Elizabeth R: A Year in the Life of The Queen

6/14/2024

Made for the BBC as Queen Elizabeth II celebrated the fortieth anniversary of her reign in 1992, Edward Mirzoeff takes a camera crew to follow the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as events in their year unfold. There are the grand scale ceremonial events, diplomatic functions and some more intimate familial occasions all narrated informatively and sympathetically by Ian Holm. It is an officially sanctioned product, so we see nothing here untoward - but given the nature of the subject and purpose of the documentary in the first place, that's hardly surprising. What we have here is a highly polished chronology of a year in the life of a lady who clearly has spirit and enthusiasm for her roles in the UK and elsewhere, as well as a passion for her horses and a sense of mischief and love of fam