Queen to share unseen home videos in new documentary

The Queen is set to celebrate a major milestone this year - next week in fact.

To mark her 70-year reign, Her Majesty will enjoy a four-day celebration, and the Platinum Jubilee events will kickstart on 2 June with the Trooping the Colour.

Across the first weekend in June, a variety of royal engagements and celebrations are underway; from Trooping the Colour, the Big Jubilee Lunch, to the Platinum Party, and much more.

Though the Queen is taking a little time out ahead of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, organisers have pulled out all the stops to truly celebrate the 96-year-old royal in every possible way.

To mark the milestone, never-before-seen home videos of the Queen have been compiled into a BBC documentary titled Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen, which will be aired for the first ever time on 29 May.

The 75-minute programme will include home-made recordings, which have been held by the Royal Collection in the BFI archives, after the monarch gave the BBC access to the private footage.

The clips capture the Queen through all stages of her life; from a toddler to adult life, and through many milestones. It also captures her close relationship with her father, as well as her children.

The BBC documentary will also include a voice-over from the Queen, as well as an introduction to the one-off production in which she reminds audiences she was also "young once".

Speaking in the introduction the 96-year-old royal says: "Cameras have always been a part of our lives.

"I think there’s a difference to watching a home-movie when you know who it is on the other side of the lens, holding the camera. It adds to the sense of intimacy.

“Like many families, my parents wanted to keep a record of our precious moments together. And when it was our turn with our own family, we did the same.”

“I always enjoyed capturing family moments. Private photos can often show the fun behind the formality.

“I expect just about every family has a collection of photographs or films that were once regularly looked at to recall precious moments but which, over time, are replaced by newer images and more recent memories.

“You always hope that future generations will find them interesting, and perhaps be surprised that you too were young once.”

The BBC and the Royal Family's official Instagram account have shared a sneak peek of some photographs of the Queen during her younger years to tease the upcoming programme.

The caption reads: "The early life of #QueenElizabeth II featuring never-before-seen home movies, told in her own words from across her reign. The doc will offer a look into a deeply personal side of @TheRoyalFamily.

"Watch Elizabeth: #TheUnseenQueen on iPlayer from 29 May at 7.45pm."

The documentary Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen is available to watch on 29 May at 7.45pm on BBC.