Channel 4 Orders Royals Declassified from Blink Films

Blink Films has been commissioned by Channel 4 for the tentatively titled three-part factual title Royals Declassified.

Royals Declassified will unveil the secrets behind Queen Elizabeth’s reign and her relationships with her husband, family, British and foreign politicians. It uses declassified documents—including letters, diaries, eye-witness testimony and audio recordings—as well as interviews with royal insiders, historians and politicians to tell three extraordinary stories about the monarch.

The first story unravels Queen Elizabeth’s relationships with her Prime Ministers, including mounting tensions with Margaret Thatcher that threatened a constitutional crisis. The second delves into her relationship with her husband Prince Philip and her family. The final film explores how a spy passing information to the Soviets was able to work for so many years in Buckingham Palace, even after the royal family became aware that he was a spy.

Royals Declassified is being distributed internationally by Fremantle.

Shaminder Nahal, commissioning editor of specialist factual at Channel 4, said: “From the Queen’s relationships with her Prime Ministers to the extraordinary story of the spy in the Palace and some of the Queen’s family secrets—this series brings many intriguing aspects of the history of the Crown to life in primary color—with wit, verve and fascinating detail.”

Dan Chambers, creative director of Blink Films, added: “What makes these films so compelling is the new evidence we’ve uncovered both from declassified documents and from contributors.”