'Banned' for decades, British royal family documentary leaked onto YouTube
When it first aired on BBC, millions enjoyed the unprecedented view inside the royal household
The 1969 documentary about the British royal family that was supposedly banned by Queen Elizabeth ii was mysteriously leaked onto YouTube recently.
The reason for queen's ban is said to be because the documentary provided an overly intimate view of the royals, reports CNN.
When it first aired on BBC, millions enjoyed the unprecedented view inside the royal household.
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It is not clear how the video landed on YouTube but it was swiftly removed when a copyright request was made.
In the film, the monarch reportedly made a comparison of the US ambassador to a gorilla.
"There was a gorilla. I had the most terrible trouble…he had a short body, long arms," reports CNN via the PA Media Agency.
Other, more mundane scenes, showing the royals eating together and the Queen rummaging in her purse to buy six-year-old Prince Edward candy in a shop, were considered groundbreaking for showing the famously opaque family in a new light.
"This disgusting gooey mess is going to be in the car, isn't it?" the Queen declares, according to PA.
The 110-minute film was watched by 30 million people in 1969 and remains one of the UK's most-viewed television broadcasts. The BBC estimates more than 350 million watched it worldwide.
Its production was more recently depicted in Netflix series "The Crown," which portrayed the royals' displeasure at having TV cameras inside their premises.
A BBC spokesperson declined to comment to CNN on the video's sudden re-appearance, but the corporation did not dispute reports that it had submitted the copyright claim that led to its removal from YouTube.
"When a copyright claim is filed we remove the content immediately, as is the case with this upload," YouTube told CNN.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
The film was made after the royals granted the BBC unique access to film their everyday lives. The family was increasingly seen as being out of touch with regular society in the 1960s, and the program was considered an attempt to regain relevance.
Princess Anne, the Queen's daughter, later spoke of her unhappiness with the program. "I never liked the idea of the royal family film. I always thought it was a rotten idea," she said, according to PA.
"The attention that had been brought on one ever since one was a child, you just didn't want anymore. The last thing you needed was greater access," Anne added.
