''The Diamond Queen'' is a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary series, presented by

Andrew Marr Andrew William Stevenson Marr (born 31 July 1959) is a British journalist, author, broadcaster and presenter. Beginning his career as a political commentator at ''The Scotsman,'' he subsequently edited ''The Independent'' newspaper from 1996 to ...

, which looks at the life of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. The series focuses on her accession, her daily routine, how she is seen as a role model, and how she coped in her 60th year as monarch. The programme features archive footage of the Queen, as well as in-depth footage of her major engagements since the beginning of 2010 to late 2011.

Programmes

Critical reception

''The Diamond Queen'' series reached an audience of 7.2 million UK viewers for the first episode and 6.5 and 6.8 million for the next episodes. It achieved an Audience Appreciation Index of 90 out of 100 for each episode; a higher than average rating. The series has since been broadcast around the world. The documentary was criticised by the campaign group

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

. Graham Smith, the organisation's chief executive, argued in a letter to the chairman of the BBC Trust, the Lord Patten of Barnes, that the programme breached BBC guidelines on impartiality. Smith wrote in his letter that the series was subject to "distortions, half-truths and fabrications" and commented, "What was presented as a piece of biographical journalism was in fact pro-monarchy polemic". A BBC spokeswoman responded that, "The BBC abides by its requirement to be duly impartial across its output."BBC's jubilee documentary 'one-sided', says republican pressure group
Ben Dowell, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 24 February 2012

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diamond Queen, The 2012 British television series debuts 2012 British television series endings 2010s British documentary television series BBC high definition shows BBC television documentaries Depictions of Elizabeth II on television 2010s British television miniseries Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II British English-language television shows Television series about queens