To coincide with the 65th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne, AP has launched a YouTube channel dedicated to archive coverage of both the British royal family and royalty from around the world.
Using the breadth of footage from the British Movietone archive that AP acquired last year, this new channel contains over 3,000 videos, many of which are exclusive to AP.
The freely accessible channel includes rare and exclusive footage from 1895 to 1986, such as:
- The only footage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer’s wedding filmed in high definition on 35 mm film
- The only footage of the christening of Princess Anne’s son, Peter Phillips
- An early color story of King George V’s Jubilee procession – the first ever newsreel story shot in color
Many of the films were shot by renowned British Movietone cameraman Paul Wyand. A favorite of the Royal Family, Wyand was given unrivaled access with one notable example being the filming of Queen Elizabeth II’s first Commonwealth tour after her coronation in 1953, all shot in color. It covers her seven-month world tour, during which she visited 13 countries becoming the first reigning monarch of Australia and New Zealand to visit those nations. During the tour, it was estimated that three-quarters of the population of Australia came out to see the new queen, with Wyand capturing the atmosphere and enthusiasm of the visit on film.
Alan Bradshaw, head of international archive at AP, said: “Interest in the royal footage on our existing YouTube channels has been immense. By launching this dedicated channel we are satisfying the global appetite in archive footage of royalty through the majority of the 20th century, especially of the British Royal Family. Within this collection are some real video gems that will appeal to everyone from ardent fans to those with a passing interest.”
The launch of the British Movietone Royals channel on YouTube builds on the popularity of the two existing AP and British Movietone archive channels. The number of subscribers to the AP Archive channel nearly doubled over the past 12 months to almost 150,000, while the British Movietone archive channel now has more than 42,000 subscribers, a 20 percent increase from this time last year.
Contact
Lauren Easton
Director of Media Relations
The Associated Press
212-621-7005
leaston@ap.org
Scott McLean
The Associated Press — International inquiries
+44 (0) 7917 095 695
scott.mclean@timihub.com
