BBC One to
tell the story of the symbols of the Coronation in a special new film announced
as part of the Royal Collection Season
In her own
words The Queen will bring to life the enduring symbolic importance of the
Coronation ceremonies for modern audiences to enjoy
Charlotte
Moore, BBC Director of Content
Date:
03.01.2018 Last updated: 03.01.2018
at 12.47
As part of
the Royal Collection Season across BBC television and radio, BBC One today
announced The Coronation, an hour-long film revealing to new generations the
compelling story of the Crown Jewels and the ancient ceremony for which they
are used.
As part of
the film, to mark the 65th anniversary of Her Majesty The Queen's Coronation,
The Queen shares memories of the ceremony as well as that of her father, King
George VI, in 1937. The Crown Jewels, which form part of the Royal Collection,
consist of 140 items and contain 23,000 precious stones. These sacred objects
form the most complete collection of royal regalia in the world.
The Royal
Collection Season, a major partnership between the BBC and Royal Collection
Trust, reveals the fascinating history of the Royal Collection - one of the
largest and most important art collections in the world - bringing both the
masterpieces and some of the lesser-known works of art, and the stories behind
them, to audiences across Britain.
Exploring
the role and symbolic meaning of the Crown Jewels in the centuries-old
coronation ceremony, The Coronation shows these objects of astonishing beauty
in new high-resolution footage. The film tells the extraordinary story of St
Edward’s Crown, which was destroyed after the English Civil War and remade for
the Coronation of Charles II in 1661. It has only been worn by Her Majesty
once, at the moment she was crowned.
On 2 June
1953, on one of the coldest June days of the century and after 16 months of
planning, The Queen set out from Buckingham Palace to be crowned at Westminster
Abbey, watched by millions of people throughout the world. A ceremony dating
back more than a thousand years was to mark the dawn of a new Elizabethan age.
Viewing
both private and official film footage, The Queen recalls the day when the
weight of both St Edward’s Crown and the hopes and expectations of a country
recovering from war were on her shoulders, as the nation looked to their 27
year-old Queen to lead them into a new era.
In the
film, The Queen says: “I've seen one Coronation, and been the recipient in the
other, which is pretty remarkable.”
For
audiences unfamiliar with the story of the Crown Jewels and the regalia, the
film explains their contemporary relevance to the UK as a nation and to the
enduring purpose and the work of monarchy. They are symbols of the relationship
between the Sovereign and the people, and the duties and responsibilities of
leadership.
The film
also features eyewitness accounts of those who participated in the 1953
Coronation, including a maid of honour who nearly fainted in the Abbey, and a
12 year-old choirboy who was left to sing solo when his overwhelmed colleagues
lost their voices.
Other
programmes in the Season include:
Art,
Passion & Power: The Story of the Royal Collection on BBC Four, a four-part
series in which Andrew Graham-Dixon reveals some of the most spectacular works
of art in the Royal Collection.
Charles I's
Treasures Reunited on BBC Two, in which Brenda Emmanus explores the Royal
Academy’s landmark exhibition Charles I: King And Collector, organised in
partnership with Royal Collection Trust.
A concert
recorded in the Grand Reception Room at Windsor Castle, presented by Lucie
Skeaping and including performances on historic instruments from the Royal
Collection, broadcast on The Early Music Programme on BBC Radio 3.
Stories
From The Royal Collection on BBC Radio 4, in which Dr Amanda Foreman discovers
the captivating stories behind works of art in the Royal Collection through
documentary material from the Royal Archives.
Charlotte
Moore, BBC Director of Content, says: “It is a real honour to have Her Majesty
The Queen revealing her intimate knowledge of the Crown Jewels, and fond
childhood memories from when her father was crowned King George VI, in this
very special film for BBC One. In her own words, The Queen will bring to life
the enduring symbolic importance of the Coronation ceremonies for modern
audiences to enjoy.”
Coronation
expert and key contributor Alastair Bruce says: “The Crown Jewels include The
Regalia, which are used at a coronation, when the monarch is invested with the
best known, if least understood, symbols of this kingdom. Post boxes, Police
helmets, Income Tax Returns and almost every visual expression of the United
Kingdom displays a Crown and Orb.
"The
meaning of each of the key objects has evolved from emblems of authority that
date way back before the Saxons arrived. Yet there is an enduring relevance to
modern leadership wrapped into each symbol that express values of humility,
duty and service, while representing total power. Discovering their meaning
helps to define what the Sovereign is to the Crown and how that Crown is the
property of us all, in the constitutional function of Monarchy.”
The
Coronation is made by Bafta and Emmy Award-winning Atlantic Productions. It is
a co-production with Smithsonian Channel and ABC Television and distributed by
FremantleMedia International. In a global event, it will be broadcast across
the United States and Australia by its broadcast partners.
Anthony
Geffen, CEO of Atlantic Productions, says: “The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth
II was an international and momentous event, which took 16 months of
preparation and was watched by millions across the globe for the first time in
history. Our project marks another first - Her Majesty The Queen's own
recollections of the time. We are honoured to be able to create this lasting
historical document and hugely appreciative of the collaboration with The Royal
Household and our broadcast partners.”
David
Royle, Executive Vice President of Programming and Production for Smithsonian
Channel, says: “Americans are fascinated by the Royal Family and have great
admiration for The Queen. When the Coronation was broadcast in the U.S. in
1953, it was watched by an immense audience. At Smithsonian Channel, we take
great pride in bringing definitive accounts of major events to our viewers, and
this remarkably intimate portrait of the Coronation is sure to bring new levels
of interest in America.”
Michael
Carrington, Acting Head of Television, ABC, says: “The ABC are delighted to be
the broadcast partner for this very special, historical event. The crowning of
Queen Elizabeth II was a defining moment in the history of television, and the
modern world, and we are excited to bring the rituals and pageantry of her
Coronation to life for our ABC audiences in 2018.”
Angela
Neillis, Director of Non-Scripted, UK, EMEA and Asia Pacific, FremantleMedia
International, says: “Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation is a landmark television
event and we are thrilled to be working with Atlantic Productions to bring
their unique documentary film to international buyers. Her Majesty The Queen is
a much loved and respected global figure and the Royal Family continues to
fascinate audiences across the world.”
The
Coronation (1x60) was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Director of Content and
Tom McDonald, Head of Commissioning, Natural History and Specialist Factual.
The BBC Commissioning Editor is Simon Young. The Executive Producer for
Atlantic Productions is Anthony Geffen and Producer/Director is Harvey Lilley. The
programme consultant is Alastair Bruce.
It took 22
years for the BBC to do the near-impossible and persuade the Queen to sit for
an interview
Alexandra Ma
13 Jan 2018
The BBC is
airing a documentary about the Queen’s coronation 65 years ago.
It features a
rare on-camera, sit-down conversation with the Queen.
It took the
film’s producers 22 years to get her to do it.
They won
over palace gatekeepers with a track-record of thorough, well-reported
documentaries, they told Business Insider.
This weekend
the BBC is broadcasting a journalistic rarity: A full, sit-down conversation
with Queen Elizabeth II.
The
project, a retrospective on her coronation ceremony in 1953, was 22 years in
the making, and a media coup given the Queen’s historic reluctance to engage
directly with the press in any way.
Her Majesty
has granted behind-the-scenes access to royal life before. She also gives
occasional televised speeches. But “The Coronation,” which airs on BBC1 at 8
p.m. on Sunday, will be one of her first televised exchanges with a journalist.
It also
shows her interacting with various crowns involved in the ceremony, and giving
a vivid description of the experience of being installed as ruler of huge
swathes of the world (when she took the throne large parts of Africa, the
Middle East, and the Caribbean were still British colonies).
Queen
examines the Crown
For decades
an interview has been a boundary she and Buckingham Palace officials were
unwilling to cross and, indeed, the BBC and presenter Alastair Bruce prefer to
characterise the encounter in “The Coronation” as a conversation. He was not
allowed to ask her questions, but he did at least ask one, according to the
Radio Times.
Nevertheless,
it is a huge novelty and only came about after a respected team of experts,
commissioned by the BBC, convinced Her Majesty.
In an
interview with Business Insider, producer Anthony Geffen said securing access
to the Queen for himself and Bruce was a 22-year enterprise.
It
eventually came off because they impressed the palace with the impressive track
record of Geffen’s company, Atlantic Productions, and the personal expertise of
presenter and royal expert Alastair Bruce.
The
occasion is the 65th anniversary of her coronation. The discussion sees the
Queen’s reflecting on what it was like to wear her coronation crown, which
weighs almost 5 pounds, and her uncomfortable journey to Westminster Abbey 65
years ago.
Teaser
footage released ahead of the broadcast shows the Queen discussing the
artefact, which she recalled being heavy enough to break her neck.
Geffen told
Business Insider: “Alastair Bruce and I started trying to get permission to do
this project 22 years ago, and it’s taken a long period of time for it to
happen.
“In that
time, things have changed. There’s my track record as a filmmaker and
Atlantic’s track record.”
Geffen’s
past works include documentaries with big names like David Attenborough, Judi
Dench, and a major series on the British Parliament, “Inside the Commons,”
which he said particularly impressed the palace.
He
continued: “We’ve been inside the House of Commons, which the palace had seen,
and they were impressed by how the series managed to balance out the political
systems in place there.”
“Alastair
Bruce also became a recognised royal correspondent and expert on the Coronation
and the royal family.”
The
Coronation
This meant
that Buckingham Palace felt comfortable enough to agree to the filming,
although it came with certain expectations and etiquette.
Discussing
the exchange on BBC Radio 4 Friday morning, Bruce termed the exchange a
“conversation,” and emphasised its difference from normal media interviews,
often characterised by direct questioning.
He said:
“You pose a point and then the Queen sometimes responds, and often conversation
follows from there. But posing direct questions was not on the cards. This was
a conversation with the Queen.”
Speaking to
BI, Geffen contrasted their heavyweight work with other media coverage of the
royals, which “on the whole has been about what they’ve been wearing. This is
very different. This is about the meaning of monarchy.”
Of the film
itself, Geffen said: “You can really see the Queen in a different light. You
finally hear from the one person who can tell us about that [the coronation].”
Bruce, who
speaks to the Queen in the documentary, added that the making of the
documentary was the first time the Queen had touched her coronation crown in 65
years.
He said:
“She may have seen it, but she hasn’t touched it since. It was very moving to
see her lean forward to check the weight of it.”
Recalling
what it was like to wear the crown at her coronation in the film, the Queen
says: “You can’t look down to read the speech… Because if you did, your neck
would break.”
And on her
journey on the golden carriage that took her from Buckingham Palace to
Westminster Abbey? “Horrible.”
The
documentary also features eyewitness accounts of people who were part of the
coronation, such as a maid of honour who almost fainted in the abbey, and a
choirboy who had to sing solo when his fellow choristers lost their voices, the
BBC said.
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