Queen Elizabeth II: Her Story, Our Century (BBC1)

Rating: ★★★★★

Throughout the documentary, one word echoed among the voices: “Duty.” Former U.S. President Barack Obama highlighted the late Queen Elizabeth II’s unique blend of duty paired with a heartfelt kindness and consideration.

Dame Helen Mirren, who famously portrayed the Queen on screen, shared her insight on the monarch’s demeanor. Reflecting on a specific moment when Elizabeth stepped out of a car, Mirren noted, “She had a natural sense of self-control and duty.”

Queen Camilla perhaps articulated it best, declaring, “I think duty has overridden everything. I’ve never seen anyone with such a profound sense of duty as she had.”

Interestingly, Camilla’s remark might have unveiled more than intended. It suggests a comparison where neither King Charles nor Prince William seems to mirror Elizabeth II’s unparalleled dedication to duty.

But that’s hardly a criticism. And I think we can all agree Prince Harry doesn’t have quite the same single-minded devotion to his royal role.

Trawling the palace archives for home cine-clips, Queen Elizabeth II: Her Story, Our Century discovered a scattering of previously unseen moments.

Some of it was from her childhood, almost certainly filmed by her father, George VI — ‘Lilibet’ with her pony, or laughing with a bird perched on her shoulder, or adopting an air of mock gravity as she danced with her younger sister, Margaret.

We also caught rare glimpses from the 1969 documentary Royal Family, about their private life, unrepeated on television for almost 50 years. Gyles Brandreth commented astutely: ‘It was the beginning of them being seen as celebrities.’

Queen Elizabeth II, pictured in 2004, is the subject of a new documentary featuring some previously unseen footage

The Queen on her coronation day in 1953. A previously unseen ten-second clip included in the programme was shot on the day she ascended to the throne

Helen Mirren, speaking on the programme, said the late Queen ‘naturally had a sense of self-control and duty’

Sir David Attenborough, born a couple of weeks after Her Majesty, recalled the first time he saw her, in 1947. He was a naval officer, and she was a new bride: ‘One evening there was a formal dinner, and Prince Philip brought this beautiful princess on his arm. I was standing there as she walked past with a beaming smile.’

Perhaps the most moving segment was a scrap of colour footage, less than ten seconds long, shot by the Duke of Edinburgh on the day that his young wife became Queen.

Filmed in Kenya, in a darkened room, the 25-year-old Elizabeth sat with her face half in shadow. She wore three strands of pearls around her neck, a single pearl stud in each ear, and a blue jacket that intensified the startling blue of her eyes.

Her lips were parted in that smile the English do after tears, the one that says, ‘There! This is silly. Crying won’t do any good, will it?’ Earlier that day, she had learned of the death of her father.

With his passing, she assumed the throne. The grief in her face, though, was for her personal loss, and as she turned, she looked directly into the lens with a gaze of imploring love — plainly adoring her husband, and asking for his support. It was all written there, fleeting as a breath.