A 1969 documentary about the royal family which was famously banned by the Queen from ever being shown after it’s initially airing has reappeared on YouTube.
In 1972, Her Majesty ordered the BBC‘s fly on the wall documentary, which featured her calling the US ambassador a gorilla, to be locked away and not aired as it ‘cheapens the royal family’.
However, weeks ago the full 90 minute programme leaked on YouTube, with thousands of people watching the footage.
A 1969 documentary about the royal family which was famously banned by the Queen from ever being shown after it’s initially airing has reappeared on YouTube. Pictured, Prince Charles and Princess Anne at dinner with The Queen and Prince Philip in the documentary
A royal source told the Telegraph: ‘This is a matter for the BBC. From time to time, things pop up on the internet that should not be there. We will assume it’s going to be taken down.’
A BBC source added to the paper: ‘We will approach YouTube to have it removed. We always exercise our copyright where we can.
‘However, it is notoriously difficult to chase these things down on YouTube once they are out there. Anybody can download it and you just end up chasing your tail.’
FEMAIL has contacted the BBC, Buckingham Palace and YouTube for comment.
Prince Charles, holding a cello instrument, pictured together with his younger brother Prince Edward (right) during filming of the television documentary ‘Royal Family’ in London in 1969
A BBC spokesperson refused to comment to FEMAIL, however the video appears to now be taken down from YouTube.
The documentary, which is central to season 3 of The Crown was viewed by 45million people when first broadcast.
The TV documentary called ‘Royal Family‘ created to help the Windsors connect with their subjects.
The Queen and Prince Philip are shown decorating the Christmas tree in the 1969 documentary
The real film was a British phenomenon, watched over two weekends to rave reviews in June 1969, but was last shown three years later after Buckingham Palace feared it ‘let the magic out’ about the royals.
The year-long making of the 110-minute film is the focus of The Crown, which premiered this month, and shows the royals sitting at home watching it together.
MailOnline previously unearthed three rare clips from the real thing where the Queen makes Prince Philip and Prince Charles roar with laughter as she describes the US Ambassador as a ‘gorilla’.
The Queen regales an anecdote with Charles and Prince Philip (out of picture) where she admits the US Ambassador looked like a gorilla
The was a gale of laughter around the table led by Prince Philip who loved the joke by his wife
Sparking hilarity over a cup of tea, she said: ‘It’s extremely difficult to keep a straight face when the Home Secretary said to me: “There’s a gorilla coming in”.’
‘So I said: “What an extraordinary remark to make about someone – very unkind”. I stood in the middle of the room and pressed the bell and the doors opened and there was a gorilla.He had a short body and long arms – I had the most appalling trouble [not laughing]’.
The Home Secretary in 1969 was James Callaghan and the US Ambassador to the UK was Walter Annenberg – but it is not known if she was talking about those two men.
It could be Annenberg’s predecessor David K. E. Bruce, sent to London by John F Kennedy in 1961.
The Queen took part in the film on the advice of her new PR guru, not Prince Philip as claimed in The Crown, but she grew to dislike the film despite many rave reviews
In another scene five-year-old Prince Edward is taken to the shops with her mother to buy an ice cream – where she also smashes the falsehood that she never carries cash by paying with coins from her purse.
Her Majesty then giggles as her youngest son climbs into her car, making a mess on the seat with his lolly.
In the final scene the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne head out for a barbecue where the Duke of Edinburgh sizzles some sausages while his wife unpacks the plates and cutlery with the heir to the throne, the Prince of Wales.
In episode four of season three The Crown, the royal family is shown taking part in the documentary which sees cameras follow them during their day-to-day lives, to prove how ‘normal’ they are.
And in a scene being compared to the BBC comedy The Royle Family, the senior royals sit down together on a sofa to watch the broadcast.
Olivia Colman’s Queen Elizabeth appears to cast an awkward glance as she sits with Princess Margaret, played by Helena Bonham Carter, and Marion Bailey as the Queen Mother.
Helena’s Princess Margaret then quips: ‘This is nothing like a normal evening, if it was a normal evening we’d all be on our own in sad isolation in our individual palaces.
‘It wouldn’t be crowded like this, this is like some kind nightmare Christmas.’