In a Panorama programme broadcast on 29 May 1961, the Duke of Edinburgh became the first member of the Royal Family to give a television interview. The Duke was interviewed by Richard Dimbleby, talking about the Commonwealth Technical Training Week. As patron of the initiative, the Duke emphasised the need to encourage the training of skilled workers for the modern labour force.
The interview was on an uncontroversial subject, and Dimbleby's tone was respectful throughout, but it was still remarkable as the first time a member of the Royal Family had been questioned on camera. It also revealed something of the working life of the Duke, who was usually only glimpsed on ceremonial occasions as the Queen's consort.
The interview was a significant step towards modernising the Royal Family. When the documentary Royal Family was commissioned in 1968, the Duke of Edinburgh saw its value to the Monarchy and was one of the prime movers. The unprecedented access granted the film makers showed the Queen at work and also off duty. In one memorable scene the Duke was seen cooking sausages on a family barbeque at Balmoral.
May anniversaries
Bread1 May 1986
Top of the Form 1 May 1948
First VHF transmitter opens at Wrotham2 May 1955
Horizon first transmitted2 May 1964
Luther4 May 2010
The Ascent of Man first broadcast5 May 1973
Wedding of Princess Margaret6 May 1960
VE Day broadcasts8 May 1945
First gardening programme 9 May 1931
The Queen’s Hall destroyed by bombing10 May 1941
First episode of Bucknell's House 14 May 1962
Broadcasting House opens 15 May 1932
Strictly Come Dancing 15 May 2004
The Debussy film debuts 18 May 1965
Beatrice Harrison, cello and nightingale duet 19 May 1924
Thomas Woodrooffe at the Coronation Fleet Review 20 May 1937
Opening of Lime Grove Studios 21 May 1950
Eurovision first broadcast24 May 1956
That's Life 26 May 1973
The Goon Show28 May 1951
The Great War 30 May 1964
Tumbledown 31 May 1988
