Diamond Jubilee Special: MORE NEW GALLERIES!

Taken from our video of The Queen’s first public broadcast in 1940.

Wow! Only a couple of days now until Her Majesty The Queen leads a flotilla of over 800 boats down the Thames, and it’s less than 48 hours until the Diamond Jubilee weekend commences and jubilations kick off! We’re thrilled to be included on the official Clarence House website for the Diamond Jubilee, not to mention featured in countless documentaries and shows that are being broadcast around the world this weekend.

Here on our own website we’ve been celebrating the Diamond Jubilee with a series of stills galleries. The first three of these were The Queen’s Hats, Princess Elizabeth – A Young Queen and Queen Around The World.

We have now released another three:

Queen In The USA

 

This is one for our American fans in the archive. Over 1,000 members of our Facebook are from the States and so we wanted to give them something. This gallery celebrates The Queen’s first visits to the USA and the British Sovereign’s relationship with America. It also contains some cracking shots of the American press in the 1950s and also some rare footage of George V watching a baseball match!

The Queen’s Day Off

We’re used to seeing The Queen at work, visiting parts of the Commonwealth, opening new buildings and making speeches at official occasions. But was Her Majesty like behind the scenes? In this gallery we’ve used lots of rushes and unused material to find stills of The Queen off-duty. We love the shots of a young Prince Charles too!

Expecting A Royal Visit

For most The Queen’s visit to their hometown is a memorable occasion, and for some it is even a first memory. As we have so much footage of The Queen in the 1950s and 1960s we decided to make this gallery of crowd shots – people waiting for The Queen to arrive. It’s interesting to note how fashions have changed and to speculate over who these people were (or still are!)

We hope you enjoy these latest three galleries. Please do forward them onto your friends if you think they’d like them. All of our videos and galleries can be watched for free and posted onto Facebook. We also have our own Facebook Page, and if you decide to share one of our galleries on Twitter then make sure to say hi to us @britishpathe. Have a good day!

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1960s Teen Idols: Life Before Lady Gaga

In 1967 the Daily Mail conducted a survey to establish who teenagers idolised

Although Hollywood was already a strong force and pop music had major clout over kids’ imaginations, it was still a very different world to the celebrity-driven egomaniacal world that we live in today. Supermarkets were new, televisions were only just becoming commonplace and teenagers weren’t as image-conscious as you can see from the video. It’s amazing who British teenagers voted as their top 10 idols:

1. Their Mothers

That’s right. Teenagers voted Mum as their number one role model, a warm and family-focused gesture from a generation who perhaps depended more on their parents to receive information and education than young people do today.

2. The Queen

The recent royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton proved just how popular the monarchy is, yet a teenage poll in 2011 would never rank The Queen so highly. Lady Gaga, Victoria Beckham and Jordan would be much more likely candidates.

3. Sir Francis Chichester

Sailing around the world was seen as such an astonishing feat in the 1960s it was basically science-fiction. It’s incredible how venerated these solo explorers were. (Good clip: 500,000 people greet Francis Chichester upon his return to Plymouth)

4. Mr Wilson

Prime Minister Harold Wilson was voted 4th biggest icon to teenagers in 1967, remarkable! We wonder where teenagers today would place David Cameron? Probably three hundred and forty-eight places beneath rapper Dizzee Rascal.

5. Their Fathers

Good old Dad, in at fifth place, not quite as cool as the Prime Minister evidently. Still, defying Freud nevertheless.

6. President Johnson

It seems even back then in 1967 teenagers were aware how chained British politics was to activities across the Atlantic. Interestingly, Barack Obama could well feature on a list of teen idols today, the first African American President and more liberal than his predecessor.

7. “Young husband”

We don’t understand this one? Presumably teenagers didn’t have husbands. Is it a person called Younghusband? We can’t keep up. Do leave a comment below if you think you can help us out here, thanks!

8. Elvis

The first pop star on the list, it’s Elvis alright, shown here with his bride Priscilla. Elvis is still an icon today, although perhaps not a role model that teenagers relate to. Still, he’s the first entertainment sector entrant on his list, a sign of times to come. (Good clip: Elvis weds Priscilla in 1967)

9. U Thant

Who on earth is U Thant? He was the United Nations Secretary. We’re starting to think teenagers’ Dads filled the questionnaire out now. Admittedly they were Daily Mail readers, still, could any teenager in Britain name the current UN Secretary? What about the current presenters of T4? As we thought.

10th equal. Prince Philip

Prince Philip, a teen icon. Now 89 years old we think it’s fair to assume teenagers wouldn’t place him up there in 2011, although he’s definitely cooler than Will.I.Am.

10th equal. Bobby Charlton

Bobby is still seen as a legend and a hero thanks to the 1966 World Cup victory. We’re sure David Beckham would rank today, and of course footballer Ronaldo, although both are businessmen and fashionistas as much as they are footballers, and neither men have achieved anything on the pitch to compare to Sir Charlton. (Good clip: World Cup Final 1966, colour footage)

If you were a teenager in the 1960s who would you vote to be your 10 role models and/or icons? We’d definitely have Mick Jagger, Brigitte Bardot and David Hockney in there. And what if you were a teenager today, in 2011? Would you vote into the top 10? A few suggestions from the staff at British Pathé: Lady Gaga, Prince William, Rihanna and Karen Brady. Goodness.

WATCH THE REEL HERE: Britain’s Top With The Teens (1967)

Watch over 90,000 archived newsreels for free on www.britishpathe.com