward
spent much of his 50-year reign
transforming
the military fortress
into the ceremonial showpiece
it is today.
Marc Morris: Why they decided on
their symbol being a garter belt
is really anyone's guess.
Um, it seems more likely
that it was a military belt,
like a sword belt,
um, and that it was
a deliberately obscure symbol
because this was
a very elite club.
Remember
there are only 26 people
in this super select
chivalric club.
Narrator: Prince Philip realized
that some windsor traditions
were untouchable,
but there were other customs
he couldn't stand.
Brendon: The formality was
there. The flummery was there.
You know, periwigged flunkies
marching backwards and forwards,
and all that kind of thing,
which actually irritated
prince Philip.
Narrator:
When Philip tried to get rid
of the footmen's
old-fashioned wigs,
the bigwigs at windsor
were having none of it.
Hoey: The master
of the household
at that time was furious.
He said no, they've been
having it for 300 years.
Why shouldn't they have it now?
Narrator: Philip grew
increasingly frustrated.
In his world, men brought home
the bacon and laid down the law.
Brendon: He felt, I think,
that he had to try
and forge a role for himself,
but the courtiers wouldn't
allow him to take a part.
They were fearful
of his interference.
They didn't trust him.
He was frustrated
on every count.
♪
Narrator: The first major
conflict of the queen's marriage
and her new life at windsor
was brewing.
When he married the queen,
Philip knew he'd be playing
second fiddle in public,
walking two steps behind
his wife at official events.
But he soon found
it was the same in private, too.
Even behind the closed doors
of windsor castle,
Philip had no role.
He was barred from looking
at official papers
or discussing matters of state
with the queen.
To add insult to injury,
it was decided Philip's children
wouldn't take his family name,
battenberg,
but instead,
his wife's, windsor.
Eade: When this news hit him,
it came as a very dismaying
and shocking blow for him.
Brendon: He famously said,
"I'm just a bloody amoeba."
He, he didn't seem
to have a role.
Narrator:
Philip's job was to manage
the queen's private estates.
But this Alpha male
wasn't content
just to be royal arm candy.
Prince Philip was frustrated.
He was the man of the house
with no say in how it was run.
He was the head of the family
that didn't take his name.
Bored and resentful,
Philip was becoming a problem,
and only the queen
could help solve it.
Hoey: The queen decided that
she wanted to give Philip a job.
She--he needed to do something
because he was frustrated
obviously because there was no
official position for a consort,
for a male consort in this way.
Narrator:
And she found the solution
on windsor castle's doorstep.
In April 1952,
the queen appointed Philip
to the ancient title of ranger
of windsor great park,
putting him in charge
of 4,800 acres of parkland,
farmland, gardens,
golf courses, a racecourse,
and several stately homes.
The queen hoped windsor's
vast back garden
would keep Philip busy
and happy.
It did, but not quite
in the way she'd hoped.
When prince Philip was appointed
ranger of windsor great park,
he threw himself into the task.
He introduced
a herd of red deer,
planted avenues of trees,
and made windsor's farmland
profitable,
but then Philip decided to
combine business with pleasure.
In 1955, he converted an unused
airstrip in windsor great park
into one of the finest
Polo grounds in the world.
It was home to the club
Philip founded,
the guard's Polo club,
with himself as star player.
Eade: His wiry physique,
his exceptional eye
for the ball,
meant that he soon became
an extremely good player,
and the game became
one the great passions
of his young life.
Narrator: But this
seemingly harmless hobby
got Philip into new trouble.
He was so keen on the sport,
he wasn't just playing
at windsor.
He was traveling
all over the world.
Brendon:
He used his official position
to make the country pay
for his jaunts to play Polo,
and the treasury got very,
very cross about this.
Narrator: Philip's obsession
with Polo was keeping him busy,
but it was taking its toll
on his marriage.
Because although Philip
was there for the sport,
where there were Polo players,
there were parties,
champagne, and women.
Richard Kay: Well, there's,
there's obviously something
about horses and Polo
which excite passions
in, in human beings, too.
Narrator: In 1956,
American and Australian papers
began printing rumors
that prince Philip
was having affairs.
No evidence
has ever been produced
that Philip was unfaithful,
but historian Piers Brendon
believes the marriage
was in some trouble.
Brendon:
It seems to be fairly clear
that there was a certain, um,
breakdown.
There were, of course,
lots of rumors of infidelity,
none of which
have been stood up.
But it must be said that Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh,
had lots of opportunities
to misbehave.
Narrator: The queen's idea
for how to keep Philip busy
had somewhat backfired.
Just four years into her reign,
the gloss was coming
off the image
of the glamorous young couple
at windsor castle.
Brendon: There was a sense
that he wanted to escape
from the prison house, really,
that windsor represented.
Narrator: The queen needed
to keep Philip out of trouble
and out of the papers,
so, with her advisors,
she decided to kick her husband
out of the castle.
In November 1956, Philip waved
good-bye to his young family
and set sail on board
the royal yacht britannia.
He had been dispatched
across the globe
on a lengthy royal mission
to open the olympic games
in Australia.
Then when he was ready
to come back,
another mission was hatched.
The trip was extended
again and again.
Philip wouldn't see his family
or the castle for four months.
Brendon: It was all dolled up
as official business
or exploration
or world wildlife fund
or whatever it happened to be.
Narrator: The queen had dealt
with her problem husband
in traditional royal fashion.
She'd kept him away from
windsor, at least for a while.
But there was another
senior royal at windsor
who needed careful handling.
Catherine Mayer:
The queen mother
was very much a matriarch.
The warm and cuddly image
that a lot of people had
is not entirely accurate at all.
She was quite fearsome,
and they were also
all somewhat in awe of her.
Narrator: When the queen mother
was widowed in 1952,
aged just 51,
protocol dictated she couldn't
stay at windsor castle.
But it still took a year
to get her to leave.
Burrell: She was actually
prized out of windsor castle.
She didn't want to go.
She wanted to stay
at the castle.
Narrator: This granny
wasn't ready to retire.
For 16 years
while her husband was king,
the queen mother had been
the power behind the throne,
and she had no intention
of letting go.
So, if the queen mother couldn't
live in the seat of power,
the next best thing
was to live nearby.
Luckily, windsor has its own
granny annex in the garden--
royal lodge.
Christopher Warwick:
It sits in its own grounds,
extensive grounds,
within windsor great park,
and it's absolutely delightful.
Narrator: Royal lodge is three
miles south of windsor castle
in the grounds
of windsor great park,
close enough
for the queen mother
to keep her hand
on the reins of power.
Williams: At 9:30 every day,
the queen mother would
telephone her daughter
to tell her what she thought
was her duties for the day,
what she should do,
so that's an amazing amount
of power for the dowager queen.
Narrator:
And as a dutiful daughter,
the queen paid very regular
visits to her mother
in royal lodge.
Hoey: The queen used to
nip down there
just before lunch on a Sunday
and have a little aperitif
with her.
Narrator: The queen mother's
move to windsor's royal lodge
coincided with the end
of the official year of mourning
for her late husband.
It was time for her
to begin her new life.
Lady Colin Campbell: When queen
Elizabeth, the queen mother,
re-entered public life,
she did with a bang,
where every other dowager queen
had done it with a whimper,
and she continued banging
till she died.
Williams: So, the queen mother
begins to throw parties.
She couldn't, of course,
do this as queen.
As queen, you have to invite
who the government tells you,
the courtiers tell you,
you have a guest list,
you have to do this,
you have to do that.
But now she can also
really enjoy herself
and have these parties.
She can invite whoever she wants
and say to herself,
"well, I'm no longer queen,
but this has the upside
that I can have parties
with whoever I like,
spend money,"
which she spends a lot of,
"spend money, enjoy myself,"
and the most private place to do
this, of course, is royal lodge.
Narrator: An invite to one
of the queen mother's
weekend parties at royal lodge
was an invitation to excess.
Liam Cullen-Brooks:
They would start coming down
about 7:00,
half past 7:00, for drinks.
Then her majesty
would come through.
Usually she would have
gin and dubonnet.
Quite a lot of gin
and small amount of dubonnet
and ice and lemon.
Campbell:
She was never known to be drunk,
but there were those
who would have said
that she actually was never ever
completely sober, either.
Narrator:
Champagne flowed freely.
There was vintage krug
at well over $300 a bottle.
It's said the queen mother
bought so much veuve clicquot,
she was the company's
largest private customer.
Cullen-Brooks:
And then we'd serve dinner,
and that would usually go on
for a good hour.
Brendon: Amazing examples
of edwardian gluttony,
a huge breakfast
and then elevenses
and then lunch and then a huge
tea and then a great dinner
and finally,
sandwiches for supper.
It was absolutely extraordinary.
Um, it's amazing
that she survived to be 101.
Narrator: Entertaining on this
scale was incredibly expensive.
The queen mother's insatiable
appetites came at a huge price.
Along with the parties,
there was haute couture,
vintage champagne,
and racehorses,
not to mention four other homes
and 100 permanent staff.
When she died at royal lodge
on the 30th of march 2002,
the queen mother was reportedly
sitting on a debt
of $8 million.
Despite receiving
an annual allowance
of over $1 million
in today's money,
she overspent it every year,
sometimes six times over.
As long as the queen mother
indulged behind the closed doors
of royal lodge,
her extravagance remained
windsor's secret,
and her eldest daughter
Elizabeth
could quietly pay off her debts.
But her youngest daughter
Margaret's secrets
were not so easy to conceal.
Like the queen mother,
Princess Margaret
had to leave windsor castle
when her sister, Elizabeth,
became queen.
She was given an apartment
in her mum's house--royal lodge.
She needed it to escape from
the bright lights of London
because Margaret
was the ultimate party girl.
In town, her life was
a whirlwind of nightclubs,
cocktails, cigarettes, and men.
Warwick: Princess Margaret
always loved the company of men.
Don't forget she was
an incredibly beautiful woman.
Narrator: Margaret's partying
began to embarrass the queen
and worried her advisors.
Warwick: Tommy lascelles,
who was private secretary
to the queen,
considered Princess Margaret
to be dangerous,
dangerous to the monarchy
because she was a bit
of a loose Cannon.
Narrator: The truth was
Margaret was a lost soul.
Williams: Margaret's life
is very difficult.
Elizabeth has her own life.
She's married.
She's a mother. She's busy.
She's doing
a lot of engagements.
Margaret has
a very different life.
She's looking for a role.
She's lost.
She feels a bit
like she's in a black hole.
Narrator: Behind the big smile,
the Princess had a broken heart.
In 1953, she'd been engaged
to group captain Peter townsend,
a divorced father of two.
But Margaret had been told
she could only marry townsend
if she renounced her title
and royal income,
and in 1955, she made her choice
and broke off the engagement.
There were rumors that the
couple had made a secret pact--
if they couldn't
marry each other,
they wouldn't marry anyone else.
Then four years later,
there was news from townsend.
He'd fallen in love again
and was engaged to
a beautiful young Belgian woman.
Margaret may no longer have been
in love with townsend,
but she was still hurt
and humiliated.
Within hours
of hearing the news,
she made a momentous decision.
And just three months later
on march 3, 1960,
in the grounds
of windsor's royal lodge,
Margaret
made her own announcement.
Announcer:
Princess Margaret walking
with Mr. Antony Armstrong-Jones,
and they're obviously as happy
as any engaged couple could be.
Warwick: Who?
You know? Nobody knew
who Tony Armstrong-Jones was.
Even their closest friends
had no idea
that they were seeing
one another.
Announcer: He's 29, the same age
as Princess Margaret.
He was educated at eton
and at Cambridge,
and he's unconventional,
talented, and very popular.
Narrator: Tony Armstrong-Jones
was a cool society photographer.
In the grand salon
at royal lodge,
during a photo shoot for her
official 29th birthday portrait,
Princess Margaret had fallen
for the photographer's charms.
Anne de courcy:
When he took her photograph,
when he took
anybody's photograph,
he told them what to do,
and I think this was possibly
quite novel for the Princess.
Narrator: There was a powerful
spark between the two.
They were both glamorous,
party-loving people.
This looked to be a genuine
and passionate romance.
The Princess, it seemed,
was moving on.
[Applause]
On the 6th of may 1960,
she married Tony Armstrong-Jones
in a lavish state wedding.
The public lapped it up.
150,000 people lined the route.
300 million people
around the world watched on TV.
De courcy: The wedding
of Princess Margaret and Tony
was the first televised wedding,
and it was a huge success.
There was a sort of collective
"ahh" from the nation.
Narrator: Any grumbling
about Margaret's lifestyle
was silenced, for now.
♪
Back at windsor,
things were also looking up.
Somehow, somewhere on one of his
overseas trips in the fifties,
Philip had come to terms
with the hand he'd been dealt.
And as if to prove it, with
the arrival of two new princes,
Andrew in 1960
and Edward four years later,
the queen finally
had the large family
that she'd hoped would one day
fill windsor castle.
Cocooned inside the castle
in the 1950s,
the royal family were free
to do as they pleased.
But as the fifties made way
for the sixties,
this splendid isolation meant
that they were out of step
with the world outside,
a world that was changing fast.
♪
Kay: I mean, we were talking
about the swinging sixties.
The hippie era
was still going on.
Everyone had long hair.
But they were this extraordinary
nuclear royal family
with their short back and sides,
their tailored clothes.
They were an utter throwback.
Narrator: Inside windsor castle,
servants scraped and bowed,
while outside, protestors
campaigned for equal rights.
Inside there was chintz,
dubonnet,
and polite conversation.
Outside for some, there was free
love, drugs, and rock and roll.
To a new generation,
the royal family seemed
embarrassing and expensive.
Campbell: Obviously, the
changes that were taking place
in society generally
impacted upon the windsors,
and there was the doubt
that they would be able
to remain relevant.
Brendon: The monarchy was under
threat in all sorts of ways.
Narrator: As the Gulf
between the royal family
and the public grew,
the cost of the monarchy became
an issue, raised in parliament.
Their annual Grant
hadn't increased for years,
but rather than risk
an increase being refused,
the queen dipped
into her personal fortune.
But that just led to speculation
about how rich she was.
De courcy: I think
there was very little criticism
of the monarchy in the fifties.
I think in the sixties, there
was a feeling of irreverence,
no holds barred, and people
could start criticizing them.
There was this very convenient
punch bag, if you like,
that couldn't answer back,
and people began to attack them.
Narrator: For the queen,
these were difficult times.
No king or queen
is indispensable.
And if there was any doubt,
windsor castle contains
a permanent reminder.
The state apartments
in the upper ward,
today they host state functions.
400 years ago,
they were a prison for a king.
During the British civil war
in the 1640s,
Charles I clashed
with Oliver cromwell's
parliamentary forces and lost.
In 1648, he was imprisoned
in windsor castle.
Anna whitelock:
This was turning, you know,
the natural order on its head,
that the palace of the king
was now the prison of the king.
Narrator: Charles I
was tried and beheaded.
His body, and head, were buried
in St. George's chapel, windsor.
Whitelock: Charles I,
of course, in some sense,
is the ultimate test in case
of what happens
if you get it wrong.
Now, I don't think anyone's
suggesting that any monarch now
would find themselves
with their head chopped off,
however it does show how you
have to ride a very fine balance
between leading
and obviously being the monarch
and commanding respect
but also paying heed
to parliament
and to the people's will.
♪
Narrator: In the 1960s,
the queen wasn't
about to lose her head,
but the queen's advisors
feared she might lose
the public's support
and taxpayers' funding
if the growing unease
wasn't nipped in the bud,
so they came up with a plan.
They would show the public that
the queen wasn't out of touch.
In fact, she was just like them.
Brendon: I think the people
round the monarch, really,
um, felt that the,
the queen must be presented
in a sympathetic, a human way.
Narrator:
The plan was a huge risk.
A documentary
would show the world
the queen and her family as
they'd never been seen before.
Kay: Rather than just doing
a dutiful portrait
of how they go
about their, their functions,
it was decided that it should be
much more inclusive,
and a side of family life should
be seen for the first time.
Narrator: For 18 months,
the royal family allowed
a camera crew to follow them
as they went about
their everyday business
at windsor castle
and their other homes.
It was an extraordinary insight
into their private world.
So, when the queen watched
the film for the first time,
it was a tense moment for the
film's editor, Michael bradsell.
Michael bradsell: We were all
a little bit nervous
of showing it to the queen
because we had no idea
what she would make of it.
She was a little critical
of the film
in the sense that
she thought it was too long,
but dick cawston, the director,
persuaded her that two hours was
not a minute too long.
Narrator: A few clips
were released for preview
before the broadcast,
but only in black and white.
Prince:
Mummy, may I have my puppy?
Queen Elizabeth:
Well, we'll see if she's
Allowed out in the snow.
Here we are.
Princess Anne: Jump!
Come on! Come on!
Come on.
Prince: This is my,
this is my one.
Queen Elizabeth: Look how big
he is, and those big paws.
Princess Anne: He's a lovely
big tubby lab, this.
Narrator:
Then, on the 21st of June 1969,
the BBC broadcast
the historic documentary.
37 million viewers
were glued to their tvs
as they watched
the royal family eat meals,
share family memories,
and watch their own television.
It was a ratings smash,
and a public relations triumph.
Public support
swung back behind the royals.
Kay: It was an utter delight,
and we all loved it.
The world loved it.
Narrator:
And the royal family hated it.
An order was issued
from windsor castle--
the film must never
be shown again.
Brendon: The queen specified
that it was her copyright,
and as a result, she had
complete control over it,
and television companies
have tried down the ages
to be allowed
to show snippets of it,
and they have always said no.
Narrator: 90 seconds of the film
were released in 2011
for an exhibition to commemorate
the queen's diamond jubilee.
This footage found its way
onto YouTube,
where by 2017,
it had over 400,000 views.
The rest, together with hundreds
of hours of unseen footage,
has been locked away since 1969.
It hasn't been seen
for over 40 years
and may never be seen again.
Bradsell:
I really cannot understand
why the film has been shelved.
In a way, I think it would have,
uh, greater value
than it did at the time
because of,
with the passage of time
and the people's attitudes
change.
I just don't understand it.
Brendon: The queen's specialize
is in being aloof.
She has got to be this sort
of magical person,
but she's also got to be able
to identify with the people
or have them identify with her,
and the "royal family" film
had let too much daylight
into the magic of monarchy.
She'd become too human.
Narrator: The queen
and her advisors realized
that being too normal
was as dangerous
as being too different.
Brendon: And therefore,
I think what you've got
is a retreat behind the massive
walls of windsor castle.
Narrator: As the queen
at windsor castle,
Elizabeth II had spent much of
the first 20 years of her reign
trying to manage her demanding
family in difficult times.
Then, at the dawn
of the seventies,
a ghost from the family past
returned to windsor,
a ghost who would
force the queen
to confront painful memories
and dark secrets.
In 1972, against the spectacular
backdrop of St. George's chapel,
the queen's estranged uncle
returned to windsor castle.
He would cause no more trouble.
As king Edward VIII, he had
shamed the good name of windsor
and brought the monarchy
to its knees.
Three months earlier,
300 miles from windsor,
in a parisian townhouse,
the former king of england
lay dying.
In 1936, Edward VIII
had given up his crown
to marry the woman he loved,
and many of his family hated,
Wallis Simpson.
Warwick: You see,
the thing about Wallis Simpson
was that she was American.
She was divorced.
The two almost went hand in hand
as scandal.
Narrator:
But Edward was besotted,
and in December 1936,
he abdicated his throne in order
to marry Wallis Simpson.
He'd been king for just 327 days
when he left windsor castle.
[Clang]
The queen's father reluctantly
stepped into his shoes
to become king George VI.
Edward and Wallis Simpson became
the Duke and duchess of windsor
and left britain
for a life in exile.
Brendon: It was significant,
of course,
that he took the title windsor.
It invested him with dignity,
which perhaps
he didn't actually deserve.
Narrator: In exile in France,
the Duke and duchess piled shame
on the good name of windsor.
There were lavish parties and
holidays, extravagant jewelry,
and like some other aristocrats
of the time,
disturbing signs
of Nazi sympathy.
The royal family
responded with silence.
Brendon: The Duke of windsor
was ostracized until the end.
He became,
in the duchess' words,
"the world's number one
forgotten man"
because all the newspapers,
the newsreels, the radio,
everything,
just clamped down
and were silent about him.
They didn't,
they didn't criticize him.
They just wiped him
off the face of the earth.
Narrator: But whether the royal
family liked it or not,
royal blood
ran through the Duke's veins.
He would always be one of them,
and that meant
that when the time came,
he had the right
to be buried at windsor.
Andrew Morton: There had been
all kinds of discussions
about where the Duke of windsor
should be buried.
He made it clear
that he wanted to be buried
inside the grounds
of windsor castle at frogmore,
which is
the private burial ground
for members of the royal family.
Narrator: Despite his betrayal
of his royal heritage,
for the queen,
and more so for her mother,
the real problem
wasn't the Duke,
it was his wife,
the duchess of windsor,
a woman the queen mother
once described
as the lowest of the low.
Brendon: The queen mother
blamed the duchess
for her husband's early death.
She thought that the kingship
had been thrust
upon poor bertie,
who wasn't fit for it,
and it helped to cause
his premature death.
Narrator: When the Duke died
on the 28th of may 1972,
there was no doubt
he would be buried at windsor,
but it fell to the queen
to decide
who should attend his funeral.
On the 4th of June,
the day before the funeral,
a plane from Paris
touched down at Heathrow.
On board
was the duchess of windsor.
The royal family had put
their personal feelings aside
to invite the woman they'd
ignored for half a century.
Morton: In a way,
the irony is that for 50 years,
the royal family
had been implacable
against never meeting
Wallis Simpson,
and then in death,
they slyly open their arms.
Brendon: When it came to,
to his, his death,
there was a slight defrosting
of the, of the royal feud,
which had been going on, really,
ever since 1935.
Narrator: But the reconciliation
was only partial.
On the night before the funeral,
the duchess found herself
lodging at Buckingham Palace,
20 miles away
from the queen's real home.
Morton: The fact that she stays
at Buckingham Palace
is quite significant
because windsor castle is always
treated as the family home,
even though
it's a great fortress.
Buckingham Palace has
always been the office block,
the place where you put
visiting heads of states,
and she was treated
with that kind of distance.
Narrator: After the service,
cameras captured the moment
the queen mother spoke
to the frail-looking duchess.
Brendon: So, that when they came
together in that famous scene,
there was a, there was a brief
formal, uh, acknowledgement,
but it didn't really amount
to, to very much.
Morton: They just looked at her,
you know, like a bad smell
and said, okay, we'll go through
this and then good-bye.
Narrator:
While a ghost from the past
was laid to rest
in St. George's chapel,
on the other side
of windsor great park,
the next generation of royals
stepped into the spotlight.
♪
In 1972, prince Charles
was 24 and Princess Anne, 22.
They were good-looking,
rich, and eligible.
Kay: In Charles, and indeed
his younger sister Anne,
we had two bright young people
who suddenly became interesting
to the world
and certainly to the press.
Narrator: Their mother
and their aunt Margaret
had both conducted
their first serious romances
against the backdrop of windsor.
Now on the windsor Polo ground
their father had created
20 years earlier,
a tangled romantic web
was being woven.
It would change
not just their lives,
but the course of history.
Andrew Parker Bowles
was a good-looking soldier
and star Polo player.
In 1970,
he caught Princess Anne's eye,
and the two
began a passionate romance.
But it was complicated
because Andrew Parker Bowles
had an on-off girlfriend,
a feisty secretary
named Camilla shand.
And not to be outdone by
her boyfriend dating a Princess,
Camilla set her sights
on the prince.
Hoey: He'd been playing
in a Polo match,
and he was all hot and sweaty
and really in--
had been enjoying himself
anyway,
and she went up
and introduced herself,
tapped him on the shoulder.
It's said, she said to him,
"sir, my great-great-
grandmother, Alice keppel
was your
great-great-grandfather
Edward vii's mistress.
How about it?"
Narrator:
In the picturesque surroundings
of windsor great park,
against the backdrop
of a fairytale castle,
the heir to the throne
was smitten,
but marriage to Camilla
was out of the question.
Mayer: She was not considered
to be the right type,
in this ludicrously narrow view
of what kind of woman
he should marry.
Kay: Too racy. Too racy.
Her background, um,
she'd had a good,
fun early twenties.
In terms of, um, a consort,
she would have been deemed
to have had too much of a past.
Narrator:
And Anne's relationship
with Andrew Parker Bowles
was doomed from the outset.
Campbell: There was no question
of the fact
that no matter how much
Princess Anne
liked Andrew Parker Bowles
because he was a Roman catholic,
unless he changed his religion,
there was no prospect
of him marrying her,
so that was it.
Narrator: Anne dutifully
ended their affair.
Charles also did
as he was expected.
He joined the Navy
and left windsor,
and Camilla, in December 1972.
Andrew Parker Bowles
and Camilla shand were free
to rekindle their romance.
They married eight months later.
Mayer: Charles,
knowing about this, did nothing
to attempt to intervene
and stop that marriage.
He wouldn't have known
at that stage that she was,
you know,
clearly the love of his life.
Narrator: Charles put tradition
and duty first
and let Camilla go.
His decision would have
disastrous consequences.
♪
During 20 turbulent years
at windsor,
the queen defused
one problem after another.
But the next generation's
decision to put
their royal responsibilities
before their personal feelings
was like a time bomb ticking
beneath the walls
of windsor castle.
Eventually, it would explode.