PRINCE PHILIP was the first royal to embrace television, submitting to the first TV interview in 1961 with Richard Dimbleby. It was all about the Commonwealth Technical Training Week and the questioning didn’t deviate, and then in 1969, he was the driving force behind the first royal documentary, the Royal Family, which showed him barbecuing sausages. It was watched by 350m people, but hasn’t been seen since 1972. Inbetween those TV firsts, the duke flew north for 80 minutes in an aeroplane for another first: his first network TV interview.
The Duke of Edinburgh arrives at Tyne Tees TV s studios in Newcastle to Face the Press in 1968 - his first network TV interview. He s looking directly at a lovely old lady who is waving her handkerchief at him - was she overcome by the emotion of the moment, or did she just have a heavy cold?