In the late 1930s, the world was in turmoil, old orders were at risk of being overturned and Britain’s monarchy was still reeling from the abdication of Edward VIII. Fearful of the future, the unpopular George VI set in train the phenomenon that would keep his clan in business – just about – for another century: a newsreel photographer was hired to shadow the new king and his family, including his daughter and heir, Elizabeth. The royals were to be put on display.
So reports Elizabeth: A Life Through the Lens, a slight, swift film that canters through 10 decades in an hour and seems, on the surface, to be a genuflecting biography full of nice photos. But within it is an occasionally fascinating analysis of how and why those pictures were created, illustrating a fundamental truth about the Elizabethan era: it was one long marketing campaign, trying to square the circle of making the British people love their queen without ever getting to know her.
