TV

The Queen steals the show: The Coronation

She's the grandmother you never had. An unprecedented interview with the Queen comes to the BBC

The Coronation, BBC
Poor Twitter. It's only used to gossiping about Claire Foy's performance as Queen Elizabeth. The actual Queen is almost never seen speaking on our TV screens. So no wonder the social media site went into meltdown following Sunday night's documentary The Coronation.

It apparently took 22 years of negations to get out the Queen to talk on camera, but talk she does, in this new documentary presented by 'coronation expert' Alastair Bruce, which was organised in celebration of the 65 years since Elizabeth ascended to the throne.


Good old Liz has warmed the cockles of the nation with her no-nonsense attitude talking about, and roughly handling, the Imperial State Crown as it returns to Buckingham Palace for the first time since her coronation in 1953.

The Queen offers some brutal, super-sassy commentary as she watched footage of her coronation for the first time, like a fancy episode of Gogglebox.

The Queen, leaning across the white-gloved fingers of the crown jeweller tentatively attempting to inch it closer to Her Majesty's nose, is seen grabbing the crown without fuss, unceremoniously prodding the poor 'dead' pearls (once owned by Queen Elizabeth I) and pinging back the golden metalwork, announcing: 'This is what I do when I wear it!'

Later, when watching personal footage of the ceremony, the Queen is seen berating the then tiny Prince Charles and Princess Anne who were playing hide-and-seek under her train: 'Not what they were meant to do', whilst pulling a series of gloriously unimpressed faces, known to children and grandchildren everywhere.

With sass, good humour and a sharp tongue, the Queen is for once genuinely on offer in this BBC documentary. See the Royal mask slip, just for a moment, as we subjects are allowed to glimpse the real woman underneath. When the Queen is not seen delighting us with a jibe or two, a history of the crown jewels and coronations past is proffered.

A rare and important documentary – and unexpectedly funny. Check it out here.
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What The Queen steals the show: The Coronation
Where BBC One, BBC One | MAP
When 15 Jan 18 – 31 Mar 18, 12:00 AM – 12:00 AM
Price £n/a
Website




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