It used YouTube to broadcast its bigger moments.” “You would find scripted, cautiously laid-out material that was designed overwhelmingly to create and reinforce the impression that this was a family at the service of the nation itself.” “Hip, hip, hooray!” “They wanted to make sure that they didn’t say the wrong things, that they kept their mystique. As information became more readily available on computer screens and smartphones, the royal family established its own website.

And here she was in public, her head bowed, and that helped the monarchy begin to restore its image. Royal heads of state do not generally bow to other people, other people bow to them.

It was several days before she finally went on television and addressed the nation.” “Since last Sunday’s dreadful news, we have seen throughout Britain and around the world an overwhelming expression of sadness at Diana’s death.” “Then, most tellingly of all, she stood in front of the gates of Buckingham Palace as the funeral cortege went by and lowered her head in acknowledgment of Diana’s immense popularity. She appeared reluctant to respond to a yearning among the public for her to acknowledge the national mood of mourning. But upholding this image was not easy.” “We interrupt this film to tell you we are getting reports that Diana,” “Princess of Wales has died” “after a car crash in Paris.” “They were apparently being pursued by paparazzi on two motorcycles.” “After the death of Princess Diana in 1997, the Queen almost lost public sympathy irrevocably, seeming very, very distant, almost aloof. Above all, she created the impression of a royal household headed by a woman beyond all reproach, whose behavior was never, ever questioned. It became increasingly important to use mass media and television where radio had sufficed in the past to control the royal narrative and uphold its importance. In the more than 60 years of the queen’s reign, the empire shrank back essentially to its island core, and she came to preside over a different nation, far less ready to acknowledge her, far less deferential, more assertive, more wealth-driven, greedier some people thought. Perhaps the world’s most beautiful anachronism.” “This was technology that molded and massaged the information that reached the public about an ancient and distant institution. The pageantry that celebrated its position, reinforcing its stature and the vital mystique that underpinned it.” “For the first time since her coronation, we saw the great state coach, ornate, gilded, richly painted. Newsreel clips showed her parents inspecting the damage of bombing attacks on London.” “And the knowledge that their king and queen are among them, they were actually caught in a raid and had to take shelter during this particular visit, has greatly heartened the people.” “The royals understood the power of imagery, and television showed what the monarchy did best. In 1940, as Princess Elizabeth, the queen gave her first radio address.” “Thousands of you in this country have had to leave your homes and be separated from your fathers and mothers.” “She was age 14, and Britain faced what Churchill called its finest hour in the war against Germany. And it offered the British hope that something better was in the offing.” “By then, the royal family was accustomed to broadcasting its message. Her coronation in 1953 was the first royal event of its kind to be broadcast live on television.

When she became queen, the country was still reeling from the memory of the Second World War. Her reign blended the ancient and the modern. And with the support of my family, rededicate myself to the service of our great country.” “Queen Elizabeth II ushered the monarchy into a new and radically different era. I am glad to have had the chance to witness and to take part in many dramatic changes in life, in this country. When I was 21, I pledged my life to the service of our people. “It’s inevitable that I should seem a rather remote figure to many of you.

Transcript The Legacy of Elizabeth II: The Media Queen Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, died at the age of 96, leaving behind a legacy that blended the ancient and the modern with the help of mass media.

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