YouTube deletes fly-on-the-wall royal documentary after it mysteriously resurfaces 50 years on
A YouTube spokeswoman said the video was removed after a copyright claim was submitted.
Friday 29 January 2021 06:02, UK
A fly on-the-wall documentary about the royal family has mysteriously resurfaced on YouTube 50 years on - before being quickly removed.
The 105-minute film was broadcast in 1969 and offered viewers their first ever insight into the domestic life of the Windsors.
It was mysteriously locked in the BBC archives in the early 1970s and has not been available for viewing until this month.
The documentary was uploaded on YouTube, with thousands watching it before the video-sharing platform took it down.
A YouTube spokeswoman said it had been removed because someone submitted a copyright claim to it.
"When a copyright claim is filed we remove the content immediately, as is the case with this upload," she said.
Neither the BBC nor Buckingham Palace have commented on the film, but a BBC source suggested it was the broadcaster who sought to take it down.
In the documentary, the Queen is seen enjoying a barbecue at Balmoral, while a kilted Duke of Edinburgh cooks sausages on a barbecue.
Separate footage shows a bare-chested Prince Charles water-skiing and a young Prince Edward asking his mother for an ice cream.
The Queen replies: "This disgusting gooey mess is going to be in the car, isn't it?"
With the Swinging Sixties bringing new-found freedom to many Britons, the royals were seen as particularly out of sync with the rest of society.
The documentary is thought to have been a PR drive to highlight their "ordinary side".
When it was mysteriously banned, rumours swirled that the Queen was behind the move.
Princess Anne later commented on her dislike of the film, saying: "I never liked the idea of the royal family film. I always thought it was a rotten idea.
"The attention that had been brought on one ever since one was a child, you just didn't want anymore. The last thing you needed was greater access."