| Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen | |
|---|---|
.jpeg) Title screen | |
| Genre | Documentary film |
| Directed by | Simon Finch |
| Narrated by |
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| Composer | David Schweitzer |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Julia Harrington |
| Producer | Simon Finch |
| Editor | Mark Hammill |
| Running time | 75 minutes |
| Production company | BBC Studios |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 29 May 2022 (2022-05-29) |
| Related | |
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Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen is a 2022 television documentary film ofhome movies shot by theBritish royal family.[1] The film aired on BBC One on 29 May 2022, in commemoration ofthe Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
The film was compiled from 400 reels of previously unseen footage,[2] that depict the Queen prior toher coronation.[2]
A previous film of homemade films shot by the Queen,Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,Princess Margaret,King George VI andQueen Elizabeth The Queen Mother had been broadcast asElizabeth at 90: A Family Tribute in 2016.[3]
The film contains the earliest known footage of the Queen in a pram in 1926.[4] It also shows her playing with her sister in the grounds ofBalmoral Castle and features footage from their trip to southern Africa with their parents onboardHMSVanguard in 1947.[4] The film depicts the Queen showing the camera her engagement ring prior to her1947 wedding to Philip Mountbatten and later on shows her as a young mother withPrince Charles andPrincess Anne.[2]
The Daily Telegraph gave it a five-star rating, commenting that the documentary "will make you feel closer to the Queen than ever before".[5]Evening Standard also gave it a five-star rating, suggesting that "it's impossible to watch and listen without feeling a whiplash sense of existential vertigo as time seems to melt away and the old become young".[6]
The Times, in its own five-star review, said that the film was "exquisitely put together" and parts of it "intensely moving".[7]
The Independent gave it a four-star rating, commenting that "it's all rather sweet and quite moving for her loyal subjects. Sad to say, the programme has a valedictory air to it".[8]