1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,280 CHERIE LUNGHI: For the Royals, tradition is everything. 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:07,280 Monarchy is about the past, the present and the future, 3 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:10,680 and tradition is absolutely central to that. 4 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:13,640 Spectacular... All of the parading, the history. 5 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:15,600 It's almost a fairy tale thing. 6 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:16,760 ..sacred... 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:19,840 If you were royal, you had been chosen by God. 8 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:21,960 ..and very British. 9 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,360 Meeting the Queen is an experience 10 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:28,040 that everyone will remember for the rest of their lives. 11 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,440 Now we venture behind palace walls into the riches beyond... 12 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,000 Not all royal jewels are the Crown Jewels. 13 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:37,640 We know that this was a gift of love. 14 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:41,480 ..and delve deep into rare royal records... 15 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,080 Written in early January 1642. 16 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,760 It's the equivalent of a live blog. 17 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:48,400 This is right in the eye of the storm. 18 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:50,920 ..to discover the untold secrets 19 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:55,240 of Britain's most loved and mysterious royal traditions. 20 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,120 He liked to show that he could control nature. 21 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:01,080 It's a rich royal heritage, 22 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,720 steeped in war, intrigue and scandal... 23 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:06,680 In order to get your face on this wall, 24 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,960 you had to be somebody, perhaps even a royal mistress. 25 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,880 ..but at its heart is a deep-seated duty to the nation... 26 00:01:14,960 --> 00:01:19,520 Queen Elizabeth II met more people than anybody else in history. 27 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:21,960 ..no matter what the task. 28 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:23,360 As I heard him, I thought, 29 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:25,280 "Oh, you're not gonna like that, Charles." 30 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:27,760 This is how, for over 1,000 years, 31 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:32,280 the Royals have shaped the history and traditions we know today. 32 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,400 Tradition is what actually keeps them in power. 33 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,040 It wouldn't be Britain if we didn't have these sorts of things. 34 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,120 These are the secrets of the royal traditions. 35 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:54,440 This time, the strict royal rules of succession... 36 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:57,960 I too now solemnly pledge myself. 37 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,680 ..that ensure a smooth transition from one monarch to the next. 38 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,760 From the first broadcast he made that evening, 39 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,000 we all viewed him not as Prince any more, but as King. 40 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,600 The extravagant royal tradition that cost a king his head. 41 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:15,680 He wanted to send a message, "I'm here, and I'm powerful." 42 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,520 And the gruesome rituals of royal medicine. 43 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,040 Plunging him into icy cold baths, 44 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:26,200 or rub caustic soda onto his legs, or hot glass cups on his back. 45 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,920 For centuries, Britain's king or queen 46 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:35,920 has presided over one of the United Kingdom's 47 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,640 most meaningful and mysterious royal traditions... 48 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,000 ..the state opening of Parliament. 49 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:46,360 It is one of the, I think, 50 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,000 most iconic spectacles that we have in Britain nowadays. 51 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,320 The state opening of Parliament is all about pomp and circumstance. 52 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:00,720 The carriage ride from Buckingham Palace to Parliament. 53 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:05,200 Make way for Black Rod, make way for Mr Speaker. 54 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:10,760 The theatre of Black Rod going through to the House of Commons. 55 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:12,680 Close the door. 56 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:14,920 It's the sort of thing you don't really see 57 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:16,480 anywhere else in the world. 58 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,160 KNOCKING 59 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,360 Some of the traditions are seriously whacky. 60 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,160 Today, the rituals might look a little bizarre, 61 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,080 but they're rooted in a thousand-year-long bond 62 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:31,920 between the monarch and Parliament. 63 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,440 It goes back to at least Anglo-Saxon times, 64 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,240 when the sovereign would regularly turn to a trusted group 65 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:41,480 of bishops and bigwigs for advice. 66 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:47,360 These ad-hoc chinwags later came to be known as parleys. 67 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:51,960 The word "parliament" has its origins in parley, to discuss, 68 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,000 and that goes all the way back to Norman times. 69 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,200 But Parliament really becomes a political force 70 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:02,840 to be reckoned with during the Tudor period. 71 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,520 Henry VIII really started this tradition 72 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,760 of processing to Parliament because he appreciated, 73 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:16,360 perhaps more than any other monarch, the power of display. 74 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:18,720 You had to show off your magnificence, 75 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:23,280 you had to make yourself the focus of public attention 76 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:27,360 and also really put your stamp on the government. 77 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:31,640 Yes, Parliament might be meeting to agree your laws 78 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,560 or to vote you taxation, but you're the one in charge. 79 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:41,320 But a 380-year-old document, kept at the National Archives, 80 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,960 reveals this absolute power didn't last for long. 81 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:48,960 And when royal control ended, 82 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,520 it would give us one of the most iconic traditions 83 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,600 in the state opening of Parliament. 84 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:56,360 This document is absolutely fascinating. 85 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:00,960 Written in early January 1642, it's the equivalent of a live blog. 86 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,240 And you can see his annotations where he's scored stuff through, 87 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:07,800 but he's absolutely got the gist of the action. 88 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:14,760 In 1642, King Charles I was on a collision course with Parliament. 89 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,120 He believed five MPs had committed treason 90 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:19,800 by colluding with his Scottish enemies. 91 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:22,760 So, what does the King do? 92 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:24,080 He takes himself to Parliament, 93 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:26,360 he actually sits in the speaker's chair, 94 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,280 and he says, "Therefore, I am come to tell you 95 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:30,800 "that I must have them." 96 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:32,840 So, pretty threatening language, 97 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,000 but very quickly, he realises he's arrived too late. 98 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,080 They've escaped through the back door of Westminster Palace, 99 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:40,480 escaped in a boat, 100 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:45,040 and he says, "Since I see all the birds are flown, 101 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:49,360 "I do expect from you that you shall find them." 102 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:51,160 Soz, mate, you're not gonna be able 103 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:52,920 to get your hands on those five MPs, 104 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:55,800 and not only have all the King's birds flown, 105 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:58,760 but most of his power has flown with them. 106 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:02,840 He's been exposed not only as a man 107 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,840 of violent and unconstitutional intent, 108 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:08,440 but also a pretty impotent king. 109 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,960 This confrontation ignited a civil war 110 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,800 that would consume the kingdom for nearly a decade. 111 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,280 It becomes one of the bloodiest conflicts 112 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:21,720 in English and Welsh history. 113 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,160 To give an idea of just how brutal it was, 114 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,440 adjusted for population sizes, 115 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:29,880 the civil wars kill a higher percentage 116 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,640 of the Welsh and English population than the First World War. 117 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:36,480 Among the dead was the King himself. 118 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:42,320 On the 30th of January, 1649, Charles I paid the ultimate price 119 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,840 for challenging the power of Parliament, 120 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,600 when he was beheaded just metres from the House of Commons. 121 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,240 So when his son, Charles II, 122 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:54,880 was restored to the throne a decade later, 123 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:58,080 he set out to keep the politicians firmly onside. 124 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,200 He's a much more pragmatic figure than his father. 125 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:05,640 He knows that this can no longer be an oppositional relationship, 126 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:07,640 it has to be one that works together. 127 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,560 This is why, three centuries later, 128 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,040 the monarch can never enter the House of Commons 129 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:18,440 and why even their messenger, known as the Usher of the Black Rod, 130 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:20,720 is ceremonially barred. 131 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:22,280 Close the door! 132 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:28,160 Instead, they must knock three times with the ebony staff of office 133 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,040 from which they get their name. 134 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,400 Black Rod. Opening the door. 135 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,280 Only then is Black Rod admitted to summon the MPs 136 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,160 to the monarch's speech in the House of Lords. 137 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,480 Mr Speaker, the King commands this honourable house 138 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:47,160 to attend His Majesty immediately in the House of Peers. 139 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,080 It's all part of a political theatre 140 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,600 that says what happened in the 1640s does not happen again, 141 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:59,760 and the privileges of the House of Commons 142 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,240 are things that no monarch can trample upon. 143 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:08,200 So, yes, it looks like silly costumes and lots of gold carriages, 144 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,920 but in fact, it really does display 145 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:15,520 what it means for our democracy today, which is hugely important. 146 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,680 The ritual of the state opening of Parliament 147 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,040 is a regular occurrence, but some royal traditions 148 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:31,320 might only be witnessed once or twice in a lifetime. 149 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:35,280 I speak to you today with feelings of profound sorrow. 150 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:37,560 And one of the most important 151 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,320 is the seamless succession from one monarch to the next. 152 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:43,040 When our late Queen died, 153 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:48,520 there was a plan for her funeral and a plan for the next succession. 154 00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:50,480 It's all set in concrete. 155 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:52,320 The day after his mother's passing, 156 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:55,680 the new King Charles spoke to the nation, 157 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,240 reassuring them that the updated line of succession 158 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:01,080 was already in place. 159 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,240 I too now solemnly pledge myself. 160 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:09,360 He made sure any ambiguity about his title, his son's title, 161 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:10,840 was cleared up swiftly, 162 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:12,840 they weren't going to wait for an investiture. 163 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:17,960 Today... I am proud to create him Prince of Wales. 164 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,840 Prince William was now Prince of Wales, next in line. 165 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,920 All of this was done very, very smoothly. 166 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:30,600 Some people were quite surprised at how incredibly smooth it was. 167 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,240 From the first broadcast he made that evening, 168 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:37,200 we all viewed him not as Prince any more, but as King. 169 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:39,240 But for the Royals, 170 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:43,280 the seamless transfer of power was a hard-won tradition, 171 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:47,280 learned from the lessons of a bitter and sometimes bloody history 172 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:48,840 of botched successions. 173 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,640 Until very recent times, succession wasn't guaranteed. 174 00:09:54,680 --> 00:10:00,720 Ill health, illness and disease was no respecter of royalty. 175 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:06,200 When Queen Anne died at Kensington Palace in 1714, 176 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:10,320 the ruling Stuart dynasty discovered this the hard way. 177 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:14,840 Queen Anne only had one surviving son after 17 pregnancies, 178 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:19,000 and unfortunately, he died after his 11th birthday, 179 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,680 and with that, the whole Stuart line died with him. 180 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:24,960 To keep the crown in the family 181 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:28,720 and keep the Stuarts' Catholic cousins off the throne, 182 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,600 Parliament dredged up a distant German relative 183 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:35,320 and shipped him over to be crowned George I. 184 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,160 George I turns up with all the charm of a wart. 185 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:45,320 I mean, no-one is happy to see him. 186 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,960 He can't speak fluent English, 187 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,080 any English he does speak is with a very, very heavy accent. 188 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,880 He makes no secret of the fact that he prefers Hannover to Britain. 189 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:58,640 He is cold, he is reticent. 190 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:01,960 All that he has going for him is that he's a Protestant, 191 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:03,560 and not a very devout one. 192 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:06,480 The public didn't much want a German on the throne, 193 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:08,840 and Anne not having that smooth line of succession 194 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,120 meant that we ended up with, basically, the worst of all cases. 195 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:15,360 A century later, when a republic was a viable option, 196 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:17,040 the monarchy mightn't have survived. 197 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:21,680 Which is why today, every element of the succession is planned years, 198 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,080 if not decades, in advance. 199 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:27,160 There's always placed, unspoken or otherwise, 200 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:29,880 huge pressure of making sure 201 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:36,400 that you have got your successors lined up like ducks in a row. 202 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:39,120 But sometimes, protecting those ducks 203 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:44,200 and that line of succession comes at the expense of a normal family life. 204 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,240 You have a very morbid tradition of making sure 205 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:50,600 that people who are next to each other in the line of succession 206 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:52,880 don't travel on the same plane. 207 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:55,560 According to this tradition, 208 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,080 the first and second in line to the throne 209 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:02,440 must travel on separate planes once the number two turns 12. 210 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:06,320 Now that George is 12, we're waiting to see, actually, 211 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,600 whether William does adhere to this rule, this tradition. 212 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:14,520 I think he will largely have to stick to it, but, you know, 213 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:16,800 if you're a family, you want to go together, you know. 214 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:19,440 You want to get on the same plane. It's pants, really, isn't it? 215 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,840 Coming up, the time-honoured royal tradition of keeping secrets. 216 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:29,480 Didn't even tell the King what was wrong with him. 217 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:32,960 The awkward rituals that sustain our democracy. 218 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:34,200 As I heard him speak, 219 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:37,320 I thought, "Oh, you're not gonna like that, Charles, are you?" 220 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:40,000 And the royal tradition that almost prevented a planet 221 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:43,000 from becoming the butt of playground jokes. 222 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:44,880 So, schoolchildren have had a planet 223 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:46,880 whose name they can laugh about for centuries. 224 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:58,720 CHERIE LUNGHI: Some royal traditions are rarely seen... 225 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,520 ..but there's one that's almost impossible to escape. 226 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:08,040 Royal names plastered on buildings, streets, and pubs. 227 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:12,240 You can't get away from them, really, can you? They're everywhere. 228 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:15,880 Oh, look, the Queen Vic, the Crown, the Royal Oak. 229 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,760 If you look, I think the top four most popular pub names in Britain 230 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:21,520 have a royal genesis. 231 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,520 Of course, sometimes, it can land you in hot water. 232 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,840 Using a royal name requires careful handling. 233 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,600 The use has to be dignified and appropriate. 234 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:38,600 Which is why the Cabinet Office at the heart of the British Government 235 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,040 keeps a close watch over their use. 236 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,880 The best example of it not being really easy 237 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:47,920 to name anything after a royal or to call anything royal 238 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:54,360 is Harry and Meghan not being allowed their Royal Sussex website. 239 00:13:54,400 --> 00:14:00,160 In March 2020, the couple formally stepped down from royal duties, 240 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,520 prompting Buckingham Palace and the Cabinet Office 241 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:06,000 to insist that as non-working Royals, 242 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:10,560 they no longer use the word "royal" on any branding or media. 243 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,920 But if you can prove there is a valid connection, 244 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:19,560 then you may well be granted permission to christen your road, 245 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:23,680 your chapel or indeed your common garden potato - 246 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:26,000 King Edward potatoes. 247 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:30,040 Those fine spuds, named, of course, in the Coronation year. 248 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,560 From the humble spud to the mighty cruise ship, 249 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:40,560 a royal name bestows glamour and the chance of royal favour. 250 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,240 It has that little sprinkle of magic, 251 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:45,240 the little flavour of royalty. 252 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:47,520 On the tip of everyone's tongue 253 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:49,520 and at the heart of every high street, 254 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:51,720 the tradition has woven the Royal Family 255 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,320 into the fabric of British life. 256 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:57,360 Whether it's a group or an organisation or a building, 257 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,840 having things named after them helps leave a much stronger legacy 258 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:02,520 than us normal people might be able to. 259 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,920 And the grander the thing, the longer the legacy. 260 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,800 New York, for example, is named after the Duke of York 261 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,080 who became James II. 262 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:15,720 Georgia, Augusta, 263 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:17,800 yeah, these are places in the United States 264 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,000 which are named after British Royals. 265 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:22,320 Queensland in Australia. 266 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:27,320 Even the solar system nearly had its own royal tribute. 267 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,000 In 1781, astronomer William Herschel 268 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:35,120 discovered a new planet during the reign of George III. 269 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:38,480 His original loyal and patriotic instinct 270 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:40,880 was to name it after his king, 271 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:43,160 so the planet would have been called Georgium. 272 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,840 But he's prohibited from doing this 273 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:51,560 because planets, it was said, must have classical names. 274 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,000 Eventually, the gods of Roman or Greek mythology won out. 275 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:57,280 It's proof that sometimes, 276 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,000 even royal traditions don't reign supreme, 277 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,840 and the result was a cosmic bum joke. 278 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:06,400 We were gifted Uranus. 279 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,960 So, rather than having Georgium, school children have had a planet 280 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,480 whose name they can laugh about for centuries. 281 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,560 But other royal traditions have stood the test of time. 282 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:25,480 The state opening of Parliament happens like clockwork 283 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:28,280 at the start of every new Parliamentary year. 284 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:30,960 It's pageantry and politics all mixed up together. 285 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:36,080 There's a lot of symbolism that goes back centuries. 286 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:41,160 And the most powerful symbol of all is, without doubt, the crown. 287 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:45,400 It's the only occasion where the crown is worn on a regular basis, 288 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:47,480 the state opening of Parliament. 289 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:49,320 It's not St Edward's Crown, 290 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:51,760 which is the one that the monarch is actually crowned with, 291 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:53,800 it's the Imperial State Crown. 292 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:57,280 That is a symbol of the United Kingdom. 293 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,360 So important is the crown to the ceremony, 294 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,800 it even travels in its own transport. 295 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:06,960 Stranger still, the crown's colourful guards 296 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,080 are the King's bargemaster and watermen. 297 00:17:10,120 --> 00:17:13,120 As their name suggests, they are bargemen, 298 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,280 they are supposed to be on the water accompanying royalty. 299 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:20,320 The Imperial State Crown is part of the Crown Jewels, 300 00:17:20,360 --> 00:17:23,080 which have been kept under guard in the Tower of London 301 00:17:23,120 --> 00:17:24,760 for over 300 years. 302 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:28,400 And the Tower of London, like the Houses of Parliament, 303 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:31,360 is, of course, on the River Thames. 304 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,400 It's a reminder of times gone by when, actually, 305 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:35,600 the river was the safest, 306 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:37,560 most comfortable route for Royals to travel. 307 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:39,920 And once it's arrived safely, 308 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:43,480 the crown takes centre stage during the ceremony, 309 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,520 especially when the monarch is unable to attend. 310 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:48,960 During Elizabeth II's long reign, 311 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,800 when she was in her 90s and struggling with mobility issues, 312 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,200 the Prince of Wales, the future Charles III, 313 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:56,600 stepped in and would deliver the speech 314 00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:57,840 but would always be careful 315 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:01,040 to show that he was fulfilling this FOR his mother, 316 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:02,920 not in lieu of his mother. 317 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:06,760 The late Queen's speech may have been read by the Prince, 318 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,240 but it was the crown, not the Prince, 319 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:10,720 that represented the Queen. 320 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:14,400 The crown is always present at the state opening, 321 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:18,240 so whether the monarch wears it or not, the crown is present. 322 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:20,960 But while the crown and the pomp and pageantry 323 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,080 suggests the monarch wields authority, 324 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:26,840 the tradition at the heart of proceedings makes it clear 325 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,800 this power is purely symbolic. 326 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:32,600 So, the Queen's speech, or the King's speech, 327 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:34,520 that is not written by the monarch, 328 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:37,240 that is written by the Prime Minister. 329 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:42,080 And it's presented to the monarch as a fait accompli. 330 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:46,400 And that means the monarch sometimes has to announce government policies 331 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:48,040 they find hard to stomach. 332 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:51,000 Her Majesty's ministers will encourage 333 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:55,080 agricultural and scientific innovation at home. 334 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:56,920 As I heard him speak, I thought, 335 00:18:56,960 --> 00:18:59,200 "Oh, you're not gonna like that, Charles, are you?" 336 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,400 Now, I remember sitting with Charles at Highgrove at one occasion 337 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,720 when he invited me there, and we were having tea, 338 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,440 and he just went on and on about genetic modification of crops 339 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:10,480 and how violently against it he was. 340 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:16,440 Legislation will unlock the potential of new technologies 341 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:20,960 to promote sustainable and efficient farming and food production. 342 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:23,640 In other words, genetic engineering. 343 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,560 So, when he had to say those words on behalf of his government, 344 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,000 I thought, "Oh, gosh, that must grate," 345 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:30,720 but that's what he has to do. 346 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:32,320 It would be highly unusual 347 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:34,800 for the King to go back to the Prime Minister 348 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,400 and say, "Can we just change sentence three?" 349 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:38,920 It just doesn't happen. 350 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:43,200 And that's because since Charles I lost his head, 351 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:45,120 political power has rested 352 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:47,520 with the peoples' elected representatives, 353 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:49,840 not the unelected monarch. 354 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:53,320 The opening of Parliament tells us in the 21st century 355 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:57,840 that even though we have all of the trappings of royalty, 356 00:19:57,880 --> 00:19:59,960 royalty does not hold political power. 357 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:01,920 The voters hold political power. 358 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,160 It is the clearest illustration that there is a separation 359 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:09,880 between monarchy and Parliament and politics, 360 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:11,320 that he is above politics, 361 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:13,240 but he must do the bidding of his government. 362 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,560 But beyond the confines of the Commons, 363 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:21,560 the Royals are increasingly breaking with tradition 364 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:24,840 and speaking more openly than ever before. 365 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:29,080 A new tradition is being born of being a bit more touchy-feely, 366 00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:31,480 a bit more in touch with their emotions, 367 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:33,480 a bit more candid with the public. 368 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:38,400 In early 2024, King Charles and the Princess of Wales 369 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,560 went public with serious health diagnoses. 370 00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,160 This new tradition of openness 371 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,800 is a radical departure from previous royal protocol. 372 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:54,080 Historically, the Royal Family never admitted to ill health. 373 00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:58,160 If you were royal, you had basically been chosen by God 374 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:02,000 to be their divine embodiment here on this earth. 375 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:04,360 If you admitted to ill health of any kind, 376 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,080 it was a sign of weakness, fallibility, 377 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:10,680 not being able to govern, and definitely not being part god. 378 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,160 And it wasn't just the public that were kept in the dark. 379 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:18,240 Sometimes, the monarch didn't know either. 380 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:22,480 George VI had a lung cancer operation, 381 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:24,920 and he had either the whole or part of his lung removed, 382 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:27,200 and obviously, the surgeons are perfectly well aware 383 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:29,600 of what was going on, but he wasn't. He wasn't told. 384 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:31,760 His private secretary said, "Poor fellow, 385 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:33,840 "he doesn't really know what's wrong with him." 386 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:36,680 You know, they didn't even tell the King what was wrong with him. 387 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,240 He was prone to anxiety. I think they felt that if they told him 388 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:40,760 he had the big C, that would be the end. 389 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:42,440 So, there was utter secrecy, 390 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:44,960 even from the man himself, which is bizarre. 391 00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:48,880 Today, the Royals have flipped the script, 392 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,520 swapping secrecy for transparency. 393 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:56,040 The Royal Family have done an absolute about turn 394 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:57,280 on this tradition. 395 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:01,760 Now they talk about their ailments, they talk about receiving treatment, 396 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:06,040 they pay tribute to the NHS and doctors and nurses. 397 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:11,680 There's been a sea change in the way the public perceive illness. 398 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:14,680 We now live in the Instagram age 399 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,960 when you're considered brave IF you share, 400 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:20,840 not weak because you're sharing. 401 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,880 And this new tradition of openness 402 00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:26,280 has given us the nudge many of us needed. 403 00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,280 The King's public announcement 404 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,040 sent NHS website searches for cancer symptoms 405 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,200 soaring by over 50%. 406 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:40,200 Everyone starts googling, people book in for their own check-ups, 407 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,160 and actually, the nation's health sees an uptick. 408 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,440 Coming up, the royal tradition of keeping secrets 409 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:52,240 and its toxic consequences. 410 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:54,600 Wild conspiracy theories develop 411 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:56,440 that the King's secretly being abused 412 00:22:56,480 --> 00:22:58,400 or tortured by members of his family. 413 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,280 The royal custom of conspicuous consumption. 414 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:03,560 You name it, they've got it, and if they didn't have it, 415 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:05,160 they made it quite clear they wanted it. 416 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:09,200 And the younger Royals overturning centuries of tradition. 417 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:12,720 They are putting themselves at risk of being laughed at by the tabloids, 418 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,320 the great enemy of the British Royal Family. 419 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:18,160 It's a huge gamble, a huge risk. 420 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:29,320 CHERIE LUNGHI: Royal traditions come in many forms. 421 00:23:29,360 --> 00:23:32,680 Some are symbolic, others practical, 422 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:37,800 but there's one royal tradition that's neither duty nor necessity. 423 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:42,520 It's dedicated to pleasure, prestige, and the pursuit of beauty. 424 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:44,640 The tradition of collecting art. 425 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,920 It's hundreds of years' worth of deep pockets 426 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:52,760 and extraordinary artistic connections. 427 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,440 I mean, you name it, they've got it, and if they didn't have it, 428 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:57,560 they made it quite clear they wanted it. 429 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,680 The result is the Royal Collection, 430 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,200 a treasure trove of more than a million items, 431 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:07,760 with an estimated value of over £10 billion. 432 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,000 I would have it all to myself some days. 433 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,080 I'd take the Queen's tea tray on a daily basis 434 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:16,640 and pass Charles I by Van Dyck... 435 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:19,440 ..a Vermeer in the corner, 436 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:23,160 the Lady at her Virginals, playing the piano, 437 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:27,200 and I used to stand there and look at them, thinking, 438 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,240 "These are priceless treasures." 439 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:35,680 Got Vermeers and Canalettos and Rubens, 440 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,320 but you've also got Warhol and Lucian Freud. 441 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:42,800 So, it's both about the past and about the present. 442 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:49,200 It's some of the greatest art of the last 500 years. 443 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:50,920 But despite its name, 444 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,680 the Royal Collection doesn't actually belong to the Royal Family. 445 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,000 It belongs to the nation. 446 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,040 The monarch can't sell things in the Royal Collection, 447 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:05,160 and although they're on display in royal palaces, 448 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,720 they're all royal palaces which are open to the public. 449 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:11,360 So, yes, it's part of the tradition of the monarchy, 450 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,160 but these are our works of art, 451 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:14,960 you know, not the King's works of art. 452 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:22,400 Kensington Palace is home to some of the collection's finest artworks, 453 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:24,560 including a piece that reveals the origins 454 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:26,920 of this most decadent of royal traditions. 455 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:30,280 Dominating the King's Gallery 456 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:36,080 is a version of a spectacular 1633 portrait of King Charles I 457 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:37,920 by Sir Anthony van Dyck. 458 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:40,080 The painting's huge. 459 00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:41,480 It takes up most of the wall, 460 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,120 and you just have to think about how long this would have taken 461 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,560 to have painted by van Dyck, and then also how much it cost. 462 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,640 The scale of the piece really just shows it was there for impact. 463 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,400 Charles commissioned it because he wanted to send a message, 464 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:57,480 "I am here, and I'm powerful." 465 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:02,120 Charles was keenly aware of the power of art. 466 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:05,000 He really could see how useful of a tool it could be 467 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:06,560 to present this image to the people 468 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:08,720 of a king who knew what he was doing, 469 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:12,600 was in charge, and was there to protect and defend his nation. 470 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:15,360 Which is why the King embarked 471 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,800 on one of the most extravagant shopping sprees in royal history. 472 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,920 We know that between 1636 and 1638, 473 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,920 Charles I actually acquired 500 paintings, 474 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:28,640 and by the time of his death in 1649, 475 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:30,840 there were over 1,500 paintings in his collection. 476 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:35,560 Splurging tens of millions of pounds in today's money, 477 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,720 the King snapped up works by Renaissance big hitters 478 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:40,560 like Titian and Raphael 479 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,800 and commissioned cutting-edge contemporary artists 480 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:45,360 like Rembrandt and Rubens. 481 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:50,240 In the process, he established a new royal tradition. 482 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,480 One thing that we can actually commend Charles I for 483 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,640 is beginning the tradition of royal art collecting. 484 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,360 It really wasn't a common or a consistent theme 485 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:00,960 in monarchs before him, 486 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,760 so without Charles I, there would be no Royal Collection. 487 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:09,320 But the King took this new tradition too far. 488 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:12,720 As his appetite for art outgrew the royal purse, 489 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:17,160 he forced Parliament and the public to bankroll his obsession. 490 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,640 He spent so much time focused on the sort of... 491 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:24,960 the trappings of monarchy, the displays of monarchy, 492 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,560 and he neglected the heart of monarchy, 493 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,080 which was his relationship with Parliament, 494 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:34,000 and that would have fatal consequences. 495 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:39,440 In 1649, the King was condemned to death by a Parliamentary court. 496 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:42,520 On his way to the scaffold, 497 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,960 he passed beneath his most extravagant commission - 498 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,880 Rubens' spectacular Banqueting House ceiling. 499 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,600 It seemed the tradition of royal art collection had died with the King. 500 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:59,440 The collection was split up, much of it sold off across Europe. 501 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:02,240 But a decade later, 502 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:06,720 Charles II set out to rekindle the tradition his father had started. 503 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:10,760 Charles II didn't quite manage to get back 504 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,240 all of his father's collection, 505 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:19,160 but he also collected older art himself, such as Leonardo da Vinci, 506 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,600 and that's a tradition that then continues 507 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,480 during later royal dynasty, 508 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:27,600 which means that today, the Royal Collection is vast. 509 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:29,040 It's one of the best, 510 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,480 most magnificent art collections in the world. 511 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:39,760 For the Royals, displaying their wealth is a deep-rooted tradition, 512 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,440 but when it comes to discussing their health, 513 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:43,960 the rules are very different. 514 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:50,360 There's a tradition of British stoicism, 515 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,640 royal self-containment. 516 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,240 You're supposed to never admit to weakness of any kind. 517 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:00,320 And there's one taboo that's even greater 518 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:02,480 than talking about physical ill health, 519 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:06,240 particularly in the Royal Family, and that's mental health. 520 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,800 And inside the picture-perfect Kew Palace 521 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,800 lies the ugly reality of this long-standing royal taboo. 522 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:20,800 It was here in 1788, that King George III was confined 523 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,480 after suffering years of what was then known as madness... 524 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:29,160 ..and where his doctors kept a daily record. 525 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:35,560 We see a sort of diary, listing his symptoms, his treatments. 526 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:38,000 There's lots of accounts of him talking himself hoarse, 527 00:29:38,040 --> 00:29:40,800 frothing at the mouth, really demented, 528 00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:43,480 and you can see that meticulously logged 529 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:47,560 is the need to restrain him on almost every one of those days, 530 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:49,560 sometimes, a couple of times. 531 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:55,840 "Walked about the room. Slept in his chair. 532 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:58,760 "Slept only two-and-a-half hours." 533 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,080 I mean, really, he is raging. 534 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:04,000 But the restraint is what stands out, really. 535 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:08,080 "This morning, hear what the physicians have to say 536 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:10,080 "but soon lost in reverie." 537 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,680 So, we have a man who's sleeping, 538 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:14,800 he's restrained quite a lot of the time, 539 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:16,720 or he's away with the fairies. 540 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:23,360 The cause of the King's illness was, and remains, a mystery. 541 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:25,280 The general consensus today 542 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:28,360 may have been that he suffered from a bipolar disorder. 543 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:29,600 We still don't know. 544 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:30,880 All we can be certain of 545 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:34,600 is that it caused him a great amount of mental anguish. 546 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:39,680 But whatever the cause, his doctors' so-called cures 547 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,720 can only have made his condition worse. 548 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:44,560 They thought that they could snap him out of it 549 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:46,440 by plunging him into icy cold baths, 550 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:50,000 or run caustic soda onto his legs to get blisters going on, 551 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:54,560 or hot glass cups on his back to, you know, cause it to swell up. 552 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:57,480 The physical pain was thought to help him recover 553 00:30:57,520 --> 00:30:59,080 or snap him out of this delirium. 554 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:02,480 Locked inside these stately rooms, 555 00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:07,760 the British King endured a barrage of barbaric and abusive treatments. 556 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:11,280 And if he did something that was perceived to be bad, 557 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:13,640 he would be put in a straightjacket, 558 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,840 and if he ate up all his dinner and was a good boy, 559 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,040 he got to go into his library and look at a book for an hour. 560 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:23,760 Now, this is a grown man who is clearly vulnerable, 561 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:26,880 and it just really seems quite cruel from today's point of view 562 00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:29,600 to know that he went through those treatments. 563 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:35,880 I really just feel for George III, knowing that this what was going on 564 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,960 to who was supposed to be the leader of the country. 565 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:41,040 According to royal tradition, 566 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:45,400 news of the King's illness was kept firmly under wraps. 567 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:48,240 It was a case of not wanting to show weakness within the monarchy 568 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:51,280 because that, of course, could lead to the whole system falling down. 569 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:55,320 But in the absence of facts, rumours ran riot. 570 00:31:56,760 --> 00:32:01,280 Wild conspiracy theories develop that his wife, Queen Charlotte, 571 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:03,640 is in league with the Prime Minster to kill the King 572 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:05,520 and seize control of the government, 573 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:07,440 that the King's secretly being abused 574 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:09,480 or tortured by members of his family. 575 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:11,880 Writers make up stories. 576 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:16,080 They say that he shakes hands with a great oak in Windsor Park 577 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:19,080 and thinks it's the King of Prussia, for example. 578 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:21,560 That he pulls down his breeches 579 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,760 and exposes his bottom to prove that he doesn't have gout, 580 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:26,520 that he runs a race with a horse. 581 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:27,880 These are all invented stories. 582 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:30,880 Royal illness, secrecy, 583 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:33,760 and a void filled by wild speculation 584 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:37,200 would all sound strangely familiar to today's Royal Family. 585 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:42,200 If you look at what happened on social media 586 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:43,640 and in public speculation 587 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:46,040 just before the Princess of Wales's recent announcement 588 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:49,960 that she was battling with cancer, it's not too dissimilar 589 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,880 to the way in which the public rumour mill went into overdrive 590 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:56,520 with George III's ill health, 591 00:32:56,560 --> 00:33:00,920 and the speculation was rampant and wildly inaccurate. 592 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,200 Today, 200 years later, 593 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:07,800 a new generation of Royals are determined 594 00:33:07,840 --> 00:33:10,640 to overturn this outdated royal tradition 595 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:14,120 and break the taboo surrounding mental health. 596 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:17,400 When Catherine, Harry and I launched Heads Together, 597 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:19,480 it is fair to say that we were ambitious 598 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:21,640 about what it could achieve. 599 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:24,720 William, Harry and Kate have made it a mission 600 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:26,480 to talk about mental health 601 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:30,280 and to make that one of the cornerstones of their campaigning, 602 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:33,960 to say, "Look, this is very difficult, life is hard. 603 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:39,200 "It's OK to admit to not being 100% your best self, 604 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:40,960 "it's OK to seek help." 605 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:47,800 William and Harry, to an extent, took the cue from their mother 606 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,240 in championing mental health issues 607 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,280 because you remember that Diana stood up 608 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:55,040 and spoke openly about bulimia. 609 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:57,400 She didn't actually say, "Look, I've got it," 610 00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:58,680 but the inference was there, 611 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:03,040 and she also championed other charities to do with mental health. 612 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:06,680 So I think they learnt from their mum that this was something 613 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:10,480 that perhaps we should broach more publicly, more openly. 614 00:34:11,720 --> 00:34:13,920 But as Diana knew all too well, 615 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:16,800 breaking with royal tradition can be risky. 616 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,640 For William or Kate or Harry to say, 617 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:25,200 "I had therapy, I wasn't dealing with this or that very well," 618 00:34:25,240 --> 00:34:26,920 it makes them enormously vulnerable. 619 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:30,520 They are putting themselves at risk of being laughed at by the tabloids, 620 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,480 the great enemy of the British Royal Family. 621 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:36,600 And so they are taking a huge, huge gamble when they say, 622 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:38,440 "Look, this is something I'm gonna talk about 623 00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:43,120 "because it's something that lots of people go through all the time." 624 00:34:43,160 --> 00:34:46,600 I really take my hat off to all three of them on this. 625 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:51,200 I think they have changed the way we think about our mental health, 626 00:34:51,240 --> 00:34:53,000 and the stigma's gone now. 627 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:57,520 We know that it's vital to protect and promote our mental health 628 00:34:57,560 --> 00:34:58,680 and our mental wellbeing, 629 00:34:58,720 --> 00:35:03,600 and this is very much down to the two princes and the princess. 630 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:08,640 Coming up, a brush with royal tradition. 631 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:12,080 There's definitely an artistic strain within the Royal Family. 632 00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:14,760 And traditions that take their toll. 633 00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:16,640 Oh, Victoria! 634 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:20,280 Little Victoria, come and let me cuddle you. 635 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:31,240 CHERIE LUNGHI: The state opening of Parliament... 636 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:35,600 ..with its curious blend of pageantry and politics... 637 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:38,680 KNOCKING ..is one of the most magnificent 638 00:35:38,720 --> 00:35:41,480 and meaningful of all royal traditions. 639 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:44,240 It's a reminder that we have a constitutional monarch, 640 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:47,200 that we have the Lords and the Commons operating together, 641 00:35:47,240 --> 00:35:49,120 and it's a real clear display 642 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:52,680 of how these different sides of democracy work together. 643 00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:57,720 Monarchy and Parliament are the two pillars of British Government. 644 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:01,000 Their ancient bond is a tradition 645 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:03,880 that monarchs neglect at their peril. 646 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:07,160 There are many occasions when the monarch is allowed 647 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:09,600 not to attend the state opening in Parliament, 648 00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:12,160 and indeed hasn't done so. 649 00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:16,720 Linked to ill health, occasionally poor weather, 650 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:21,000 but also death in the family, childbirth. 651 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:25,240 At such times, the next in line or a senior Lord step in 652 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:28,320 to ensure the tradition is upheld. 653 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:31,960 It's made very clear that they are acting as a proxy. 654 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:33,320 There's an etiquette that's used 655 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,440 to underscore this is a caretaking move. 656 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,040 If a monarch neglects this tradition 657 00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:43,160 and fails to attend or provide a proxy, 658 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:46,000 it's far more than simply a breach of etiquette. 659 00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:49,880 It threatens the delicate balance between Crown and Parliament. 660 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:59,280 In 1862, devastated by the death of her beloved consort, Prince Albert, 661 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:01,560 the grief-stricken Queen Victoria 662 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:04,440 refused to attend the state opening of Parliament. 663 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:10,400 People forgive her absence from the opening of Parliament in 1862. 664 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:13,680 She is the widow of Windsor, she's draped in black, 665 00:37:13,720 --> 00:37:17,000 she's absolutely grief struck. 666 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:21,360 But it becomes an increasing crisis 667 00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:26,880 when she's nowhere to be seen in '63, in '64. 668 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:28,400 Questions are being asked. 669 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:32,640 Throughout their marriage, Albert stayed close by the Queen's side 670 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:34,960 at the state opening of Parliament. 671 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:36,560 So when he dies, 672 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:41,160 she is left literally feeling she cannot possibly do this 673 00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:43,920 cos she hasn't done it alone for so long. 674 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:48,520 But public sympathy soon turned to resentment, 675 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:53,280 as Victoria repeatedly refused to respect royal tradition. 676 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:56,360 She didn't have the excuse of being unwell 677 00:37:56,400 --> 00:38:01,080 or in any other way incapacitated from doing her job. 678 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:05,000 So critics could point to it as an example of wilful neglect. 679 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:08,000 Victoria makes the situation even more difficult 680 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:11,800 through the fact that she doesn't want to perform these functions, 681 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:14,280 but she also doesn't want to delegate them 682 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:16,160 to her eldest son, the Prince of Wales. 683 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:19,040 They are either hers to perform or nobody's. 684 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:21,280 Even supporters of the monarchy 685 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:24,760 feel that Victoria is derelict in her duty 686 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:26,600 and that despite her heartbreak, 687 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:29,240 she is still receiving the privileges, 688 00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:32,240 the luxuries and the prominence that come with the Crown, 689 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:36,240 so she is going to have to accept the duty that comes with it as well. 690 00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:43,160 Anti-monarchist newspapers and clubs began appearing across the country, 691 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:46,960 and radical politicians called for the Queen to abdicate. 692 00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:50,480 There is no doubt that her behaviour in the 1860s 693 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:54,520 and into the early 1870s does cause a crisis for the monarchy. 694 00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:59,120 Five years after Albert's death, Victoria was finally persuaded 695 00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:03,360 to put in a rare appearance at the state opening of Parliament. 696 00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:06,120 If you read her diary and personal accounts 697 00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:08,960 of how she felt opening Parliament 698 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:11,720 for the first time since her husband's death, 699 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:13,920 in modern eyes, what she's describing 700 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:16,360 sounds very like a severe anxiety attack. 701 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:22,640 She wrote, "When I entered the House, which was very full, 702 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:24,000 "I felt I should faint. 703 00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:28,600 "All was silent, and all eyes fixed upon me. 704 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:32,400 "And there I sat, alone." 705 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:34,640 Oh, Victoria! 706 00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:37,440 Little Victoria, come and let me cuddle you. 707 00:39:38,720 --> 00:39:40,880 You feel that sympathy for her. 708 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:43,360 Can you imagine all those smelly old men 709 00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:46,200 staring at this poor grief-stricken queen? 710 00:39:46,240 --> 00:39:49,200 She's really having what we'd call nowadays a panic attack. 711 00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:53,080 So anxious was the Queen, 712 00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:56,800 she only attended the state opening of Parliament six times 713 00:39:56,840 --> 00:40:00,440 during the remaining 35 years of her reign. 714 00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:03,480 And she never again read the Queen's speech, 715 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:06,400 delegating it instead to the Lord Chancellor. 716 00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:14,000 Traditionally, in times of stress, 717 00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:17,400 the Royal Family have often turned to art for comfort, 718 00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:21,160 enjoying their dazzling collection of paintings and treasures, 719 00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:25,880 and sometimes, even picking up the paintbrush themselves. 720 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:28,600 There's definitely an artistic strain within the Royal Family. 721 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:31,560 Princess Louise, Victoria's sixth child, 722 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:34,320 was a very accomplished artist and sculptress, 723 00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:36,920 studied at what's now the Royal College of Art, 724 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:39,000 which was considered very radical for her time. 725 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:42,320 There's a statue made by Princess Louise 726 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:43,920 of her mother, Queen Victoria, 727 00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:47,080 which is in pride of place outside Kensington Palace, 728 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:49,280 and it's a very, very fine statue. 729 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:54,520 Queen Victoria herself, no mean draftswoman 730 00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,680 and quite a good watercolourist, 731 00:40:57,720 --> 00:40:59,600 so there is definitely talent in the family. 732 00:41:00,720 --> 00:41:05,200 And today, the royal paintbrush is back in action in the King's hands. 733 00:41:05,240 --> 00:41:07,040 There have been exhibitions of his painting, 734 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:08,840 and he's really quite good, I think, at them. 735 00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:13,920 For Charles, it seems painting is more than just a family tradition. 736 00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:17,840 I think for Charles, painting is... it's almost a therapy. 737 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:21,160 Diana once told me, actually, she felt, you know, 738 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:24,080 she doubted whether he was cut out to be 739 00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:27,960 or would be happy in "the top job", as she called it, being King. 740 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,640 She said, "You know, I just think he would be so much happier 741 00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:33,600 "sitting in Tuscany, painting." 742 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:39,480 From opening Parliament... 743 00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:41,400 to collecting treasures... 744 00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:44,200 ..lending their name... 745 00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:47,640 ..to protecting their successors... 746 00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:53,240 ..for the Royal Family, following tradition is more than simply habit. 747 00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:58,880 It's a strategy, a way of securing the monarchy's survival 748 00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:00,400 and steadying the nation. 749 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:04,480 The role that the Royal Family see themselves in, 750 00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:08,680 it's one of guiding good ship Great Britain 751 00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:12,320 through sometimes choppy waters and coming out the other side. 752 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:16,240 And a lot of the time, it means holding on to your history, 753 00:42:16,280 --> 00:42:20,840 flaunting your traditions, wearing them publicly, 754 00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:23,160 so that people can come together around them. 755 00:42:23,200 --> 00:42:27,080 The cleverest monarchs appreciate the power of tradition, 756 00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:31,680 how essential it is to convey this idea of something permanent, 757 00:42:31,720 --> 00:42:36,320 something rooted in history, something that will never change. 758 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:42,480 Next time, the bloody origins 759 00:42:42,520 --> 00:42:45,280 of the royal tradition of honouring Britain's best. 760 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:47,480 It was a very wonderful thing on that day, 761 00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:51,600 just to be at a marvellous ceremony in this amazing setting. 762 00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:54,800 The dangers of the royal court jester. 763 00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:56,760 Henry VIII hit him so hard 764 00:42:56,800 --> 00:42:59,680 that he fell through several rooms and down a flight of stairs. 765 00:42:59,720 --> 00:43:01,560 And the enduring royal custom 766 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:05,840 that reveals an all-too-human side of the monarchy. 767 00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:09,160 Royalty and scandal go hand-in-jewelled-hand.