We joined Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, as she chatted with royal restorationists preparing her wedding dress for an exhibition. Later the camera peered over the shoulder of Prince Harry exchanging raffish small talk with students from the Caribbean who’d spent time behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace (they had, he jested, enjoyed a longer stay at the palace than he ever had).
The promised archive material, meanwhile, took us back to the Queen’s early years on the throne when she was a shy young woman sprung before her time into one of the highest profile jobs in the world.
She looked pale and serious launching Royal Yacht Britannia in 1954 though clips of Prince Philip and of a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne on board the vessel confirmed this was family who could muck about in private just like any other.
The obvious temptation when watching a modern documentary about the Windsors is to scan it for nuggets of the melodrama that has made Peter Morgan’s The Crown one of the rip-roarers of the age.
It was unquestionably moving to see the young Queen addressing the public as she still grieved for her father, the late George VI.
Just as illuminating was the ease with which Meghan Markle and Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, mingled with the public in their engagements, the traditional regal starchiness notable by its absence.
And it was fascinating to hear Princess Anne explain her no handshake rule on walkabouts you can’t possibly shake everyone’s hand so why prioritise one person above another? and her existential dread of selfies and iPads.
However, the documentary, narrated beatifically by actress Sarah Lancashire, might have itself benefitted from a similar thread of consistency as it bounded from the Caribbean interns to Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau preparing to welcome Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall on a state visit to Canada.
Yet the producers pinged so frenetically from interviewee to interviewee that they fell short of a coherent portrait of HRH on the world stage. The Royals came over well and seemed very much aware what a strange job it is they do.
But The Queen of the World ultimately had little new or insightful to communicate about Elizabeth as a global figure. If not quite a right royal snooze then it certainly rated as a missed opportunity.