Our Queen by Hardman Robert

Author:Hardman, Robert [Hardman, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain, 1926-, Queens -- Great Britain -- Biography, Kings and rulers, Queens, Great Britain -- Kings and rulers -- Biography, Great Britain
ISBN: 0099551152
Publisher: London : Arrow
Published: 2012-06-29T19:00:00+00:00

Her Image

'One doesn't want to look like everybody else'

It was perhaps the most extraordinary piece of royal film ever shot - a genuine, gale-force royal domestic right in front of the camera. The Queen was not merely cross. She was losing it, hurling shoes and threats and sporting equipment and venting the sort of regal fury that, in another age, would have cost someone their head. The object of all this fury was the Duke of Edinburgh who, in the circumstances, made the sensible but uncharacteristic decision to run away. Little wonder this jaw-dropping scene has never seen the light of day. More surprising, perhaps, is the fact that, to this day, few people even know about this bizarre royal bust- up. For that, the Queen can thank both an obliging Australian camera crew and one of the most gloriously curmudgeonly characters to serve in the Royal Household in her entire sixty-year reign. But Commander Richard Colville DSC, Press Secretary to both GeorgeVI and the Queen, certainly earned his keep that day on 6 March 1954. By then, the Queen was halfway through her eight-week tour of Australia. That, in turn, was just part of a six-month post-Coronation round-the-world voyage, the greatest royal tour in modern history. But, inevitably, on a journey of this scale, there were tensions along the way and they surfaced as the young royal couple enjoyed a weekend’s break from the introduction lines and the near-hysterical crowds which had characterised the tour.

They had come to stay on the shores of the O’Shannassy Reservoir in Victoria where the Metropolitan Board of Works had placed an executive chalet at their disposal. The lake had been freshly stocked with fish. The authorities had shipped in extra supplies of koala bears in case the resident population should prove reclusive. The Queen and Prince Philip had just two engagements over the weekend - a trip to church and a brief session with a camera crew which was in the course of filming Australia’s first full-length colour feature film. The Queen in Australia (it would play to packed cinemas for months after her departure). On this particular Sunday afternoon, the Queen was due to be filmed looking at some kangaroos and as many koalas as could be found. Senior cameraman

Her Image

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Loch Townsend had already arrived with his deputy, Frank Bagnall, and a sound recordist. They were starting to look at their watches. The afternoon light was fading. ‘Christ, when are they bloody well coming.^’ muttered Townsend, at which point the door of the chalet flew open. Bagnall followed his professional instincts and turned on his camera. But what happened next was not in the script. Out dashed Prince Philip, with a pair of tennis shoes and a tennis racquet flying after him. Next came the Queen herself, shouting at the Prince to stop running and ordering him back. And still the camera kept on turning. Eventually, as Townsend later recalled, the Queen ‘dragged’ her husband back into the chalet and the door was slammed.

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