Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen, review: will make you feel closer to the Queen than ever before
Anita Singh
4 min read
Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen, review: will make you feel closer to the Queen than ever before
“No one can make history stand still,” said Her Majesty, the Queen in 1958. Well, for 75 minutes, Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen (BBC One) almost did. Using 400 reels from the Queen’s own home video archive – much of which has never before been seen by the public – editor Mark Hammill and director Simon Finch have created a quite stunning, truly moving collage of the first three decades of the life of Elizabeth II. This is not the chronicle of a queen, but the story of a family.
If the footage is remarkable, it is matched by a voiceover delivered by the Queen herself. This is a patchwork too, taken from 60 of the Queen’s speeches (the history standing still line was spoken during a state visit by the president of West Germany, Theodor Heuss), but bookended by some new thoughts from the Queen, recorded this month at Windsor Castle. There is little the Queen has done in recent years to bring her so close to the people of the United Kingdom. It’s as if she was taking us – me, you – through her holiday snaps and treasured old videos. Which, of course, she was.
It is the early years that amaze. Before adulthood, before her father became ill, before the weight of the crown on her head. Claire Foy’s interpretation of the Queen in the Netflix drama series The Crown presumed that the serious, sober-minded devotion to duty came prebaked, that it was part of her DNA. Perhaps. But in these reels we see a carefree, mischievous little girl, delighting in the attentions of the camera and of her beloved father.
In the early 1930s, we see Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret tottering around the garden, playing with daddy (George VI, then the Duke of York), being wheeled giddily around the lawn on a wicker sun lounger (delightfully, almost two decades later, we see King George treating two-year-old Prince Charles to the same little thrill). In the late 1930s, we’re in Balmoral, sketching in the heather and paddling in the lake, while Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother makes regular humorous cameos (who knew the Royal family were so goofy?). In one entrancing short scene, Elizabeth and Margaret, giggling and dressed in matching blue dresses with white polka dots, perform a choreographed dance to the camera, while corgis scuttle about their feet. You’d have to be a hardened republican not to feel enormous warmth towards them in this moment.
There is an elegiac quality to proceedings, best embodied by the palpable devotion between father and daughter, as she grows older and more confident, and he more frail. The Royal family have a reputation for coldness, but these home videos are bathed in uncomplicated love. In one of the film’s coups de grace, we see footage of rhinos and elephants filmed by Princess Elizabeth at Treetops Hotel in Kenya in February 1952. As she watched the animals, the King was living out his final day. Long live the Queen.
It is Her Majesty’s own words that sum up a huge amount of the film’s appeal: “I think there’s a difference to watching a home movie when you know who it is on the other side of the lens, holding the camera. It adds to the sense of intimacy.” Sometimes the sense of intimacy is dizzying. We watch familiar footage of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip standing on the Buckingham Palace balcony on their wedding day, waving to the crowds. Then, as if it is a trick, we cut to a grainy shot taken indoors, looking at a doorway and the backs of a group of people. It takes you a moment to realise you are still watching the same scene, but from behind.
If there is a complaint, it is that the film is a little skittish, rattling along to the next scene, to the next reel, before you’re ready to move on. That is likely the nature of the reels the film-makers were using, but it feels a shame that, for certain moments, we aren’t granted the time to drink in what we are seeing.
We have great noisy swathes of pomp and pageantry to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee ahead of us, but nothing is likely to come close to the intimacy and warmth engendered here. History, standing still, just for a moment.
Related News & Content
-
How to optimize ‘select found_rows()’ query? Several ‘high load average’ alerts daily
How to optimize 'select found_rows()' query? Several 'high load average' alerts daily,I have 5,000 regular posts, 6,000 posts in one post type and 2,000 posts in another post type. Needless to say, that has made the wp_posts table quite large. Not to mention, I have custom taxonomie... -
How to Use JSON With AJAX?
How to Use JSON With AJAX?,I've defined a PHP callback function to handle the communication between server-side and client-side: function json_render_modal_body() { check_ajax_referer( THEME_PREFIX . '-modals', 'nonce'... -
Filtering context for render_block function
Filtering context for render_block function,I am trying to use render_block within a function called from the WP admin via AJAX The render_block returns null/empty however if I run my function using the wp hook returns the rendered HTML for ... -
How do I hide submenus from the top menu bar?
How do I hide submenus from the top menu bar?,My website is wiki-style and has a lot of pages that should only be reached through links on other pages. Having these all accessible from the top menu bar under their respective headings leads you... -
Register users without confirmation
Register users without confirmation,I'm looking to register users without requiring confirmation of their emails (and even better, no password when they register). Basically, I want them to subscribe their mails using wp registration -
How to use AJAX in wordpress front end?
How to use AJAX in wordpress front end?,I have two inputs in an HTML Widget block on a post. What I need to do: send the inputs (from the html widget) value to AJAX, construct and execute a query, render a table with the results back on ... -
Display posts from Custom Post Type, group by term, arrange term groups and arrange items within groups by menu order
Display posts from Custom Post Type, group by term, arrange term groups and arrange items within groups by menu order,I have a Custom Post Type 'my_cpt' and a custom taxonomy 'types' which has several terms, all of which have posts. I want to do is be able to control both the order of the groups (terms from my cus... -
How do I know if the custom theme is a child theme or a full-custom theme?
How do I know if the custom theme is a child theme or a full-custom theme?,Inherited a custom built WordPress site. How do I know if the theme it uses is a child theme or a full-custom theme? I would like to delete the unused themes for security and to free up space, but ... -
getEntityRecords/useEntityRecords: How to use CPT metadata?
getEntityRecords/useEntityRecords: How to use CPT metadata?,I use getEntityRecords as described in the official data API tutorial (https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson/retrieving-wordpress-data-records/). I.e.: const [searchTerm, setSearchTerm] = useState... -
Carol Kirkwood stuns in figure-hugging dress amid BBC Breakfast technical chaos
Carol Kirkwood stuns in figure-hugging dress amid BBC Breakfast technical chaos,CAROL Kirkwood stunned in a figure-hugging dress amid a technical blunder. BBC Breakfast was flung into chaos this morning after a string of sound issues. However Carol, 61, was all smiles as she p… -
Families ‘to sue prison’ where loud inmates ‘terrorise kids’ with screaming
Families 'to sue prison' where loud inmates 'terrorise kids' with screaming,Residents living next door to a new prison who say their kids have to sleep wearing headphones and some leave during weekends due to the racket are threatening to sue the prison service -
Doctor Strange’s Secret Wars Role May Be More Important Than You Thought – Looper
Doctor Strange's Secret Wars Role May Be More Important Than You Thought - Looper,According to entertainment leaker Alex Perez, Doctor Strange will find himself confronting his inner struggles as he headlines "Avengers: Secret Wars." -
Blondshell and Bully Team Up For New Single “Docket”
Blondshell and Bully Team Up For New Single “Docket”,Blondshell has teamed up with Alicia Bognanno of Bully for the newly released single "Docket." Listen to the track here. -
I’m a clown for not trying Korean beauty secret for glowy skin sooner – don’t worry, I’m not putting cheese on my face
I’m a clown for not trying Korean beauty secret for glowy skin sooner – don’t worry, I’m not putting cheese on my face,A BEAUTY influencer has regrets about not trying out Korean beauty advice for glowy skin sooner. Although the trick can look a little strange at first, she assured viewers that she was not putting … -
‘We are at risk’ – health expert in urgent warning for Irish people over Easter
‘We are at risk’ - health expert in urgent warning for Irish people over Easter,AN URGENT warning has been released to those jetting off over the Easter break. With measles already on the rise, there is an increased risk of a more widespread outbreak in the coming weeks. Trave… -
Black Holes Are Even Weirder Than You Imagined
Black Holes Are Even Weirder Than You Imagined,It’s now thought that they could illuminate fundamental questions in physics, settle questions about Einstein’s theories, and even help explain the universe. -
The odd history of on-hold music
The odd history of on-hold music,We've all been put on hold when we've tried to reach someone. Have you ever thought about the music that plays while you wait? -
‘What Jennifer Did’: Netflix doc explores shocking Ont. murder-for-hire case
'What Jennifer Did': Netflix doc explores shocking Ont. murder-for-hire case,Most of Jennifer Pan's entire life was made up of lies. When her parents began to catch on, she decided to bring in hired hitmen. -
Martin Scorsese to Spearhead Doc Series on Christian Saints for Fox Nation
Martin Scorsese to Spearhead Doc Series on Christian Saints for Fox Nation,Martin Scorsese signed a deal with Fox Nation to host and executive produce an eight-episode docudrama titled 'Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints.' -
Man Accusing CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp of Sexual Assault Was Paid $480,000: Report
Man Accusing CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp of Sexual Assault Was Paid $480,000: Report,The GOP strategist who accused Matt Schlapp of sexual assault last year reportedly received a hefty financial settlement to drop his lawsuit against the CPAC chairman.
