The White House opened its doors to the world in 1962 when First Lady Jackie Kennedy hosted a televised tour of the presidential residence. Buckingham Palace took notice, and in 1965, Queen Elizabeth gave her permission for a similar documentary, The Royal Palaces of Britain. Unlike Mrs. Kennedy—who the late Queen had an awkward dinner with in 1961—Queen Elizabeth didn’t star in the program. It was instead presented by Sir Kenneth Clark, director of the National Gallery and a former surveyor of The King’s Pictures. But despite his many honors, the broadcaster and art historian shared that his screening of the film with the Royal Family was “a total failure.”
In Q: A Voyage Around The Queen, author Craig Brown describes the disastrous reception to what seemed like an innocuous film. Clark “devoted fourteen weeks to the project,” per the biography, filming at Hampton Court Palace, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Royal Pavillon in Brighton. However, as Brown notes, Clark’s “usual approach” to television was “patrician, gently ironic.”
Legendary photographer Cecil Beaton said he thought that Clark “brought a greatness to the subject,” exploring the Royal Family through the centuries as “real people in history” without being “banal.” Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, however, didn’t agree.
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Buckingham Palace was included in the 1966 documentary, The Royal Palaces of Britain.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Kenneth Clark (center) is pictured with King George VI, The Queen Mother, Princess Elizabeth (in uniform) and Princess Margaret at London’s National Gallery in 1945.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
According to Brown, Clark arrived at Buckingham Palace for a private screening of the film in October 1966. Due to sound issues, the broadcaster said he had to “read the text out loud over the film ‘while the royal corgis bit my ankles.'” Clark continued the screening was “a total failure,” claiming that as soon as it ended, Queen Elizabeth stood up with “a face of iron.”
“Did you have to be so sarcastic?” she asked as Clark “hand outstretched, waiting for congratulations.” The art expert asked if she’d like to meet the photographer even if she “didn’t like the film,” but the late Queen “swept out, followed by her embarrassed courtiers.”
Apparently, there was a reference to Henry VIII being “fat” in the production and courtiers overindulging at feasts, which seemed to annoy the late Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Philip stayed back, “ready to do battle,” per Brown. “‘How do you know the people guzzled at the palace banquets?’ he snapped.”
It seems King Charles—then Prince Charles—was “the only member of the Royal Family who showed an interest.” Clark continued that “all did not go well” with the screening of Royal Palaces of Britain, adding Queen Elizabeth “was furious, and would have liked to stop it, but couldn’t find a pretext for doing so.” After all, the program didn’t have any “disrespectful” content, but as Clark noted, it was “devoid of the slop and unction to which she is conditioned.”
The broadcast went ahead on Christmas Day 1966, but one can assume the viewing audience didn’t include Queen Elizabeth.
