Product Description

For the first time in history, The Queen and her family have opened their doors to the world in this landmark BBC series. This DVD features all 5 episodes plus 30 mins of additional unbroadcast footage of The Queen and her family.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6205 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-02-25
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 330 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Get past the controversy that preceded the BBC’s broadcasting of this fascinating series, and Monarchy: The Royal Family At Work proves to be an exemplary documentary series, offering a real and fascinating insight into the work of The Queen and her family.

Running in full to over five hours long, the individual episodes in Monarchy: The Royal Family At Work follow a year in the life of the Queen, offered the kind of behind the scenes insights we’re simply not used to seeing. And while there are still clearly limits as to how much we’re allowed to explore, there’s nonetheless a lot to absorb.

Among the many areas covered in the programme are overseas visits, banquets, parties, and the assorted duties of the Queen. But also, Monarchy: The Royal Family At Work takes us behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace, and interestingly spends some times with the younger members of the Royal Family as well. Some of the visitors and other high profile figures who crop up are also of curiosity.

Monarchy: The Royal Family At Work is a terrific and insightful piece of television, and one that’s very worthy of your time. It may not change how you feel about the Royal Family in Britain, but it’s certainly going to challenge some of your perceptions. --Jon Foster

Synopsis
This fascinating BBC series chronicles a year in the life and work of the Queen and Royal Family. Across five episodes, we follow the Queen to the United States to mark the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in the Americas; we witness a portrait session with the renowned US photographer Annie Leibovitz; explore the inner workings of Buckingham Palace; go behind the scenes of a state banquet and the annual garden parties; and in the final episode, the focus is on the young Royals, as they talk frankly about their roles in the family and how they plan to keep such traditions alive into the next generation.

Customer Reviews

Essential viewing fans of royalty; interesting entertainment for everyone else
If you want to take a fascinating look behind the scenes of the British Royal family, then this is a must-see DVD set. This is the BBC series which caused all the controversy in 2007 when a trailer was misleadingly edited to show the Queen in a huff. The series itself is nothing like that clip; it is respectful (but not fawning) and keeps a reasonable distance from our monarch. Nor does it focus on the Queen alone -- the title is actually correct in that the series shows what the British Royal family does as a whole, and the huge infrastructure which works behind the scenes to keep a massive enterprise running like clockwork.

The programmes follow key activities of the Royal family throughout one year. They are very cleverly filmed; you get to see a behind-the-scenes view of Buckingham Palace, of a state visit to America, an enormous state banquet, the typical garden party, a day in the life of the Prince of Wales as he visits organic farmers and so on, yet the story of each segment and the action focuses on the support staff, the people who make it all happen. The Queen and the Royal Family drift in and out of shot -- they are always the centre of the event, yet each programme is really about the the Windsors plc, not the Windsor personalities.

In fact you get to see far more of the bit players than the Royals, and some of these mini-interviews are the most fascinating. It turns out that George W Bush is charming and witty when he's just chatting to a camera; he only falls over his tongue during formal speeches. Tony Blair, in one of his last weekly visits to Buck Pal, is noticably ill at ease and nervous (was it just the cameras, or was he always like that when having his audience with the Queen?).
There are some charmingly candid moments when the Royal family step outside the public personas and we do get a glimpse of the real people. Charles, for instance, knows that he is running a risk when he takes a political stance on farming, and admits it. You also get to see the occasional royal grimace at the thought of an unappetising lunch, or wearing high heels all day... But there's no shock-horror revelations here; you don't get to see the Queen in curlers and eating cornflakes!

But you do understand, after watching the whole series, how the business of the UK monarchy is an important part of this country. There's a very interesting segment in the opening episode, where the Queen poses for her formal portraits. Like everything else it is done in a rush (even at 80-plus she's a ferociously busy woman with a non-stop schedule of engagements) and we see the photos being taken. The poses and the costumes look pretty ordinary, to be blunt, so it's a shock when we're shown the final portraits -- somehow the photographer captured an atmosphere and (yes, this is the only word that works) a majesty which wasn't apparent on the video footage.
And that's what happens with the whole series. By the end of it you become aware that whether you like the Windsors or not, and whether you're a royalist or a republican, the British Royal family somehow transcends the nuts and bolts and everyday matters that go in to creating each event, from the state opening of parliament to a hospital visit.

So this is definitely worth watching, no matter what viewpoint you start out with. You'll learn some trivia about the Royal family and an awful lot about how royalty itself is still very important to our society. It's great PR for the Windsors, and for any fan of royalty it's going to be one of the series which will be watched over and over again.
Perfect gift for Mother's Day, in fact...

Can't take your eyes of it TV
This is the ultimate reality TV series...a truly unique insight into the workings of the Royal Family. I was glued to every episode! This DVD has even more footage of stuff that didn't make the show...can't wait to see it!

The Queen's dedication to our nation.
In a world filled with celebrity obsession, the majority of so called role models ending up in rehab (again and again!), this documentary shows how the Queen has remained a steadfast symbol in this unsteady world.
The Queen has shown complete devotion to this nation and this dvd shows her working world, for a person in her 80's i believe she is a splendid person to look up to!