| Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work | |
|---|---|
 Region 2 DVD cover | |
| Genre | Documentary film |
| Written by | Robert Hardman |
| Directed by | Matt Reid |
| Narrated by | Tim Pigott-Smith |
| Composer | Samuel Sim |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Matt Reid |
| Production company | RDF Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 26 November (2007-11-26) – 23 December 2007 (2007-12-23) |
Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work (also known asA Year with the Queen) is afly on the walldocumentary TV series made by theBBC andRDF Media which follows theBritish royal family over the course of a year.
The Queen prepares for astate visit to the United States, marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of theJamestown Settlement inVirginia. Before leaving for the US, the Queen has a photo session withAnnie Leibovitz and holds a reception atBuckingham Palace for prominentAmerican expatriates.
InWashington, DC, theWhite House and theBritish Embassy are also getting ready for the visit, with PresidentGeorge W. Bush preparing to host awhite-tie banquet, which would turn out to be the only one ofhis presidency.
Astate banquet is held atBuckingham Palace for thePresident of Ghana,John Kufuor. The Queen takes part in her annualbirthday parade and an investiture ceremony whereSteven Gerrard andPenelope Keith are among those to receive anhonour.
The episode also looks at the day-to-day workings of the Monarchy's headquarters, Buckingham Palace, including an interview with the Queen'sladies-in-waiting as they sort through the royal postbag.
Just a few weeks before he resigns,Prime MinisterTony Blair and his wifeCherie spend the weekend with the Royal Family atBalmoral Castle in Scotland. Back inLondon, theChancellor of the Exchequer (and future Prime Minister),Gordon Brown, briefs the Queen in advance of hisbudget speech.
The palace prepares for theState Opening of Parliament, as the Royal coachmen repair and clean their 100-year-old uniforms and thecrown jewels are taken from theTower of London to the palace. InEstonia,British AmbassadorNigel Haywood is getting ready for the Queen's first ever tour of theBaltic states.
The Queen presides over the annualRoyal Garden Party, for which every invitation is written by hand and checked by the 'Garden Party Ladies'. One of the guests at the Garden Party is Pearl Mitchell fromNorthern Ireland, who nervously prepares to meet the Queen.
Following the Garden Party, the Queen visits aHindu Temple and has a feast ofKashmiridelicacies. InNorthumberland,The Prince of Wales andThe Duchess of Cornwall have tea with anorganic farming family. Meanwhile,The Duke of Edinburgh travels to the official opening of theEmirates Stadium, but not all goes to plan.
ThePrince of Wales, thePrincess Royal, theDuke of York and theEarl of Wessex talk about their work as part of the Royal Family.Prince William makes coffee and breakfast for residents at a London inner-city hostel andPrince Harry attends a strategy meeting forSentebale. At the palace, theKeeper of the Privy Purse,Sir Alan Reid, releases details of the Royal Family's annual expenses to the press.
At theRoyal Military Academy Sandhurst, the Queen and other members of the Royal Family attend Prince William'spassing out parade.
Martin Marks ofThe New York Times wrote, "Sure makes for some brilliant telly."[1]
The promotion for the documentary caused acontroversy in 2007 when the BBC showed a group of journalists a trailer of the series including some shots that were edited in non-chronological order making it erroneously appear thatQueen Elizabeth II had stormed out of a photo shoot withAnnie Leibovitz after being asked to remove her 'crown'.[2] On 11 July 2007, the controller ofBBC One,Peter Fincham, told journalists at the BBC1 new season launch that the trailer showed the Queen "losing it a bit and walking out in a huff".[3] However, the clip which appeared to show the Queen abruptly leaving in an agitated mood was actually of her entering the shoot. The next day, the BBC issued a statement which pointed out the error and formally apologised to the Queen.[4] Both Fincham and theChief Creative Officer ofRDF Media,Stephen Lambert, resigned as a result of the controversy.[3]
