Queen's savage response as photographer asks to remove crown

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Then, photographer Annie Leibovitz was invited to do a session with Queen Elizabeth II. The monarch, draped in her official robes and tiara, was in the White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace. A BBC camera crew, producing a documentary series, called ‘A Year with the Queen’, wittnessed it.

A clip from the docuseries led to a scandal within the state broadcaster, forcing a boss to quit his job on this day 15 years ago. 

Ms Leibovitz was heard asking the monarch to take her tiara off for some of the shots. 

“I think it will look better without the crown,” she said. “Can we try it without the crown? I think it will look better and less dressy.” 

In tune with her well-known quick wit, the Queen responded: “Less dressy? What do you think this is?” referring to her robes. Ms Leibovitz talked about her taking the crown off, while Queen Elizabeth and others off-camera saw the comedy in the idea of a “less dressy” photo of her in the robes.

The video, which was used as a promotional tool for the release of the docu-series, then cuts to a clip of the monarch walking down a hallway with aides, saying: “I’m not changing anything. I’ve done enough, dressing like this, thank you very much.” 

Peter Fincham, BBC1’s controller at the time, said: “Annie Leibovitz gets it slightly wrong and the Queen walks out in a huff.”

The footage went viral, with erroneous claims she’d stormed off. However, it emerged it was edited out of sequence and the shot was, in fact, the Queen entering the room, not leaving. 

The BBC apologised to Buckingham Palace and Ms Leibovitz, admitting a “serious error of judgment”. A statement issued at the time said: “The BBC and RDF Television, the producers of the BBC1 series A Year with the Queen, would like to clarify that the clips shown in a promotional trailer on July 11 were not intended to provide a full picture of what actually happened or of what will be shown in the final program. 

“This was an important photo shoot prior to the Queen’s visit to the United States. In this trailer, there is a sequence that implies that the Queen left a sitting prematurely.

“This was not the case and the actual sequence of events was misrepresented. The BBC would like to apologise to both the Queen and Annie Leibovitz for any upset this may have caused.”

While the misleading edit was discovered by 7pm on the day of the launch, and a statement agreed upon at 9.44pm, the BBC didn’t correct its mistake until the next day. It’s understood the statement was held in order to “take the temperature” of the story. 

Three months later, Mr Fincham resigned amid the ramifications of what was dubbed “crowngate”. 

The series was eventually aired at the end of 2007, with the offending footage used but placed in the correct order.

Mr Fincham, who was the most senior victim of the damaging events, said he had decided to quit after the report by former BBC executive Will Wyatt highlighted a catalogue of “misjudgments, poor practice and ineffective systems”.

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Stephen Lambert, creative director of independent producer RDF, who was responsible for the controversial edit when compiling a showreel for potential overseas buyers, announced his resignation on the same day.

While some felt Mr Fincham had been made a scapegoat for his boss, director of BBC Vision Jana Bennett, others were furious he had been allowed to resign while up to 25 more junior colleagues faced job losses for their role in viewer deception.

Years later, the BBC received further criticism when it was revealed that Mr Fincham had reportedly been handed a £500,000 payoff after his resignation. At the time, the corporation declined to say whether the former controller had received a payoff. 

The revelation in 2013, came as the controversial payment was examined by the new BBC Director General Tony Hall and the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee.

Tory MP Stephen Barclay, who sat on the Public Accounts Committee, said: “It is remarkable that someone who failed to stop a falsely edited trailer which smeared Her Majesty the Queen and was criticised in a BBC internal review should be able to walk away with a public money payoff rather than face disciplinary action. 

“It illustrates a cosy cartel at the top of the BBC who are acting like an out-of-touch politburo rather than the guardians of public money.” 

Mr Fincham, who was the Director of Television for ITV at the time, later declined to say whether he would be returning the £500,000 payoff he received. During an interview with the BBC presenter Martha Kearney at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Mr Fincham said: “It is six years since I left the BBC and I have not talked about the circumstances in which I left and I don’t want to start now. I’ve really resisted turning into an armchair commentator on the BBC. I’m fundamentally a great supporter of the BBC.”

Pressed about giving back the money, he said: “I have confidentiality obligations which I have observed about this and I just don’t think this is the [right] forum.”

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