Royal Family documentary briefly resurfaces online

A documentary about the Royal Family, which was shown more than 50 years ago before being locked away, has been removed from YouTube.

Richard Cawston's BBC film, Royal Family, was first broadcast in 1969, and followed the family for a year.

The feature re-appeared online earlier this month, but was taken down on Thursday "due to a copyright claim".

Interest in the documentary was renewed after it appeared as a plotline in a recent episode of The Crown.

The Netflix drama is now into its fourth series, starring Olivia Colman as the Queen.

Royal enthusiasts could, for a short time, watch the 105-minute documentary via a video on a YouTube account under the name Philip Strangeways.

According to The Huffington Post it received almost 10,000 views again online this month before being removed.

The BBC did not comment on the removal of the video, but did not dispute that it had made a copyright claim.

Royal Family was viewed by a worldwide audience of more than 350 million at the original time of airing, but it was then buried away in the BBC archive, reportedly by Royal decree.

The film gave an insight into the family's private life, with footage including the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and their children enjoying a barbecue at their Scottish home at Balmoral.

Prince Charles is also seen water-skiing, while a young Prince Edward asks his mother for an ice cream.

The family also welcome the British Olympic team, and have lunch with then-US President, Richard Nixon; as well as undertaking a tour of South America.

There has been a recent surge of interest in the documentary thanks to Netflix's The Crown, which dedicated a recent episode to the making of it.

The episode suggested the Royal Family were concerned the final film was too intrusive and revealing.

The Times reported, external earlier this week that "the Queen regretted giving the BBC behind-the-scenes access for the 1969 film and requested it never be broadcast again".

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