The Queen as you’ve never seen her before

He served with distinction in the Royal Navy and was mentioned in dispatches, but a humble lilo proved to be Prince Philip’s downfall.

This extraordinary footage and pictures are taken from candid home movie videos – never seen in public before – of the young Queen and her husband off duty at Christmas in 1953.

It was shot by Patricia Norrie, the wife of the then Governor-General of New Zealand, Sir Willoughby Norrie, who was hosting the couple on the local leg of a gruelling seven-month Commonwealth tour. 

It now features along with footage of the Queen smiling in a fascinating documentary, The Queen Unseen, to be shown tonight on ITV1 at 9pm, marking the monarch’s 95th birthday later this month. 

The video also sees the Duke of Edinburgh pulling the Norries’ daughter, ten-year-old Sarah Stephenson, along on the lilo – who narrates what happens in a trailer for the programme. 

The trip had proved a gruelling one for the young monarch, who had been crowned earlier in the year, and she and Philip were said to have relished the chance for a little downtime.

According to Ms Stevenson, it was ‘terribly exciting’ to have the royal party staying at their home and the royals mucked in with the rest of the family.

In a 30-second preview clip released this morning, narrated by Mrs Stevenson, she said: ‘The Duke of Edinburgh is trying to get on this lilo, and he has to have several attempts.

‘The royal couple knew that we were filming, and they didn’t seem to mind that we were. And the Queen also had an identical camera to my mother. She was also taking similar shots. 

‘That was the Queen’s smile, which my mum very cleverly caught. Great fun, we loved it.’

Father Christmas delivered presents from them to take home to their young children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

And Sir Willoughby and his wife even gave the Queen and Philip a stocking each – containing a dog’s lead for the Queen and a blue and white Wedgwood ashtray for Philip, which caused much amusement as it had his wife’s head on it.

After lunch they went to the private pool along with the Queen equerry at the time, Johnny Spencer, later Earl Spencer and father of Princess Diana.

According to Mrs Stevenson, towering Philip – wearing tiny dark ‘budgie smuggler’ swimming shorts – tried several times to get on the lilo, but each time plunged into the pool roaring with laughter.

Always mindful of her public image, Queen didn’t join in, but happily watched her husband from the patio, her own video camera in hand, comfortable to film and be filmed.

Mrs Stevenson said: ‘Well, it was terribly exciting to have the whole royal party staying in your home.

‘There was one time actually, when my sister and I were taking our dogs for a walk and the Queen saw us and she said she wish she could come with us.

‘Father Christmas was approaching with lots of presents for Prince Charles and Princess Anne, who were very young, they were in England, so it must have been very difficult for the Queen and the Duke to leave their children behind for such a long trip.

‘My parents gave the Queen and the Duke a Christmas stocking each, and in the Queen’s stocking there was a dog lead, and in the Duke’s stocking there was a blue and white ash tray. 

‘And my father said, the Duke will be pleased because it’s got his wife’s head on it. He thought that was terribly funny.

‘This was a private pool we took the royal party to on Christmas Day. There’s my father with the Queen.’

ITV’s The Queen Unseen features a host of rare home movie footage, hoping to shed new light on our most enigmatic of monarchs.

With almost 70 years of royal globe trotting under her belt, the Queen is the country’s most experienced international statesman.

And her skills were most definitely needed when she visited Belgrade in 1972 after the Yugoslav dictator Marshal Tito personally asked to meet her to mark his 80th birthday.  

Footage shot by Tito’s personal cameraman shows the monarch, on her first visit to a communist country, charming her host.

Among the light-hearted moments is the time they shared a golf buggy together – and even an orange.

The Queen is rarely seen on camera eating – she very much disapproves of that – but happily tucked into a piece of fruit and offered her host a segment.  

The visit was considered a rousing success.

Broadcaster Wesley Kerr tells the documentary: ‘Britain absolutely has been well served by the Queen in terms of her mastery of diplomacy, the absence of slip-ups.’

Another shot shows the Queen with seven-month-old Prince Andrew as a baby at Balmoral in 1960, one of the first colour pictures taken of the young royal.

The documentary also highlights the Queen’s 40-year friendship with New Zealand dairy farmer Don Ferguson, with whom she co-owned a herd of Jersey cows after meeting him at an agricultural show in 1975.

He would regularly ring the Queen and let her know if their animals had won any prizes at the various cattle shows he attended.

On a visit to the country in 1990, the monarch made a point of detouring to visit him – and her cows.

Mr Ferguson’s widow, June, recalled how when visiting the paddock the monarch referred to her husband’s bad language. Mrs Ferguson noted that Philip ‘swears like a trooper’.

She says the Queen remarked to Mr Ferguson that ‘all husbands swear, don’t they?’, which made Mrs Ferguson laugh as her husband barely uttered a curse in his life.

The Queen Unseen is on ITV1 tonight at 9pm