Britain's Television Queen

By Bob Crew

Focusing purely on Queen Elizabeth II's relationship with television, this book shows how she was ahead of the game in helping to change the face of British television from the outset of her reign in 1953 when she let the cameras into Westminster Abbey. The Queen embraced television at a time when Winston Churchill and her government advisors recommended that she should keep them out - on the grounds that the cameras would destroy her royal mystique - right through the 1950s which was Britain s television decade (for reasons that are not generally understood today), when Britain became the first nation in the world to have public service television. In 1969 the Queen opened the doors to the cameras once again for the invention of Britains first family-reality-TV, fly-on-the-wall programme, showing how she and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh and their children, Charles and Anne, went about their daily lives, thereby giving the seal of royal approval to reality-TV, ahead of the first programmes in the United States and the UK that followed in her wake. Queen Elizabeth II can accurately be described as a television queen, the first monarch to understand and embrace television and, in particular reality-TV, which is why she was light years ahead of other royals and her government ministers. Television was for her a right of passage and, not until she ran into bad and stormy weather with Princess Diana in the 1980s and 1990s, did she have any image problems with television. These problems no longer remain today, evidently, as once again the television arrangements are in full swing for her Diamond Jubilee celebrations this June. Queen Elizabeth II remains the most televised and visualised person in the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MX Publishing
• Release date: Dec 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781780921303

Book preview

BRITAIN’S TELEVISION QUEEN

Bob Crew

First edition published in 2012

© Copyright 2012 Bob Crew

The right of Bob Crew to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998.

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without express prior written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted except with express prior written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of MX Publishing, Andrews UK Limited or any of their employees or affiliates.

Originally published in the UK by MX Publishing

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Digital version converted and published in 2012 by

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Whilst every attempt has been made to contact the relevant copyright holders, where some were unobtainable, we would be grateful if the appropriate people would contact us.

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To the fans of Queen Elizabeth II and all who take an intelligent interest in the times in which we live, as well as to the memory of all who were involved in making and telling the history of television in Britain, where the world’s first televised images were invented, as well as the world’s first public service television (to avid TV viewers also).

Preface

Whilst Queen Elizabeth II will be remembered for other things besides television, it seems to me that the jewel in her crown in the 20th and 21st centuries has certainly been television, as we shall discover in these pages.

This is because she has existed for her people more visibly and more powerfully on their television screens than anywhere else - and continues to do so to this day, of course - having gone out of her way to invite the television cameras into her life, at the expense of losing much if not most of her royal mystique.

She has moved with the times and also ahead of the times where television has been concerned, but she has not been given sufficient credit for this. On the contrary, she has too often been perceived as one who has been harassed and given no peace by television and the rest of the media, with which she has reluctantly come to terms, regarding it at best as a necessary evil.

But when we take a closer look, we see that the reverse is true, that she has very willingly embraced television from the outset of her reign (and why should she not?), making British monarchy fit for purpose in the 21st century, and developing a mutually rewarding relationship between royalty and television.

For sure, television has been a double-edged sword, but that has not deterred her from wielding this sword in her best interests.

This book is written in order to demonstrate this, for the interest, not only of royalists and the borderline fans of British royals, but for all who take an intelligent interest in the times in which we live, and in the role of the media and royalty to that end.

So this is a book for general readers as well as royalists and the fans of royalty, for avid TV viewers and history buffs (contemporary history and the history of television science) and for media studies students perhaps, not to mention American, European and other tourists coming to London for the Diamond Jubilee this year, who may be interested to know about the television phenomenon that is Britain’s television queen today.

The distinction is made in these pages between royalists and fans of royalty, with the former being those who consider themselves ‘born’ royalists - die-hard patriots who have been born into staunchly royalist families, perhaps for generations - and others who have become fans without being born royalists, but both considering British royalty a class-act that is preferable to republicanism.

Whether we and the foremost British royals like it or not, they are these days all media icons of one kind or another and this is as a result of Queen Elizabeth II embracing television as she has, for the reasons that she has.

But this is not at all how things were when Elizabeth first came to her throne in 1952, since when the face of British broadcasting, royalty and society at large has been changed beyond all recognition. It has been changed not least by Queen Elizabeth agreeing to her coronation being televised - when her advisors were warning her against the big bad television beast - as well as agreeing to participate in a goodly number other television programmes besides.

One suspects that it goes against the grain with traditional royalists that today’s royals have lost their mystique in order to join the ranks of the television icons - so many of whom are trashy media icons that are ten a penny these days - but on the other hand, a greater number of fans are well pleased with their royals as TV-icons, since it is largely through the familiarity of these fans with their royals on their television screens, that they have become fans in the first place - fans of facsimile royals, maybe, but better than no royals at all where they are concerned.

That Queen Elizabeth and Buckingham Palace have no problem with this is suggested by the fact that they have willingly gone along with it in order to stay in touch with the greatest number of people, not just their royalist admirers, but also and more importantly with the public at large, among whom they have so many more admirers.

All this gives rise to such questions as:

Where would British television be today without its royals to boost its ratings with millions of viewers (not so much those who view the news, and would view it anyway, with or without the inclusion of royals, but others viewing the special programmes about British royals)?

How would TV look today without a regular royal presence on our screens, given that British royals make so much news, entertainment and feature material?

How do British royals compare with other TV-icons?

These are chief among the questions addressed in this book, as British television and British monarchy feed on each other.

As one who has lived through these times and spent the greater part of his adult life in the media - and also had some previous experience of royals (HRH Prince Charles, the heir apparent, and HRH Princess Anne, the Princess Royal) - I suppose that I can address these and other questions in these pages with some authority.

In the media I have been a correspondent with The Times and Financial Times and I have also interviewed Prince Charles in a military history that I have written about Britain’s Gurkha soldiers now in its third edition.

As we shall see in chapter one, I first wrote about British royals when I was The Times correspondent in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s where Queen Elizabeth was advised by the British ambassador in Jeddah and subsequently by her foreign secretary to stay on her royal yacht during a state visit to the desert kingdom because of the Saudi’s ‘undignified handling of women.’

I broke this story long before my Gurkha book featuring Prince Charles in 2003.

I was also presented to Princess Anne as one of a reception party that showed her round some newly-opened premises at the University of London of which she is Chancellor - and where I am a member of Congregation - and when in conversation with her on that occasion I gained some fleeting but useful insights into her personality, attitudes and character, as we shall see in chapter three.

These, then, are my credentials and reasons for writing this book, in the form of a popular royal and contemporary television history, principally for lay readers that I hope will also be an informative and enjoyable read for royalists and others besides.

Because I have lived through these times, this book is written through my own eyes and the eyes of similar and dissimilar others on the ground at different points in the history being told here - this is not a book that is written purely from historical research or media records - so there is a distinctly personal and informal flavour in the telling of this story that adds an extra dimension of human interest at the grass roots.

This is additional to all else that comes from the tablets of stone that are being officially and formally passed down from on high.

There is in these pages, not only a well-informed interpretation of the historical record, but also an equally well-informed human interest record with some - not many but some - insider views and perceptions from outside royal circles that reflect the changing state of the nation throughout Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.

There are personal touches here and there in the telling of this story.

Probably this book is the first draft of Queen Elizabeth’s television history, as I can find no other on this subject.

In order to write a good and interesting factual story, one needs a subject to match, and even then it takes a readiness to discover and follow every twist and turn that the story takes, regardless of how unconventional or otherwise it may be.

So be prepared for some interesting twists and turns!

Finally, I am thankful to Buckingham Palace for all the reported information and dates of the various Diamond Jubilee events this year - that are commonly available to the public on royal websites - which presumably will not change in the months ahead, as well as the facts and figures about the history of monarchy, in addition to the histories and commitments of different royals.

I am similarly thankful to the television authorities and scientific institutions for their facts, figures and dates also.

Bob Crew, BA (Hons), MA.

Hampstead Garden Suburb,

North London,

February 2012

The Queen That Went To The Moon

If you think the title of this chapter improbable, then you’d better read on, because it is a fascinating lesser-known fact about Queen Elizabeth II that she has, in fact, sent herself to the moon.

She has also been on the other side of the moon here on earth!

As already mentioned in the preface, I first wrote about British royals when I was The Times correspondent in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s where Queen Elizabeth was advised by the British ambassador in Jeddah to stay on her royal yacht during a state visit to the desert kingdom because of the Saudi’s ‘undignified handling of women,’ which was a serious problem back then that had caused a previous diplomatic incident of concern to the British ambassador and his wife.

Saudi Arabia was the other side of the moon here on earth for Queen Elizabeth and the rest of us in those distant times almost forty years ago.

However, the day was saved by getting Saudi royals onto the royal yacht instead of Queen Elizabeth going on land to visit them where it was thought that she might not be handled with customary care. But all’s well that ends well and it did end well because King Abdullah became the first Saudi King in 20 years to visit the UK where he was warmly received by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in November 2007.

But this 1970s story about how Elizabeth boxed clever in the desert kingdom was one of the most important diplomatic stories about British royals at that time, because it revealed how her state visits in some parts of the world are not always as easy as falling off a log, and it must surely be a memory that sticks in her mind as she looks back on her 60-year reign (unless, of course, she has dismissed it from her mind).

I have written a paperback book - The Beheading and Other True Stories (2011) - in which all the details of this are well documented and explained in chapter fourteen, for those interested to have chapter and verse on this subject.

Most books about Queen Elizabeth II during her Diamond Jubilee year are, predictably, about her relationships with British prime ministers and/or about her role in the Commonwealth, two somewhat tired and very well-worn and overdone subjects, about which we have already read much in the press previously (and I will come to her allegedly favourite prime minister at the end of the following chapter).

But what else does Queen Elizabeth do, for any other different kinds of books to be written about her?

Other than conduct relationships with prime ministers and commonwealth leaders, when not showing for her people at the grass roots in all sorts of ways, what else is new?

Probably there are some art books to be written about all the different portraits that she has sat for, and there are always the gossipy books about what royal and other insiders say about her and leak to the press, books about what royal correspondents in the press or on television say and think about her, not that most of their information is new, given that it’s all been said and done before.

But this Television Queen book really is quite different and new because it falls into none of the existing categories, as it concentrates on only one much-overlooked aspect of her reign - that of her relationship with television and how this has come about, which seems to me to be the most important and most overlooked thing about her; overlooked by the millions who watch her on television without fully understanding the behind the scenes nature of her relationship with TV, how precisely it has come about, and how important it has been to her continuing popularity and success.

Whilst prime ministers and commonwealth leaders come and go, British television and the British monarchy remain as permanent fixtures, with the latter needing to co-exist well with the former, because it is the former that presents the monarch to her people and the world at large, not temporary prime ministers or commonwealth leaders.

If she does not get on with prime ministers, they will not openly criticise or expose her in the full glare of publicity, if they can help it.

But television and its news journalists certainly will at any time of the day or night, which is why she needs to make a success of her relationship with television - as indeed she has done - unlike her relationship with prime ministers, so many of whom have come and gone without her blessing or approval during her reign, as she has seen them all out.

The millions who watch her on television - for whom this book is chiefly but not exclusively written - are not the ones who read the books about how she does or does not get on with different prime ministers and/or commonwealth leaders and so remember her for what they read of this. Readers of these books run into tens of thousands, not into the millions who watch television.

The millions that remember her are those