Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work (2007)

26/11/2007 Documentary 1h 0m

Overview

Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work is a fly on the wall documentary TV series made by the BBC and RDF Media which follows the British Royal Family over the course of a year. The promotion for the documentary caused a controversy in 2007 when the BBC showed a group of journalists a trailer of the series including some shots that were edited in non-chronological order making it erroneously appear that Queen Elizabeth II had stormed out of a photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz after being asked to remove her 'crown'. On 11 July 2007, the controller of BBC One, Peter Fincham, told journalists at the BBC1 new season launch that the trailer showed the Queen "losing it a bit and walking out in a huff". However, the clip which appeared to show the Queen abruptly leaving in an agitated mood was actually of her entering the shoot. The next day, the BBC issued a statement which pointed out the error and formally apologised to the Queen. Both Fincham and the Chief Creative Officer of RDF Media, Stephen Lambert, resigned as a result of the controversy.