-Good morning, sir. -Morning.
BBC Broadcasting House.
Yes, that's correct.
-Good morning, sir. -Good morning.
Yes, of course. Yes.
-…main focus to be. All right? -Yes, sir.
Right! Everyone.
Shall we make a start?
As you can see from the agenda, I have taken the liberty--
I think you'll find calling any meeting of the BBC Board of Governors to order
is my job as chair.
If you insist, Dukey.
I do, John.
First item on the agenda.
It gives me great pleasure to confirm that the Royal Charter,
as granted by Her Majesty the Queen,
has been renewed for a further ten years.
-That is splendid.
Marvelous.
The fruits of months,
indeed years, of careful negotiation
over which I presided.
And whose outcome, I should say, I played no small part in influencing.
But will it be me who gets the credit?
Oh no. That will go to our illustrious director general
in his Armani suits…
-…and his slip-on shoes,
speaking a language that doesn't come from England
but from some management training course in America.
There's no need to do this.
A man so blinkered,
so obsessed with the threat posed
by these new satellite channels
that he fails to see the glaringly obvious,
that it is our very difference from these channels
upon which the survival of the BBC depends.
Not our similarity.
It is our refusal to depart
from the Reithian public broadcasting ideals,
to inform, to educate,
and, only then, to entertain
that makes us who we are.
And who are we?
We are the British Broadcasting Corporation.
The BBC.
We're Auntie.
A nickname I have always cherished. Why?
Because Auntie always knows best.
But does John Birt cherish the nickname?
Oh, no.
To him, Auntie is an insult because it's not modern.
It's not progressive. It's not avant-garde.
For heaven's sake, John.
What's not to love about a favorite aunt?
I just thought you're young, you might understand.
But there is new trouble…
I might understand it if it had been made within my lifetime.
-You're right.
It's been with us for years.
Might even be a rental.
Elephant seals…
-Why don't you just buy a big new one? -I don't want a big new one.
But it would come with the right sockets and jacks.
You could get satellite TV as well.
With hundreds of channels from all over the world.
What? And abandon the BBC? I can't do that.
You wouldn't be abandoning the BBC, Granny.
Switching to satellite would be seen as a betrayal of the national broadcaster
by the head of state.
It would be treason.
Like me becoming a Catholic.
Just imagine this place with a huge, horrid dish on the roof.
Like a spaceship.
They could hide that.
You could just close your ears, bury your head in the sand,
and pretend you don't know what's going on.
Yes, I think I can do that.
I'll see if we could get you that specialist racing channel.
You mean, like at the betting shops? With night races from America?
Oh. I'd never do any work.
You're a racehorse owner. It's part of your work.
Our king's egg…
…is still safe.
Oh, yes. You're right.
It does seem to have had better days.
Even the televisions are metaphors in this place.
Am I a mess?
Let me see. You're fine.
Covered in lipstick…
Whoa.
Bye.
-Morning. -Morning, Martin.
Morning, all. How are we?
-You got a second? -Yeah.
Close the door.
Spoke to the princess again.
She's agreed to give us free rein on the questions. Free rein on the final cut.
Her only stipulation was she be allowed to speak to the Queen before it airs.
-When does she wanna record? -Sunday, Kensington Palace.
She thinks the place will be deserted.
Of course, it's November 5th. Guy Fawkes night.
The significance of that date was not lost on me either.
I'm gonna have to run this past a few people.
Why?
I gave her my word that no one would know but us.
Come on, Martin. An interview like this is gonna have to go
to the Director of News and Current Affairs, at least.
Probably the DG.
How's my big hero?
I'm all right.
How's school?
Good.
You made any new friends?
Freddie's been over from MJA.
Oh, that's nice.
There are a couple of guys in my house who I think could become… new friends.
Good.
Well, Mummy might have made a new friend too.
Okay.
Right now just a "friend-friend," but I hope he'll become a special friend,
and I wanted you to be the first to know.
Do you have to tell me these things?
I thought you'd be happy for me.
I'd just prefer it if you didn't talk to me about this stuff.
I never know what to say.
It's embarrassing.
It's hard enough with you being in the news all the time.
You're only making things harder.
Ready?
I have to go.
Evensong.
Right.
-Bye.
-You shouldn't have.
Look at that.
-Thank you. Cheers.
Cheers.
And a happy birthday to you.
It doesn't look as though I'll make Cheltenham this year.
Really?
Someone very inconsiderate arranged for the French President to visit.
If you can't get there in person, ma'am,
you can always catch the highlights on ITV.
Channel 4.
Channel 4, that's it.
I thought Cheltenham was on the BBC.
It was for 40 years.
Then Channel 4 paid more than five times what the BBC was paying.
-We couldn't afford to hold onto it. -But it's Cheltenham. The Gold Cup.
-Can't you do anything about it? -A whisper in hubby's ear?
Or perform some magic in the bedroom.
Oh my goodness.
The Queen was not her normal self today.
She was surrounded by some of her dearest friends, yet…
she seemed a little flat.
Poor woman.
Those children have a lot to answer for.
Each day brings fresh horrors in the newspapers.
I was thinking, couldn't the BBC do something to cheer her up?
Remind everyone how hard she works. How lucky we are to have her.
-It's her seventieth birthday coming up. -That's a nice idea.
One of your specials.
To show our appreciation.
I'll talk to the director general.
For my sins.
Thank you.
God, all the top brass.
It'll be fine.
What do we think her agenda is?
Well, I think she has multiple agendas.
She feels misunderstood.
She feels angry.
She wants to be vindicated.
You think she'll be critical of the monarchy?
Critical of Charles, certainly.
Explain something to me.
She could go anywhere in the world with this.
How did you get her to do it with you?
It's not with me though, is it?
It's the BBC.
She's doing it with us because she feels safe,
understood, and protected.
He's being modest. It is Martin too.
When he… When he puts his mind to something,
he can be very persuasive.
All right. Give me a day or two.
-I need to think about it. -About what?
The ethics of giving a national platform to someone with such a personal agenda.
There'll be plenty of people that violently object,
not least our own chairman.
Hussey? What about him?
Well, apart from having outdated notions of the role the BBC plays
not just in national life but in the British soul,
he happens to be the husband of the Queen's most senior lady-in-waiting.
He'd rather lose his left leg than have this go out.
Now, come on, you did know that? He lost his right one in the war.
Amputated in a prisoner of war camp.
Huh.
I wanna make absolutely sure this goes no further.
John?
Be back in a moment.
Duke Hussey's office called. He wants to see you.
Did they say why?
They just said it was urgent and if you could make time this afternoon?
Good afternoon, sir.
Good afternoon.
As you know, I've never sought to interfere in editorial matters
or influence program makers in any way.
As DG, that's your sphere.
But as I reach the end of my tenure,
I wonder if you might allow me one exception.
And for you.
I'd like us to do something for the Queen.
Some sort of tribute.
About how hard she works and how bloody lucky we are to have her.
And that's why you've asked me here today?
Yes.
Just to ask the question.
Is that very cheeky of me?
Because whatever one may think of the royal family,
she has been remarkable
and doesn't, in my view, get the credit or the gratitude she deserves.
And isn't that one of the many things that the BBC's for?
To kiss the ring?
If you like.
I can see it's an unfashionable line to take,
but for better or worse,
I believe it is part of the British character to have a monarchy.
Take that away, huh, what are you left with?
An egalitarian, modern republic?
But not Britain.
A new Britain.
A different Britain.
Not Great Britain.
It's the same with the BBC.
Take away the BBC, and what are you left with?
A country, but not Britain.
In that way, the two institutions, Crown and BBC, are inherently intertwined.
Reflected, incidentally, in the fact that we exist thanks to a royal charter.
You see the monarchy as part of the architecture of this country.
I do.
But more and more people
have grown to see it simply as part of the furniture.
Something they've grown up with
but not something that can't be rearranged.
Thrown out, if need be, or replaced.
And the same goes for the BBC.
Poll after poll show that people are crying out for change
from the post-war era into something much more--
To a crass, commercial, satellite era, controlled by Rupert Murdoch
with limitless choice
and a thousand different channels, all offering rubbish?
Look… I know my role is not to interfere.
I just thought I've been chairman now for almost ten years, my full term,
and I've never asked a thing.
I know. You've been quiet as a mouse, Dukey.
And I do this, not for myself,
but for a country it has been my privilege to serve my whole life.
Oh, come on, John.
A nice, one-off program in the grand BBC style
that brings us all together to celebrate one of our greatest assets
and say, "Thank you, ma'am."
Steve Hewlett.
Steve, it's John.
That bonfire night thing we discussed,
let's go for it.
Hi.
My brother called me. He's a little concerned.
-What about? -You.
Frankly.
He said he made notes in your first meeting,
which didn't tally with the notes he took in the second.
In the first, you said MI5 were watching me.
And in the second, you said MI6.
Actually, I think it could be both.
He said there were other inconsistencies.
He regrets introducing us and wants me to have nothing more to do with you.
Okay.
Two things.
This is quite normal, and to be honest, I was expecting a last-minute wobble.
I think you chose the date for the interview, November 5th,
bonfire night, deliberately.
Only because I knew everyone would be busy.
Not symbolically.
The 13 members of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605
also almost pulled out at the last minute,
and it took the ringleader to encourage them to stick with it.
Well, maybe he shouldn't have.
They were unsuccessful, hung, drawn, and quartered.
Difference is, we will be successful. I promise.
What was the second thing?
What?
You said two things.
I think they might've got to your brother.
No.
-These are serious people. -Mm.
That kind of change of heart is just too irrational.
Too random.
Which is why I think the sooner we get this done… the better.
Today is 5th November,
which is a significant day in the British calendar.
Guy Fawkes night.
What do we know about Guy Fawkes himself?
He was a rebel.
Little more than just a rebel.
A terrorist?
In a manner of speaking. His… His cause was certainly political.
A traitor?
A traitor.
That's right. Maybe, uh, England's most famous traitor.
And what do we mean when we call someone a traitor?
A traitor commits the crime of… treason,
which derives from the French "trahir," to betray.
There are different kinds of treason.
Petty treason, which could simply be a wife killing her husband,
or a… a servant killing their master.
But Guy Fawkes and his coconspirators committed high treason.
Which means?
Trying to kill the King?
That's right.
Trying to kill the King.
Guy Fawkes was working with 12 other men.
The ringleader was a man by the name of Robert Catesby,
and together, they devised the Gunpowder Plot of 1605,
as it has come to be known.
A plan by disaffected Catholics
to blow up the Houses of Parliament
on a day they knew the King, the Queen,
and the Prince of Wales, would be present.
The state opening of Parliament on November 5th.
In the days before, under the cover of darkness,
they entered a cellar directly beneath the House of Lords.
They filled it with 36 barrels of gunpowder.
Now, Fawkes's job that night
was to light the all-important fuse.
His goal was to slaughter the entire Protestant establishment
in one fell swoop.
An act that would change the country forever.
Good evening.
Enjoy the fireworks!
Good night.
We're here to deliver the new hi-fi audio equipment.
-She's expecting you. Thank you.
Here we go.
All right.
Could you clip this on, please, Your Royal Highness?
Thank you.
Okay, Martin, when you're ready.
We can stop anytime. The tapes run for 32 minutes,
so we'll be breaking to change them over every half hour or so, anyway.
All good?
Okay.
Ready?
Your Royal Highness…
-Go and say hello. -Hello.
They're lighting it now.
-Mummy. There you are.
I'm obviously devastated…
Because I don't do things the way they do…
Wow.
…on my own from Monaco.
-Oh, that was marvelous.
-Hi, Gran. -Oh.
Right…
When I was in Scotland…
-Thought that might be the taxi. -Morning.
-Morning.
-Good morning. -Checking in?
Uh, no. I'm here to meet a friend.
I believe he's staying in the Duchess of York Suite.
And the name?
Catesby.
Right, I'll let him know you're here.
Hi, your guest has arrived.
Can I send him up?
Thank you.
So it's just through to the bar, right up the stairs,
down the long corridor, and it's the fourth door on the right.
When I separated from the Prince of Wales,
I was seen as…
Well, I expected it to be dynamite.
Sensational, John. Biggest coup of our careers.
But what I've just seen could end our careers too,
not to mention what it might do to her.
…marriage had on Prince William?
I guarantee she will talk to someone if not us.
Ask yourself how you would feel if
this went out on… CBS.
Or ABC.
Or ITV. Or Channel 4.
Still, we'll be giving a platform to a very hurt, very unstable woman.
Who clearly wants to inflict significant damage on the monarchy.
In the end, it's going to be your call, John.
Go back.
-This part here.
Do you believe Prince Charles will be King?
Diana's insisted on telling the Queen personally, is that right?
Tomorrow.
If you're going to kill this, let us know before the end of play today.
So we can stop her.
It's very demanding, suffocating.
Bloody hell!
Global airwaves. Just gonna have to wait.
He can get to the back of the line.
Let me know. Thank you.
Look me in the eyes and tell me I'm not going to regret this.
You won't.
They said we have to keep it outside.
-Nice view from up here. -Yeah.
Satellite dishes have now been installed in all the royal households.
Ooh.
As long as they're out of sight.
Plus, the specialist racing channel you wanted, like in the betting shops.
-Did you hear that, Mummy? How thrilling.
Look, simple instructions on all the remotes.
May I see?
Kentucky Derby and Belmont…
Printed in a nice, large, idiot-proof font.
Well, what about the soaps?
Not that we ever watch those.
Well, 23 is UK Gold.
Right.
They have repeats of Dallas, Knots Landing, and The Bill.
Oh.
Please tell me you have no idea what I'm talking about.
Not a clue.
Hold it. That's my favorite.
No, I don't know what that is.
Would you put the racing back on? I seem to have got lost.
It's so sad to see her struggle to understand a medium
with which she is inextricably linked.
1936, the year she became heir to the throne,
the first BBC program was broadcast from Alexandra Palace.
Of course, barely anyone had televisions then.
Now that all changed with her coronation.
People bought sets in their millions to watch it.
Just one channel, BBC,
a few hours of, you know, educational broadcasting
with "God Save the Queen" at the end of every day.
-Quite right.
Then commercial television arrived.
-Do you remember? -I do.
And color.
Oh, that was a shock.
Then there were three channels, then a fourth.
-Now, a hundred. -Ma'am.
We've just had a call from the Princess of Wales.
She's asked to see you on an urgent matter.
When?
She was hoping for this evening.
I should be going.
Homework.
-Granny. -William.
-Great-granny-- -No, I'm coming too.
Oh, thank you, dear.
William.
So what essays have you got to write?
Thank you.
Your Royal Highness.
Mama, thank you for seeing me.
There's something I wanted you to hear from me first,
and I expect as a consequence you're going to think less of me than you already do.
Why don't I be the judge of that?
I've given an interview.
What kind of interview?
A full, rather frank interview to the BBC.
Which will go out on Monday the 20th.
Why?
I felt the need to clear a few things up.
-About my marriage. -Oh, honestly.
It's like a broken record.
About the fact that I've so often been shut out,
and left to cope on my own.
And that I have suffered… from a lack of sympathy,
and feeling, and compassion.
Haven't we heard all this before? A thousand times.
Haven't we read it in newspaper articles a thousand times?
Does it not occur to you that if you feel the need to clear a few things up,
a public forum might not be the best place to do it?
That such matters would best be discussed in private with the people involved?
I've tried that.
When?
On numerous occasions over the years.
I've asked to see you so that we might talk face-to-face.
And on every occasion, you refused or were unavailable.
I accept it's not easy navigating this family.
And I can understand why you might think we're all a bit remote.
But there is another word for "remote."
Busy.
We are all busy people with busy diaries,
rarely under the same roof for two nights at a time.
And none of us, not one senior member of the royal family,
has a spare ten minutes to think about themselves,
let alone you or how we might best make your life miserable.
On the contrary. It might surprise you to learn
we all spend a great deal of time doing the opposite.
'Cause when people, armies… of people say to me,
"What has that girl done now? Who does she think she is?"
What do you imagine I say?
"Oh, Lord, yes, Diana's awful."
"A nightmare. What a mistake that was."
Not once.
Not a single time.
You're wife to my eldest son, mother to my grandsons,
and a valued senior member of this family,
so I defend you each and every time.
Loyally. Emphatically. To the hilt.
The enemy you imagine I am,
the… hostility you imagine we all feel
is a figment of your imagination.
Is it?
Yes.
All… any of us want, Diana,
is for you
to be happy.
And one day, to be our next Queen.
I suppose it's already too late to stop this?
Yes.
Have you told William?
Not yet, no.
Poor child. As if he hasn't got enough to worry about already.
-He's stronger than you think. -I didn't say he was weak.
I said he's a child and has enough to worry about already.
I'll tell him not to watch it.
I hope you don't mind if Philip and I don't watch either.
Monday the 20th happens to be our wedding anniversary.
Forty-eight years.
Congratulations.
I'm happy for you.
It's what I would have wished for myself.
And he unscrewed it. And there he was!
I mean, nothing.
Dukey?
-John! -Sorry to disturb.
Not at all.
Excuse me. Come.
Sit.
I'm here to let you know that the BBC has indeed made a special program
about the monarchy, which we will announce on Tuesday.
Tuesday the 14th?
Yes.
The Prince of Wales's birthday.
If I may say, that is uncharacteristically sentimental of you, John.
It was the date she insisted the announcement be made.
The Queen. Touching she should want to do that.
I've always said, as a mother, she adores him, really.
It's not the Queen.
Which "she" are you talking about?
It's the Queen's Golden Jubilee in seven years' time.
The BBC will make countless programs, justifiably, celebrating Her Majesty then.
In the meantime, we thought an in-depth Panorama interview
with the Princess of Wales might be more relevant.
What?
Why would the BBC give her the time of day,
let alone an interview? The girl's a loose cannon.
We've not always seen eye to eye, Dukey,
but as chairman and director general,
we always agreed that we'd go to any lengths
to do what we felt was best for the organization.
This will kill it.
It's my view that this may come to define the BBC.
Kill it!
This will destroy us!
Look, I simply wanted to let you know the news directly.
You'll find yourself on the wrong side of history, John.
Thanks for seeing me.
The wrong side of history!
A very warm welcome to the 67th Royal Variety Performance.
A charity event to support the Entertainment Artists Benevolent Fund.
Coming to you from London's West End
on the occasion of Her Majesty the Queen's 48th wedding anniversary.
Your Majesty.
Many congratulations to the Queen
and His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh.
The stars have taken their places behind the curtain
for what promises to be a memorable night.
Your Royal Highness, do you genuinely believe…
Darling, you're missing it.
…that members of the royal household have been out to get you?
When I separated from the Prince of Wales, I was seen as "problem number one."
The first of my kind.
When your first son was born, that must have been a very happy moment.
When William was born,
I became unwell
with post-natal depression.
I just… wanted to stay in bed all day.
I was in a very dark place.
Did you reach out for help?
I suppose if you're the first person in a family to ever feel low,
then it's pretty hard to get the support that you need, so…
you suffer alone.
What impact did the illness have on your marriage?
Well, it gave people a marvelous new label to pin on me. "Diana's crazy."
And should be sent to a home.
Hmm.
But… …what better way to break down a personality
than by isolating it.
Your husband is said to have rekindled his relationship
with Mrs. Camilla Parker Bowles around 1986.
Did this contribute to the breakdown of your marriage?
Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.
Was I devastated?
Oh God.
Yes.
Did I feel like a failure? Yeah.
Reflecting back, you say that the royal family has
effectively given up on you. Why do you think that is?
Because I don't do things the way they do.
Because I want to connect with people emotionally,
and… comfort them in distress.
And this isn't something the royal family provides?
You have to remember, I didn't just marry into a family.
-I married into a system. -Mm-hmm.
But I won't go quietly. I'll battle till the end.
What impact do you think the breakdown of your marriage had
on Prince William?
Well, he's a boy that's a… a serious thinker,
so it's hard to know the impact just yet.
We'll have to wait a few years to see.
Are you all right?
Yes. I'm-I'm fine.
Do you believe… Prince Charles will be King?
Well, who knows what fate will bring?
It's a very demanding and suffocating role,
and Charles was always conflicted about it.
Oh God.
Because I know him so well, I would think that the top job…
Bloody hell!
…would put big limits on him,
and I'm not sure how he would cope with that.
What the hell is she doing?!
Some might view this
as you taking revenge on the Prince of Wales.
But I don't speak with bitterness or anger
but sorrow
because our marriage has failed.
Do you think you will ever be Queen?
Oh…
I'd like to be a queen of people's hearts, in people's hearts.
But I don't envisage myself ever being Queen of this country. No.
I don't think many people would call for that.
When I say people, I mean those at the top,
on my husband's side, because they've decided that I'm an issue.
Full stop.
A liability.
But someone's gotta go out onto the streets,
give people the love that they need.
Your Royal Highness, thank you.
Princess Diana hit the airwaves in England tonight,
talking about her life, her broken marriage, and her future.
The astonishing interview has left the palace shocked and concerned.
They were so stunned, they didn't issue any statement last night,
but I don't think they can hide behind that.
I really think they're gonna have to say something.
The accusations against the royal family, in particular Prince Charles,
were astronomical.
A great many honest, decent people work at the BBC.
And on their behalf and mine, I'm so sorry.
Diana had the decency to warn me in advance,
but no one was prepared for this.
I blame myself entirely.
And will, of course, hand in my resignation.
There's no need, Dukey.
There's every need, ma'am.
I'm already hearing shocking rumors about how the interview was secured.
How can I effectively govern
when it's not a corporation I recognize anymore?
It's not a world I recognize anymore.
Casa de Campo is just a stroll from the airstrip.
Whether you fly yourself, or take the--
-Feel the burn!
Let me.
Come on, now!
Five-star customer pick…
Frivolous, uh…
…and have these kinda long, black…
Couldn't we just find the BBC?