Description
The British Royal Family is a global institution, admired and celebrated around the world and currently enjoying a revival in popular opinion.
From the pomp and pageantry of the Cambridges' fairytale wedding, through to the birth of Prince George, the announcement of another royal baby, and most recently, the success of Prince Harry’s Invictus Games, there is a new generation of Royals on show. Unlike all their predecessors the young Royals appear comfortable with the cameras – relaxed, informal and self-deprecating. The message is a new monarchy for a new age.
It is all a far cry from the nightmare of the 1990’s where, throughout the so called “war of the Waleses”, the bitter divisions within the family played out in the full glare of the world’s media. Indeed so acrimonious were the rivalries, they threatened to undermine and destabilise the entire institution.
But it was the tragic and untimely death of Princess Diana in 1997 that would prove to be the nadir of the family’s relationship with the press and public. Widely perceived to have played a part in her tragic death, it also marked a turning point for the press and media. Something had to change.
Through interviews with those directly involved on all sides, writer, broadcaster and Guardian journalist Steve Hewlett tells the inside story of how the Royal family set about rehabilitating its battered public image following that devastating decade in this two-part landmark series.
• Reinventing The Royals was watched by over 2 million UK viewers on BBC Two
• Attracting a commercially desirable audience, Reinventing The Royals exceeded the slot average for both ABC1 Adults & Housewives