The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, broadcast live by the BBC for eight hours in 1953, was the first major event of the television age.
Six decades later, at the age of 86, she showed a surprising talent for comedy when she did a skit with James Bond star Daniel Craig in which they both appeared to parachute into the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics .
And with her last carefully choreographed Christmas message, a tradition she began in 1957, she topped British television ratings last year.
But did that mean the Queen – who often hovered above the criticism some of her family members drew – could be considered media savvy?
Royal biographers are divided over how much mental space the queen allowed for the media, which she kept at a respectful distance throughout the seven decades of her reign.
With 12.3million Instagram followers, she may have officially become Britain’s first Queen to take to social platforms, although few believe she’s ever put much thought into her online profile.
– ‘Real Acting’ –
But she knew how to play a role.
Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who co-wrote the action hero sketch at the Olympics as well as one starring popular fictional character Paddington Bear for its platinum anniversary earlier this year, praised its “brilliant” comic timing on Friday.
“It’s real acting that’s happening there. Paddington isn’t really in the room,” he told the BBC of the second skit, in which the Queen claimed she always has a jam sandwich in her purse.
According to historian Robert Lacey, following the example of her grandfather George V, she chose the mass media early on.
The Queen sees radio and television as “a way to speak directly to her subjects,” he told AFP news agency.
Her first radio show came at just 14 years old, targeting British children at the start of World War II.
Over time, their Christmas speeches evolved from more stilted affairs in a ball gown to the most sophisticated fireside conversations – their office or living rooms were carefully decorated with family photos to reflect their theme.
– ‘Innate Reluctance’ –
But the Queen was less than thrilled to let behind-the-curtain cameras peek into the Windsors’ personal lives.
Royal biographers like Andrew Morton – whose study of her strained relationship with her sister Margaret was published last year – suggest that the Queen’s innate reticence hasn’t helped her complicated connections with the media.
It was the family themselves that made the first breakthrough when her husband Prince Philip invited the BBC to the palace to film the quirky documentary Royal Family in 1969.
The Queen’s press secretary at the time, William Heseltine, admitted in 2019 that “the Queen was a reluctant convert but was much more aware of the possibilities and was willing to get involved in the actual filming”.
The documentary was replete with embarrassing scenes of family barbecues and breakfasts, the royals using Tupperware and Philip wondering if the Queen’s father was “crazy”.
Naturalist David Attenborough, then a senior BBC executive, even warned against risking “killing the monarchy”.
The film has not been shown since the 1970s, reportedly at the request of the palace, and has been removed each time it appeared on YouTube.
– ‘Mysticism of the Monarchy’ –
Despite this experience, historian Morton said the royal family “in the 1980s hitched their chariot to television … exchanging the mystique of monarchy for what might be called the flat applause of studio audiences”.
The author said the palace, despite the internal dramas, has always sought to portray the royal family “like a swan beautifully gliding across the surface of British society”.
Their press office, known as “the loathsome nobody because they always said ‘no comment’ … set the agenda,” he told US public broadcaster PBS.
“They defined what is private and what is public and they moved it whenever they wanted.”
Rather than undermining the institution, Britain’s anti-monarchy group Republic has long claimed that the media and royals share a symbiotic relationship.
“There’s a huge disconnect between the media’s portrayal of public attitudes (towards the royals) and how people actually feel,” said its director, Graham Smith.
He pointed to a poll that said most Brits were “not interested” in the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations earlier this year.
“If this is the public reaction to a celebration of her reign, then the monarchy will have serious problems with King Charles,” he added.
