This film is part of Free
Life of a Queen
The loneliness of the long distance ruler is one of the themes of this film which illustratrates the Queen’s life of travel and official duties across the Commonwealth.
Overview
The film is a compilation of footage shot by Associated British Pathe, which covered royal events for its newsreels, and the company would have been ideally placed to use their footage to make short films for the COI. The varied life of the Queen depicted in the film encompasses duties such as making the first telephone trunk call in 1958, from Bristol. “This is the Queen speaking” she declares to the unseen Provost of Edinburgh after tentatively dialling the number herself. The Queen then helpfully elaborates on the new service which the Post Office has introduced: “in a few moments Bristol subscribers will be able to make trunk calls by merely dialling the right number, up to a distance of some 300 miles.”
While the pomp and ceremony of the Queen’s life are foregrounded onscreen, the commentary emphasises the deprivations and demands of the lives of the royal family, who “never know what the word ‘choice’ means” as they follow their destiny. The film begins and ends with the Queen carrying out the state opening of Parliament, “alone, but sustained by the love of her family and the love of her people.” It is likely that Life of a Queen would have been shown around the world given that “overseas publicity” was a key aspect of the work of the COI.
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