Unseen footage of Queen to air in new BBC documentary

An unseen image captures the then Princess Elizabeth beaming at her new engagement ring soon after Prince Philip's marriage proposal

Unseen footage from the Queen's archive is set to be aired in a BBC documentary narrated by the monarch.

The BBC has been granted special access to hundreds of private home movies shot by the Royal Family, including clips of a young Princess Elizabeth smiling at her engagement ring.

Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen will follow the monarch's life as a princess in her own eyes and own words.

The documentary will air on 29 May in honour of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Three images never previously seen of a then Princess Elizabeth have also been released as part of the programme's joint announcement by Buckingham Palace and the BBC.

The Queen gave the BBC unprecedented access to footage shot by her, her parents, Prince Philip and others.

Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen shows footage capturing the Queen's life from being pushed in a pram by her mother to her coronation at the age of 27 in 1953.

The 75-minute documentary features a clip marking the first extended visit of Prince Philip to Balmoral in 1946, while the couple's engagement was still not public.

A young Princess Elizabeth can be seen smiling and showing the camera her engagement ring.

The couple later wed in November 1947 and were married for 73 years before the Duke of Edinburgh died in April last year, a few months before his 100th birthday.

Another previously unseen image shows the then Princess Elizabeth with Princess Margaret and their father King George VI

The documentary will show moments including then Princess Elizabeth with her uncle Prince George The Duke of Kent, who died in a plane crash in 1942 while on active service, and King George VI's last visit to Balmoral in 1951.

It will also depict Princess Elizabeth as a young mother with Prince Charles and Princess Anne spending time with their grandparents the King and Queen.

BBC Studios reviewed more than 400 reels of film, privately held by the Royal Collection in the vaults of the British Film Institute (BFI), and discovered lost newsreel given to The Queen and behind the scene recordings of state events.

Filmmakers also listened to over three hundred of the Queen's speeches across 80 years.

Simon Young, the BBC's commissioning editor for history, said he was honoured that the Queen "entrusted the BBC with such unprecedented access" to her personal film collection.

He said: "This documentary is an extraordinary glimpse into a deeply personal side of the Royal Family that is rarely seen, and it's wonderful to be able to share it with the nation as we mark her Platinum Jubilee."

Claire Popplewell, creative director for BBC Studio Events Productions, said: "As programme-makers who have previously worked closely with the Royal Household on ceremonial and celebratory broadcast events and programmes, the production team were under no illusion quite how special having access to this very personal archive was.

"Being able to draw upon the self-recorded history of a young Princess Elizabeth and her wider family - and allowing the Queen to tell us her own story - is the very heart of this film."

The documentary will debut on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 29 May.

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