Whenever I see a headline about “the queen” cutting a ribbon for the Scouts or some hospital, I momentarily think Elizabeth II has risen from the dead. It takes me, on average, 45 seconds to realise they are talking about “Queen Camilla”. Have I fallen and bumped my head? Am I living in the past as a psychological response to our dystopian present? I’m clearly not the only one having trouble, as the BBC is rolling out an hour-long documentary on the late queen and the (apparently) glory days of the last century.
Marking what would have been Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday, the film explores British history through the prism of our longest-reigning monarch. The press release promises the documentary will span “a century of change for Britain”, one that saw the country move from the empire to the rise of celebrity culture, from the Blitz to the 2012 London Olympics. The documentary consists of archive clips of the queen and Britain over the years, with black-and-white footage of the young royal interspersed with commentary from top-tier talking heads, including Barack Obama, Helen Mirren, David Attenborough, Tony Blair, and also Gyles Brandreth.
