Why did Sir David Attenborough have a ‘row’ with Buckingham Palace?,
On the latest episode of the Daily Mail’s Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things podcast, historians Robert Hardman and Kate Williams explore the strangely parallel lives of Queen Elizabeth II and Sir David Attenborough.
Both born in 1926, Britain’s most beloved broadcaster and longest reigning monarch would cross paths many times throughout their long lives.
The late Queen clearly held Sir David in high regard, entrusting him to produce her beloved Christmas broadcast for six consecutive years between 1986 and 1991.
Sir David was pivotal to the Royal Family’s embrace of television. As Controller of BBC Two between 1965 and 1969, he oversaw the family’s first foray into the new medium, with a landmark 1969 documentary, which gave the British public an intimate look behind Palace doors for the very first time.
On the latest episode of the Daily Mail’s Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things, Robert Hardman and Kate Williams explore the parallel lives of Queen Elizabeth II and Sir David Attenborough
Both born in 1926, Britain’s most beloved broadcaster and longest reigning monarch would cross paths many times throughout their long lives
Sir David was pivotal to the Royal Family’s embrace of television
But Sir David was fiercely opposed to the film, simply titled Royal Family, as Hardman explained on the podcast.
‘Sir David did not feel the documentary was a good idea,’ he said.
‘Quite boldly, he had a row with the Royal family about it.
‘Sir David’s phrase was: “You do not want to let the village see inside the chief’s house.”
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‘He felt that with the documentary, all the family’s sense of mystery, their sense of authority, would be lost.
‘I think maybe he had been reading the great Victorian essayist Walter Bagehot, who famously wrote about not letting daylight in on the magic of the monarchy.’
Sir David was overruled by Prince Philip, who chaired the advisory committee that approved every scene in the documentary.
Philip was a firm believer in the power of television and was convinced the Palace had to engage with it on their own terms before it shaped the monarchy’s image without their input.
In many ways, the Prince’s instinct proved correct. The documentary drew an audience of more than 30 million British viewers, a bigger audience than tuned in to watch man land on the moon that same summer.
Yet the film’s extraordinary success would mask a deeper unease. As Hardman explained, there had been fierce debate within the Palace from the very beginning over whether opening the doors to cameras was a risk the monarchy could afford to take.
As Hardman explained, there had been fierce debate within the Palace from the very beginning over whether opening the doors to cameras was a risk to the monarchy
The film has not been shown on British television since 1977. Using Crown copyright, the Queen effectively banned it, later deeming the documentary too revealing
Hardman said: ‘I spoke to Bill Heseltine, a great man and former Press Secretary at the Palace at the time.
‘He was very much in favour of the idea. Heseltine had to fight against the old establishment who, rather like Sir David, were saying – this is a bad idea. Let’s keep the mystery.
‘They argued that because the family had done this documentary, it would allow the paparazzi in.
‘I happen to disagree with them on that. TV was coming, they couldn’t do anything about it. So, you might as well get with the programme.’
The film has not been shown on British television since 1977. Using Crown copyright, the Queen effectively banned it, later deeming the documentary too revealing.
Williams, however, sided with Sir David, arguing the family had made a costly mistake by opening the door to the cameras in the first place.
‘I think it’s a risk for any monarchy to allow the public to see them as ordinary people,’ she said.
‘For example, there’s an unfortunate scene where a foreign dignitary is compared to a gorilla.’
To hear how Sir David and Queen Elizabeth became close friends, search for Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things now, wherever you get your podcasts.
