A royal documentary the Queen banned nearly 50 years ago has been leaked online.

The 90-minute ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentary was one of television’s great secrets, featuring never before seen footage of a young Prince Charles and Prince Philip cooking sausages on a barbecue.

It’s understood the Queen ordered the BBC film be locked away in 1972 over fears it would destroy their royal mystique.

But some 49 years later, it has emerged on YouTube with thousands of people watching the documentary, simply called ‘Royal Family’.

A royal source pointed the figure at the BBC saying it a matter for the broadcaster.

‘From time to time, things pop up on the internet that should not be there,’ they told The Telegraph.

‘We will assume it’s going to be taken down.’

The video does appear to be taken down from YouTube, with one link to a now-deleted page says the footage is no longer available due to a copyright claim by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)’.

A BBC spokesperson told Metro.co.uk they will not be commenting, while a source told the Telegraph they would approach YouTube to have it removed.

‘We always exercise our copyright where we can,’ they said. ‘However, it is notoriously difficult to chase these things down on YouTube once they are out there.

‘Anybody can download it and you just end up chasing your tail.’

The documentary, created by Richard Cawston, was watched by more than 30 million people when it originally aired on BBC One and ITV in June 1969.

It was replayed repeatedly before being pulled from screens in 1972.

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