BBC Apologizes To Queen Over Film Trailer

Admits Mistake In Implying She Walked Out Of Portrait Sitting With Annie Leibovitz

(AP)  The British Broadcasting Corp. apologized to Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday for saying she had walked out of portrait sitting with photographer Annie Leibovitz.

The BBC said a promotional trailer released Wednesday from the upcoming documentary "A Year With the Queen" showed the monarch arriving, not departing.

That scene showed the queen walking down a Buckingham Palace corridor, wearing a crown and her Order of the Garter robes, and telling her lady-in-waiting: "I'm not changing anything. I've had enough dressing like this, thank you very much."

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Photos: Queen Bids Farewell
Photos: Queen Of Hats
Photos: Dinner Fit For A Queen

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"In this trailer, there is a sequence that implies that the queen left a sitting prematurely," the BBC said.

"This was not the case and the actual sequence of events was misrepresented. The BBC would like to apologize to both the queen and Annie Leibovitz for any upset this may have caused."

The promotional video showed the queen balking at the photographer's request that she remove her crown.

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Photos: Royal Birthday Boy
Photos: Concert For Diana
Photos: Royal Ascot 2007

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Leibovitz told the queen, "I think it will look better without the crown because the garter robe is so ...," but the monarch cut her off with an icy stare.

"Less dressy! What do you think this is?" the monarch said, gesturing to her attire.

[kevzgrl]

WHAT??? The media distorting and mis-representing the facts??? Quel horreur! How could they do that to a perfectly nice old lady who was raised to wear that crown? I think they do this stuff just to try to cast the royals in a bad light so they can try to make a case for getting rid of them, since they can't chop off their heads any longer. Leave Liz alone!!

[connkid2]

Ms. Leibovitz may be in a 'realm' of her own when it comes to her peers in her field of photo-graphic endeavours; however, one doesn't come invited, mind you, to Buckingham Palace no-less and tell the Sovereign how she should dress! I'm sure Ms. Leibovitz doesn't like to be told how to pose inviduals in a photo shoot, or to be told to use the Nikon instead of the Leica! The Garter robe and Orb is to the Sovereign, as the camera equipment is to Ms. Liebovitz: sacred.

[jnepo1771-2009]

The Queen needs to take a chill pill!

[galaxiana]

OMG!!! Journalists caught editing tape to make something appear to have happened that didn't! How utterly SCANDALOUS!

NOT.

It's more like Business As Usual in media-land. At least the Queen has enough clout to not have to put up with it. Good for her.

FWIW, I think Annie Liebowitz was way out of line asking the Queen to remove her crown in this fashion. What I would have done was humored the Queen by shooting a few pictures of her as she felt she should be presented, and then perhaps SUGGEST that if Her Majesty would like to try a couple of alternative presentations, I'd be willing to help. Then the Queen would probably ask, "what do you have in mind?" This would be the proper time to bring up the crown issue.

By all accounts, Liebowitz is a pushy, aggressive "queen-bee" herself who has to be in control of everything around her and the center of everyone's attention. Too bad she didn't have the intelligence and common sense to realize you just don't treat the Queen of England like you do a Hollywood starlet.

[wiccantexan]

Looks like some intentional mis-editing to show how the modern-day monarchy is viewed.