All language subtitles for The.Windsors Dynasty.S01E03_English

female narrator:
Elizabeth II is preparing

for her coronation.

Soon she will
be crowned Queen.

[choir singing]

She is just 27 years old.

The future of the
House of Windsor

rests on her shoulders.

- All of us here know

that we are present
at the making of history.

narrator: As the Queen takes
her first cautious steps

as monarch, she is torn
between the palace old guard

led by her mother...

and those like her husband,
Philip, who want change.

With scandal swirling around
her sister Margaret

threatening to tarnish
her reign,

the Queen must assert
her power...

sacrificing the happiness
of those she loves.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

February 1952--

Elizabeth II has been Queen
for just a few days

following the death of her
father, King George VI.

- Shortly after the King's
death, Lord Mountbatten,

Prince Philip's uncle, holds
a dinner party at Broadlands,

his house in Hampshire.

narrator:
Lord Louis Mountbatten

played a key role in the young
life of his nephew Philip.

- When Philip's a child,
the Greek royal family

are deposed,
and they flee to exile.

And really, his father
has no time for him.

- Louis Mountbatten takes over
as Prince Philip's guardian.

And so he sort of sees him
as his son, really.

- Lord Mountbatten had always
had dynastic ambitions

for his nephew Philip.

He was like some sort
of medieval character

plotting the advance
of his own dynasty.

narrator: Lord Mountbatten
makes a radical pronouncement.

The House of Windsor
should take Philip's name.

♪ ♪

- Mountbatten asks everyone
present to raise a glass

to the House of Mountbatten,

implicitly saying the
House of Windsor is dead,

the House of Mountbatten
is the next monarchy.

♪ ♪

- But what he hadn't
reckoned with

was the wall of opposition
from the really formidable

Queen Mary, who was
Elizabeth's grandmother,

and she took
a very dim view of it.

- "What has this damn fool
got to do with the name

of this House?"

- Queen Mary's husband,
George V,

was the King who'd
begun the House of Windsor.

- Queen Mary goes
to Winston Churchill and said,

"Look, this is what Mountbatten
is plotting."

- My grandfather was extremely
alarmed and upset.

- People are suspicious
of Mountbatten.

They're suspicious of his role,
of him moving forward,

trying to influence
the Queen and Prince Philip.

- It's a huge dilemma
for the Queen.

She knows how much it means
to Philip,

but on this occasion,

she has to side with Churchill
against her husband.

- And, indeed, it came
to cabinet,

who decided
that the royal house

would remain
the House of Windsor.

- I think one has to remember

just how young the Queen
was at this time.

She had no experience
of being Queen,

and so of course
she's going to listen

to the Prime Minister.

- Winston Churchill was
a friend of her father's,

and he was the man who people
saw as having won the war.

- He's an incredibly
formidable figure,

and the idea that this very
young, almost childlike Queen

should defy
the Prime Minister,

that is completely
off limits.

narrator: The Queen issues
a proclamation.

The name of the royal house
will remain Windsor.

For the first time in British
history, heirs to the throne

will take their family name
from their mother

and not their father.

- For Philip,

this is a terrible,
terrible humiliation.

- A typical marriage at that
social rank in the early 1950s

would be one
with a superior husband

and a charming,
deferential wife.

Had Prince Philip married
anybody else,

that's what he would have got.

- He thought to himself,
"Well, there's no other father

"in the United Kingdom who
can't give his own name

to his own children."

- "I'm just a bloody amoeba,"
he said.

It's a terrible slight
to his masculinity.

♪ ♪

narrator: And there's
more humiliation to come.

- While all this turmoil
is going on,

Prince Philip at least has one
thing which he can cling to,

one place where
he can feel sort of safe

and which is his own,
which is Clarence House.

- Prince Philip's idea is,
"We stay at Clarence House,

and you work
from Buckingham Palace."

- But Tommy Lascelles,
the Private Secretary,

and Winston Churchill,
the Prime Minister,

overruled him.

narrator: The Queen agrees
and moves her family

into Buckingham Palace.

- Adding to the Duke
of Edinburgh's frustration

is the fact that when they
arrive at Buckingham Palace,

still living there, of course,
is his mother-in-law.

- The Queen Mother,
Queen Elizabeth,

was very reluctant to leave.

- So that's never easy,
however big a place is.

And, you know, she'd been
Queen of England.

So that was quite awkward,
all that situation.

- The Queen Mother
and Prince Philip are not

natural soul mates.

She would have seen him
as a sort of brash,

kind of independent
type of person.

He would have seen her
as very conservative.

- The Queen Mother has
a huge amount of influence

over her daughter and says,
"I know how things are done."

narrator: The Queen retains
her parents' courtiers.

These royal advisors
are traditionalists,

determined to keep
an iron grip

on the running of the palace.

- And, of course, these
courtiers think that because

the Queen is just a woman,
she's a young woman,

that they can have all the
influence because she'll be

so easy to control,
and Philip is shut out.

♪ ♪

- For quite a macho chap,

that secondary role,
always a step behind his wife,

I think was a difficult role.

- He was observed
to be at a very low ebb.

He just seems very depressed.

- The Queen realized that
Philip has to do something.

She can't expect a man
of his energy to be unemployed.

narrator: Against the advice
of the palace old guard,

the Queen puts Philip
in charge of organizing

the ceremony in which she
will be officially crowned.

- St. James's Palace
was the meeting place

of the newly appointed
Coronation Commission,

presided over
by the Duke of Edinburgh.

He was received
by the Duke of Norfolk,

Earl Marshall,
and Deputy Chairman.

- These courtiers, they have
very, very traditional ideas

about how things
should be done.

They want everything
to stay exactly the same.

But Philip thinks
the Royal Family

needs to modernize to survive.

- Now Philip's been
put in charge,

and things are going to change.

They are
on a collision course.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

[fanfare plays]

narrator:
June 1953--

journalists from around the
globe descend upon London

to cover Queen Elizabeth II's
coronation.

- The world's finest
equipment will be used,

including the largest
telephoto lens in the world,

to bring the complete
magnificent spectacle

to this theater.

♪ ♪

narrator: Months earlier,
the BBC had made

an unprecedented request--

to televise
the coronation, live.

Previous ceremonies
had been filmed

but always edited,
before being broadcast.

- The Queen's instinct
is to exclude

television from the abbey.

She feels that the
whole coronation

is going to be
an enormous strain,

and to have her every movement
spied upon by the lens

was too much for her.

She thinks,
"I really don't want this."

- And, of course,
with the courtiers,

there's a lot of snobbery.

- There's a terrible feeling
that people might be watching

the coronation
in unsuitable modes.

They might be having
their feet on the sofa

and not being
sufficiently dignified.

narrator: The Queen agrees
with her advisors.

Buckingham Palace announces
the coronation

will not be broadcast live.

There is a public outcry.

- The British newspapers,
notably the "Daily Express"

and the "Daily Mirror," both
take the side of the public.

They suggest to their readers
that the politicians

and the Palace don't want
you to see the coronation,

and, if you like,
they stir up trouble.

narrator: But the BBC,
the press, and the public

have a surprising ally.

- Prince Philip felt
very strongly

the coronation
should be televised.

He could see times
were changing.

You couldn't
continue to do things

behind closed doors
all the time.

He understood that this was an
unbelievably good opportunity

to make the nation feel closely
connected to the monarchy.

- There is, and always
has been,

an interesting
difference between the Queen

and the Duke of Edinburgh.

The Queen is naturally
a conservative individual.

She believes in tradition.

She likes to do things the way
they've been done before.

The Duke of Edinburgh
is dynamic.

He's forward-looking.
He's a young man in a hurry.

- She was anxious, but Philip
tries to persuade her

that this is a way for her
to reach millions and millions

of her subjects.

- He plays a key role
in helping to bring the Queen

round to the idea and make
her comfortable with it.

- Eventually she says yes.

[upbeat music]

narrator: On Coronation Day,
crowds line the streets,

hoping for a glimpse
of their queen.

♪ ♪

And across the nation,
people gather to watch it

live on television.

- Now,
like a great seventh wave,

the cheering grows
to its climax.

Into the forecourt of the
Palace comes the gilded coach,

bearing the young queen
to her crowning.

♪ ♪

- We were waiting
in Westminster Abbey,

and we suddenly hear
this roar.

And then slowly round the
corner came this golden coach.

It was like
a sort of Walt Disney film,

absolutely extraordinary.

And there we saw the Queen
for the first time.

Her dress was so beautiful.

The train had little satin
handles under it,

so it sort of flowed
over our hands.

- We then all got in place,

and then the Queen
turned round

with a radiant smile and said,
"Ready, girls?"

We said, "Yes, ma'am."
[chuckles]

And off we went.

[orchestral music playing]

[choir singing]

♪ ♪

- All the peers
and the peeresses

were all dressed up
in their ermine.

It was like
a medieval tapestry.

- She comes now to the altar
to confirm before God

the promises
which she has made.

- The coronation is a very
ancient religious ceremony.

And at the heart of it,
there is this sacred rite

of the anointing of the monarch

by the Archbishop
of Canterbury.

- There you saw her.

She looked very vulnerable
and alone.

And I thought,
"Goodness, what a weight

is on this girl's shoulders,"
'cause she was only a girl.

- It is the moment of the
anointing...

a moment so old,

history can scarcely go deep
enough to contain it.

- The anointing means
so much to the Queen

because she truly believes
that she has divine sanction

for her power,
that she was chosen by God.

- The anointing
with the holy oil--

it's a symbol, really,

which I think she felt
changed her

from being an ordinary person
into being a queen.

all:
God save the Queen!

God save the Queen!

God save the Queen!

- 2/3 of all adults in the UK
are tuned in via television

to the coronation.

- People were thrilled,
and everybody crowded

around these miniscule
television sets to watch.

- This was completely
revolutionary that people

could get up close and personal
with the Queen.

- 27 million people watched
this ceremony.

The use of the new medium
of television,

it vindicates Prince Philip,

and it vindicates the idea

that we need to modernize
the monarchy.

- The coronation was
a magnificent pageant.

But as people were coming out
of the abbey,

a little event took place,

which was to cause
the Queen terrible anguish

in the years to come.

narrator:
When Queen Elizabeth's

younger sister,
Princess Margaret,

is caught
shattering a royal taboo,

it threatens to undermine
the monarch's young reign.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music]

narrator: The coronation is
a triumph for the young queen.

But as the guests leave
Westminster Abbey,

an incident takes place

that jeopardizes
Elizabeth's reign

before it's hardly begun.

♪ ♪

- The Queen's sister,
Princess Margaret,

was seen brushing a bit
of fluff off the uniform

of a household official,
a senior household official.

- She picked it
off his uniform,

but it was such
a loving gesture.

- Standing nearby is a very
sharp-eyed journalist,

and she recognizes

that this is an act
of such intimacy...

that there is
something going on

between Princess Margaret

and royal servant
Group Captain Peter Townsend.

♪ ♪

narrator:
It's a scandal.

Peter Townsend is not only
a royal servant,

he's also 16 years older
than the princess

and divorced
with two young children.

- There is a horror of divorce
in the royal family.

They regard divorce
with a sort of...

almost superstitious dread.

narrator: 17 years earlier,
the Queen's uncle,

Edward VIII, abdicated to
to marry American divorcée

Wallis Simpson.

♪ ♪

Elizabeth's father reluctantly
took on the throne.

♪ ♪

- I think we have to remember
that the Queen is not only

a devout Christian,
but she's also the head

of the Church of England.

- The Church of England
at this time

does not recognize divorce.

It means that the Queen
is very conflicted.

- The Royal Court
reacts very badly

to the news of a romance
between Margaret and Townsend.

- But a lot of ordinary people
very much sympathized

with Margaret and Townsend,
and I do think

that the senior courtiers
were really rather out of step

with the mood of the nation.

- So, when the press
does start talking about it,

there's a great divide
between those who think

divorce is unacceptable
and those who feel

"let love prevail."

♪ ♪

- Margaret's profile
in the 1950s

is of a beautiful,

iconic princess.

- She was a real star.

Really, almost like
the Hollywood stars.

- She's very beautiful.
She photographs marvelously.

She's always in the papers,

and there is constant
speculation,

"Who is the Princess'
favorite suitor?"

- Peter Townsend
was a war hero--

very good-looking.

- He was known as this dashing
Air Force pilot.

His reputation was
a wonderful one.

- Margaret desperately wants
to marry Townsend,

but the problem is
that she is 22,

and any member
of the Royal Family

under the age of 25

needs to have the consent
of the ruling monarch.

The decision is not
in Margaret's hands,

it's in the hands
of her sister, the Queen.

♪ ♪

- The Queen is in a terrible
bind, really, over this,

'cause she loves her sister.

She would like her
to be happy.

But the Queen's instincts were

not to do anything that
would undermine the monarchy.

The Royal Family traditionally
was supposed to be an image

of ourselves behaving well.

And if the Royal Family
started to behave badly,

then it could cut at the root

of the people's loyalty
to the crown.

- So, once that image
of kind of perfect family life

becomes tarnished,

can we justify all that
taxpayers' money going on them?

♪ ♪

narrator: Margaret's fate
lies in her sister's hands.

- The Queen decided
to say, "I'm not saying no,

that you can't marry him,
but I'd like you to wait."

♪ ♪

narrator: On the advice
of her courtiers,

the Queen agrees to banish
the man her sister loves.

- The British Embassy
in Brussels recently attracted

a number of cameras,
which focused on the arrival

of Group Captain
Peter Townsend,

having driven his own car
from Boulogne,

to take up his new
appointment as air attaché.

narrator:
Peter Townsend is exiled

to Belgium for two years.

- It's a case of getting rid
of Townsend,

getting him out of the way.

- My father was asked
to leave the country,

the country he served
as a fighter pilot

during the Second World War,

and I think that was
very difficult for him.

- Princess Margaret finds
this incredibly hurtful.

Two years--when you're 23,

two years is a long time.

narrator: The Queen hopes
she has defused the scandal.

But two years later,
Townsend returns.

- Excitement bubbles like
champagne in London

as Group Captain
Peter Townsend returns

from diplomatic duties
in Belgium

to call on Princess Margaret.

Another, possibly
a climactic, phase

opens in the much-publicized
royal romance

that has the
Western world agog.

- Margaret is now 25

and legally able to decide
who she should marry.

She doesn't need the consent
of the Queen.

- The Queen does what she
always does in a crisis,

which is to bury her head
in the sand.

So she tries not
to get involved,

to leave it to her advisors.

narrator:
And her advisors,

as well as
the British government,

are still opposed to Margaret
marrying Peter Townsend.

- Anthony Eden,
the Prime Minister, said,

"If you marry Townsend,
you've got

to abandon your royal status."

- People of the city
were thrilled and delighted...

- Margaret will become plain
Mrs. Peter Townsend.

For somebody
who's been brought up

like she has been brought up,

this is not
a very alluring prospect.

For three weeks,
they are harried by the press.

They go from place to place.

They're agonizingly trying
to make up their minds.

- It sank
into frantic sensationalism,

and the whole thing turned
into a circus.

- Whenever Princess Margaret
went to open a fete

or something,
people in the crowd shouted,

"Go on, Maggie,
marry him anyway!"

♪ ♪

- At this stage,
it was still asked,

"Will they become engaged?"

- Royal duty and consideration
for her sister's position

comes into her feelings
very strongly.

She wouldn't knowingly do
anything

that would damage the Queen

or damage the idea
of the monarchy.

- Princess Margaret wavered,
I think, tremendously.

One moment
she thought she could.

The next moment she thought
she couldn't, you know?

narrator: Finally,
on October 31, 1955,

Princess Margaret
issues a statement.

- We are interrupting programs
for a special announcement.

"I would like it to be known
that I have decided

"not to marry Group Captain
Peter Townsend.

"Mindful
of the Church's teaching

"that Christian marriage
is indissoluble,

"I have resolved to put
these considerations

before any others."

- I think there was a sadness
for a long time after that.

I mean, I always think
that the first person

that one falls in love with--

one always has a twinge
of regret,

a sort of longing, you know?

And I think the first person
you fall in love with

is something rather special.

narrator: Princess Margaret
sacrificed her happiness

for the institution
of monarchy.

♪ ♪

But soon,
the Queen's own marriage

will suffer the same scrutiny.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Philip and Elizabeth
are a golden couple.

They're young.
They're beautiful.

Already they have
a very practiced double act.

But behind scenes, the people
around the Queen

can sense that he's restless.

♪ ♪

narrator: Philip is struggling
with living in the shadow

of his powerful wife.

- Her idea was that
she would wear the crown,

but he would wear
the trousers.

You know,
he organized the home.

He decided where the children
should go to school.

All the domestic matters
were decided by Prince Philip.

Here is a young, spirited man--

huge energy, his whole world
becomes circumscribed.

And, of course, he does itch
for a bit of freedom.

- He let off steam by going
to what was known

as the Thursday Club in Soho,
which was more or less

the red-light district,
actually, of London.

- The Thursday Club
is a predominantly sort of,

you know, male luncheon club.

It was a place
where Prince Philip felt

he could sort of escape and
let his hair down in private.

And there was
a lot of drink drunk

and a lot of dirty jokes told

and a general sort of air
of dissoluteness.

- And of, course,
Prince Philip

occasionally would go out
of an evening with friends,

and once or twice,
he found himself, you know,

in a nightclub late at night.

He was seen dancing with
an attractive young actress.

He might only have
met her that evening.

But some of his behavior
was considered a bit fast

and reckless by courtiers
at the time.

narrator:
But the British press,

deferential towards
the Royal Family,

largely ignores rumors
of Philip's partying.

- It's a very difficult
problem for the Queen.

Because of the way that
she'd been brought up

in this royal bubble,
she had no idea

of the sort of
Bohemian world

that existed outside the walls
of Buckingham Palace.

- And we get a slight feeling,
I think,

within the royal marriage
of a kind of separateness.

- So, when he came back

smelling rather heavily
of drink,

I think she was uneasy
about it,

and she retreated
rather into herself.

♪ ♪

- And there to see off
the Duke of Edinburgh

are the Queen, Princess Anne,
and the Duke of Cornwall.

narrator: In October 1956,

Philip leaves for a solo tour
of the Commonwealth,

triggering
widespread speculation.

- The official reason
for it is that he's opening

the Olympic Games
in Australia.

But he's away
for about four months

and very, very slow
to come home.

- Even at the time, there were
people asking questions

about why the Duke of Edinburgh
was away for so long.

Was he trying to get away
from the Queen?

What was happening?

To that is added a scandal--

not just a whiff of scandal,
but a real scandal.

- A shadow falls
on the last stages

of the Duke
of Edinburgh's tour.

Lieutenant Commander
Michael Parker,

his friend and secretary,
has resigned.

- Mike Parker,

who was Prince Philip's
private secretary,

leaves the tour early.

He's actually being divorced
by his wife for adultery.

- Certain London papers have
given front-page publicity

to his family troubles.

- So what's going on here?

I mean, his best friend
is getting divorced.

He's his closest companion
and ally.

Is something similar going on
in the life of Prince Philip?

- Mike Parker had introduced
Prince Philip

into this slightly disreputable
Soho world,

and people think, "Well,
you know, they're all at it

in the Thursday Club."

- This led to an enormous
amount of rumor

and speculation that the Duke
was playing away from home,

you know,
that he was having affairs.

- In the 1950s,
divorce is seen

as a form of social suicide.

And I think in the Queen's
social network,

the expectation was that
whatever happened,

you had to, you know, put up
with it,

grit your teeth, and carry on.

- The rumors
that there might be cracks

in the Queen's marriage

threatened to undermine
the moral authority

of the monarchy
in British society.

- Well, the usual response
of Buckingham Palace

to speculation
about the royal marriage

is basically neither
to confirm nor to deny.

- But Buckingham Palace felt
that it was important

to just lance the boil,

and they did issue a statement

saying there is no royal rift.

♪ ♪

- There was a concerted effort,
both on their part

and on the part
of the establishment,

to show
that their relationship,

and therefore the monarchy,
was a unit.

narrator: In a public display
of commitment to her husband,

the Queen honors Philip
with a more senior title,

elevating his status
within the Royal Family.

- Before he married the Queen,

he was Prince Philip
of Greece.

Then he was made
the Duke of Edinburgh.

But as a direct result
of this controversial trip

to the Commonwealth,

the Queen made her husband
a prince

of the United Kingdom.

That's when he became
Prince Philip.

- We don't actually know
what went on

inside their domestic lives
because everybody

is magisterially discreet
about it.

Shortly after that,
two more children were born--

Prince Andrew and
Prince Edward--

living proof that they had
a solid relationship.

narrator: But the Royal Family
is soon under attack again,

and this time the criticism
is leveled at the Queen.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

narrator:
Summer 1957--

a once deferential British
press has a new target...

Queen Elizabeth.

- John Edward Poynder Grigg,

2nd Baron Altrincham,
is in hot water.

In an article in his journal,

"The National and English
Review,"

he voices criticisms
of the Queen and her court,

which roused the wrath
of much of the national press.

narrator: The attack comes
from a committed monarchist.

Lord Altrincham is the son
of a former royal courtier.

- I think my father
had real concerns

in a world where republics
had become the norm

and monarchy the exception,

that the monarchy would become
seen as an anachronism.

- Lord Altrincham
is very unhappy

with the stuffy,
old-fashioned way

in which the monarchy is run.

He's critical
of the courtiers,

the old guard
around the Queen.

And he's particularly critical
of the words they put

into the Queen's mouth.

- I thank you for inviting me
and my husband here tonight

and for the kind references
you have made to my family.

- He said that she was forced
to speak platitudes

and that she spoke in the voice
of a priggish schoolgirl.

- I give you the toast
of the Royal Air Force.

all:
The Royal Air Force.

- These criticisms
were received

with absolute horror
by the Palace.

- It was absolutely not done
to criticize the Queen

in the 1950s.

She was almost
a deified figure.

- The tabloid press,
in particular,

sensationalized it and
represented him as a traitor.

He was given a fierce grilling
on national television.

As he was leaving
the broadcasting studio,

he was struck quite hard
round the face

by a member of the
League of Empire Loyalists.

- But one or two
of the courtiers said,

"Altrincham has a point.

"We really must begin
to move the monarchy

"in a slightly
more modern direction,

"that is less looking
to the past

and more looking
to the future."

♪ ♪

narrator: Once again,
the Queen is torn

between maintaining tradition

or reinventing her monarchy.

♪ ♪

Two months after Altrincham's
very public critique,

the Queen arrives in America
on an official visit.

- New York's
ticker tape greeting

is like nothing else on Earth.

Among it, there is
quite a lot of real confetti,

so that after
the first few yards,

the Queen looks like
a bride again.

narrator: She uses the trip
to experiment

with a more informal way of
interacting with the public.

♪ ♪

- When it was announced that
the Queen was coming to see

a University of Maryland
football game

and visit a shopping center
in the area,

it sort of caught you
by surprise.

- Following the criticisms
made by Lord Altrincham,

the Queen seeks to
sort of modernize

and update her style.

♪ ♪

- She took a lot of time
greeting people,

shaking hands--

fascinated by the size
of the grocery store,

fascinated by the carts,

by the way people shopped
and got food and everything.

♪ ♪

- The whole thing was
extraordinary alien to her.

She's shy, she's very stiff,
but she tries.

- What's happening here
is something

that's very characteristic
of Queen Elizabeth,

which is that when people
criticize, she listens,

and she changes.

narrator:
But will this modern Queen

approve of her sister's
latest romance?

Four years after parting
from Peter Townsend,

Princess Margaret has a new
and unconventional boyfriend.

- Tony Armstrong-Jones
is a brilliant photographer.

Long before he meets
Princess Margaret,

he's made his name.

He has a very good social
background,

but he's not an aristocrat.

Tony is absolutely
at the cutting edge

of the approaching
'60s revolution.

♪ ♪

- The 1960s is a decade
that witnesses

great social, cultural, and
political change in Britain.

There's a real liberalization,

in terms of how ordinary
people are behaving.

- Tony wears a polo neck
sweater when he goes out

instead of a collar and tie.

His assistants have to stitch
up his jeans so tightly.

Tight jeans were just
coming in then.

- He was a real breath
of fresh air--

completely different
from anybody she'd known

or gone out with.

Of course,
he had huge sex appeal,

huge sex appeal.

- Tony has a room
in Rotherhithe.

It overlooks the river.
It's old and romantic.

It's a place he can get away
from everybody.

And he takes her down there
on his motorbike.

- Can you imagine
a royal princess

getting on a motorbike
and driving down to a flat

in Rotherhithe?

[chuckles]
It's quite--

sort of unthinkable, really.

- Tony would cook perhaps
a steak and salad,

and Princess Margaret would
then put on the rubber gloves

and do the washing up.

[orchestral music]

- When the announcement
of the betrothal was made

from Clarence House,

the reaction everywhere
was not only one of surprise

but also
of the greatest pleasure

throughout Britain
and all over the world.

- It was a tremendous
shock to everybody.

We all expected her to marry
some aristocrat or other,

you know,
because in those days,

they didn't really
marry commoners.

[sweeping music]

- It was a very happy wedding.

I mean, by that time,

we were used to the idea
of her marrying him,

and we were thrilled.

♪ ♪

- Since Westminster Abbey
was first built on Thameside

there can hardly have been
a more beautiful May wedding

than this.

♪ ♪

- The Queen likes Tony
very much.

He is very personable.
He can be extremely charming.

- The Queen was delighted that
her sister had found somebody

that was going to look
after her and love her.

♪ ♪

- But some people can see

that this is not going to be
a marriage made in Heaven.

- Tony very much embraced the
sexual freedoms of the '60s,

every way, really,
you can think of.

Loads of girlfriends
and, I think, a few boyfriends.

He did lead, we have to admit,
a rather louche life.

Many of the Court
had heard stories

of Tony's goings on.

They were frightened
that he might mar the Princess

in some scandal.

♪ ♪

- Here they are, intensely
in love, wildly in love,

but there is danger ahead.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

narrator:
By the mid 1960s,

the Queen and Prince Philip
are increasingly eclipsed

by Princess Margaret
and her husband, Tony.

- In 1965, Margaret and Tony
go off to the States

for a three-week,
five-city tour.

This glamorous couple

take the United States
by storm.

♪ ♪

narrator: They are
on an official visit

representing the Queen

and are treated
like movie stars.

- Margaret is possibly
the first royal celebrity.

She and Elizabeth Taylor

are the two most photographed
women in the world.

- They touch down
in San Francisco to mobs,

and the best glimpse that
they got of them

was when they took a ride

on the famous San Francisco
cable cars.

- Appealing to the Americans
is the fact this

is a very informal visit,
and every newsreel, newspaper,

and TV company did its best

to supply the all but
insatiable demand

for pictures.

- People were running
alongside the cars,

just trying to get a glimpse
or something.

narrator:
Princess Margaret's next stop

is the epicenter of fame
and glamour--

Hollywood.

She and Tony tour
the movie studios.

- Hollywood may be the city
where dreams are made,

but it doesn't leave much
time to relax.

- They received
an open-arm welcome

on the set of the Hitchcock
film "Torn Curtain."

They're meeting Paul Newman
and Julie Andrews,

and Margaret,
who loves the stars,

is just in seventh heaven.

They are having a ball.

- Just as they like to party
back in London,

they also like
to party in the States,

and they never gave up
for the entire trip.

- Hollywood laid out its red
carpet in what was perhaps

the most important
social event

in its illustrious history.

It was the night the real-life
princess and her prince

went to a Hollywood ball.

- They were usually the last
to go at parties.

They stayed till
2:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m.,

when everyone else
was exhausted.

♪ ♪

After one very select party,
Princess Margaret,

it was reported, was a little
bit indisposed the next day.

- There is considerable
criticism in the British press

that they are partying a lot.

narrator:
When news breaks

of Margaret's
extravagant behavior,

the Queen faces
a serious problem.

- In the 1960s,

the Royal Family
are essentially funded

through public payment.

That is essentially
taxpayers' money

that is reallocated
to the Royals.

And the public
start wondering,

"Why is it that we're paying

"for Royals to go and enjoy
themselves, cavorting abroad?

Are we getting value for money
from the Royal Family?"

- The Royal Family is having
some image problems.

[upbeat music]

narrator: By 1968,
the Queen understands

she needs to transform public
perception of the monarchy.

She approves the filming of a
documentary about her family.

♪ ♪

Elizabeth, Philip, Charles,
Anne, Andrew, and Edward

will be the subject
of a television special

following them over
the course of a year.

♪ ♪

- The idea of
a fly-on-the-wall documentary

is seen as a good way for the
Royal Family to demonstrate

that they are an ordinary
modern family

and that the Royals
were value for money.

Philip, being the modernizer
that he is,

encourages the whole thing.

[lively music]

- And I had the most terrible
trouble in keeping--

You know, he had short body,
long arms...

[laughter]

And I had the most
appalling trouble.

[laughter]

- This is an intimate glimpse
of the Royal Family,

so we're going to be introduced
to them as personalities

as opposed to distant personas.

- The salad is ready.

narrator: The documentary
is the first time the Queen

has allowed her family
to be filmed in such a relaxed

and informal way.

- [speaking indistinctly]

- The barbecue scene caught
everybody's imagination,

I think, 'cause it was about
as cozy a family scene

as I think one could imagine.

Prince Edward sitting
on the top of a Land Rover

and Charles making
a salad dressing.

- Oh, why have they done that?

- I thought it was a nice
thing to do,

just to show, you know,
they're different

but not so different
as all that.

They're still family people.

- And the other one was to
see her taking Prince Edward

into the shop at Balmoral
to buy him an ice cream.

- Well, would you like
to go and get one?

[chuckling]
Just a ten. It's all I've got.

- One of the golden rules had
been that their conversation

was not to be recorded
when they were out and about

doing public events.

- May we offer you...
- Exhange.

- A very small...
- Ah, well, I am...

- Token as a memento
of your visit here?

- So the public saw and heard
them, I think, in a way

which was entirely new.

- The public are ecstatic.

They've never believed
that the Queen,

Prince Philip,
and their children

could be just like them.

- Huge ratings--
I think 24 million people

in Britain watched.

And then the extraordinary
thing about it,

the puzzling thing is that
now you cannot see it at all.

- It's been almost sort of
wiped from the archives.

And I think
that was a tipping point

at which members
of the Royal Family felt

that perhaps they had
let their guard down too much.

- The point of the Queen is
there's mystique about her,

and if you get too close
and find out too much,

you lose that,

and I think that was something
that worried them.

- There is
this terrible balance

that they've got to strike

between being extraordinary
and being ordinary.

And they came
to the conclusion

that they were being
too ordinary.

- The Queen succeeds in
withdrawing the documentary,

but by then, it's really
too late.

The damage is done.

- The public and the press
have got a taste

for this more intrusive style
of royal coverage.

After the 1969 documentary,

we see a much more explosive
form of media coverage

develop very quickly,

which is set on exposing
the impropriety that exists

behind closed palace doors.

[dramatic music]

narrator:
Next on "The Windsors"...

- Charles had no choice
in his life at all.

- Everybody is pressuring him
to find a wife.

- But this was not
a love match.

- Till death us do part.
- Till death us do part.

- Diana feels lost
and abandoned.

- She was so thin.
She was painfully thin.

- She is, in essence,
a ticking time bomb.