Social & External
Unknown Role
The future of the British monarchy lies in the hands of two brothers, Prince William and Prince Harry. As the children of the most infamous royal relationships of the 21st century their childhood was plagued by turmoil and tragedy. Their lives have been played out in the media gaze for better and worse, more than ever before in the history of the monarchy. Determined to continue the legacy of their Mother, bridging the gap between monarchy and people with openness and honesty, they have become endeared to the British public and they remain the most popular members of the royal family. This is their story.
This fascinating documentary reveals the behind the scenes story of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, drawing on rare archive footage and made using eyewitness accounts of participants and historical experts.
Close friends, family and world leaders profile the life of the princess. Narrated by Sir Richard Attenborough.
Mary Berry visits Harewood House in Yorkshire as it prepares for Christmas on a grand scale, and demonstrates how to make delicious recipes inspired by festive dishes of the past.
His opponents accused him of being homosexual. The male favorites he gathered around him during his short life gave those malevolent enemies solid arguments to do so. He would not have failed if he had proved himself to be an energetic king. But Edward II of England (1284-1327) never was a king like Edward I Longshanks, his father, or Edward III, his son, were. And his end is shrouded in myth and mystery.
25 Years is an impressionistic survey of the years from the Queen's accession to the throne in 1952 through to her Silver Jubilee in 1977. Combining archive and contemporary footage - including that of the royal visit to Canada and the US in 1976, the bicentenary year of American independence - the film explores the monarchy through a quarter-century which saw the conquest of Everest, the development of television as a mass medium, the first supersonic flight and space exploration. Through good times and bad, and tumultuous changes for better or for worse, one factor remained constant: the monarchy, in the person of Queen Elizabeth II, provided a continuity and stability which this film celebrates in her Silver Jubilee year.
To mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Janina Ramirez tells the story of three books that defined this radical religious revolution in England.
In August 1997, the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, stunned her family and catapulted the British public into one of the most extraordinary weeks in modern history. What was it about Diana that resulted in such an outpouring of grief? And what does that week reveal about Britain's relationship with the monarchy, then and now?
England, 11th century. William the Conqueror (ca. 1027-1087) wins the Battle of Hastings (1066), changing the shape of medieval Europe and the course of English history. An account of the life of the extraordinary Norman warrior who became king.
Kirsty Young celebrates the 70th wedding anniversary of the Queen and Prince Philip by examining the longest royal marriage in British history through key moments. She looks at how every step of their life together has been played out in the glare of publicity and in service of the nation, while steering it through decades of change.
A documentary on the surviving syncretic pagan midwinter customs of the British Isles, focusing on nine ritual celebrations ranging from the Moray Firth in the north, the Somerset Levels in the south, Humberside in the east, and County Kerry in the west. Featuring music by the Albion Band and narration by John Tams.
Planned by Britain’s MI6 and then executed by America’s C.I.A., the coup d’état which follows will destroy Iran’s last democracy, and relations between Iran and the West until the present day. Most shocking of all, the truth about Her Majesty’s role will be hidden from the Queen herself, and even the all-powerful Shah who will be used by Britain and American to replace Iran’s last democratic Prime Minister. The coup will lead to political upheaval all over the Middle East for decades to come, eventually resulting in the Islamic Revolution of 1979 which will end the reign of the Shah, and British and American influence in Iran, inspiring countless other Islamist revolutions around the world.
Elizabeth is an archive-based documentary film about the Queen. A celebration. A truly cinematic mystery-tour up and down the decades: poetic, funny, disobedient, ungovernable, affectionate, inappropriate, mischievous, in awe. Funny. Moving. Different. The Queen as never before.
In this hour-long documentary, Oxford academic Janina Ramirez tours the country in search of Anglo-Saxon art treasures. Her basic thesis - and it is a plausible one - is that we should not look upon their era as a "dark age" as compared, for example, to Roman times, but rather celebrate it as an age in which creativity flowered, especially in terms of artistic design as well as symbolism. She shows plenty of good examples, ranging from the Franks Casket to the Staffordshire Hoard, and the Lindisfarne Gospels.
The history of Westminster Abbey and a tour of the monuments within it; accompanied by choral music and including footage of the coronation of King George VI in 1937.
Recreating festivities from Henry VIII's era, Lucy Worsley dresses, eats, drinks, sings and parties like it is 500 years ago - discovering long-lost traditions as well as familiar customs.
Diana The Woman Inside highlights Diana as a woman and mother, rather than just a tragic icon.
Made in commemoration and celebration of the Jubilee of King George V, this is the story of the first twenty-five years of his reign, told through the many travels of a penny that was minted in the year of his accession: 1910. Through a series of individual stories, Royal Cavalcade covers a period of striking change in every area of life – from the suffragette movement to the trenches of World War One, the effects of the Depression to single events such as the first ever Royal Command Performance, featuring Anna Pavlova and George Robey.
Neil Oliver is given exclusive access to a team of historians and scientists investigating the final resting place of Alfred the Great. Alfred's bones have been moved so many times over the centuries that many...
Featuring a unique conversation between The Queen and Sir David Attenborough as they walked in the garden at Buckingham Palace last summer, a landmark documentary will explore the ambition of a remarkable new initiative - a vast network of native forests across Britain and the Commonwealth, protected forever in The Queen's name.