by Ben Felsenburg
For more than 60 years, she has been the commanding figure of our national stage. But in Queen Of The World (Tuesday, ITV, 9.15pm), we witness how HM The Queen has reigned over countries of the Commonwealth spanning the globe. In a revealing two-part series, filmed over the course of a year, viewers are given extraordinary and unprecedentedly privileged access to the innermost workings of the Royal Family.
Ahead of Christmas, the Queen is devoting herself to recording a message for the Commonwealth – or what her majesty dubs the ‘family of nations’. Royal hospitality extends to inviting over eight young people from the Caribbean to take part in a scheme for hospitality professionals, and one charming woman from Antigua, Claudine, is delighted by the experience, saying Buckingham Palace is ‘a fun place to work’. Looking back to the glorious past, the Princess Royal watches home movies of the first voyage she made on the Royal Yacht Britannia, and recalls how she was kept busy with ‘lots of scrubbing and polishing’, but despite all of that, being a hardy soul, she still insists: ‘I have very good memories of that trip.’ And we also hear from the relative newcomer to the ‘firm’ – the resplendent Duchess of Sussex, who is reunited with her magnificent wedding gown for the first time since her wedding day, as it is prepared for a new exhibition.
There can be no doubt: her majesty’s legacy will be in safe hands.
NOT TO BE MISSED...
WALKING BRITAIN'S LOST RAILWAY (Friday, Channel 5, 9pm)
Infectiously enthusiastic Rob Bell is the presenter for a new series exploring the routes of Britain’s lost railway lines.
STRICTLY COME DANCING (Saturday, BBC1, 6.15pm)
It’s showtime as Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman return to present the new series of Strictly, with 15 contestants lining up..
GARETH MALONE'S ALL STAR MUSIC QUIZ (Thursday, BBC2, 7pm)
Labour grandee Ed Balls and Cold Feet star John Thomson are among stars battling it out.
