NEWS RELEASE
25 June 2012
UTV DOCUMENTARY- THE QUEEN AND IRELAND
UTV’s Paul Clark looks back at 60 years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign from an Ireland
perspective in a special programme entitled The Queen and Ireland this Tuesday night
at 8pm on UTV.
The Queen and Ireland traces the complex relationship between the monarchy and
Ireland, from her first visits to Northern Ireland as a teenage princess, right up to the
success of her historic state visit to the Republic of Ireland in May 2011.
Rob Morrison, producer said, “This documentary rewinds time to reveal the Queen’s
historical connections here. As a teenager she often spent her summers here visiting
her aunt, Lady Granville who lived at Hillsborough Castle. The former Head of
Household at the Castle remembers how the Queen knew Hillsborough better than
him. We talk to the Duke of Abercorn who recalls his first meeting with the Queen, the
day of his wedding in 1966, when the Queen attended as a guest.”
A wide range of interviewees reflect on the Queen’s deep involvement in Northern
Ireland and her sympathy for the victims of the Troubles. The Duke tells how the Queen
phoned him after the Omagh bomb to convey her deep condolences for the families
who had lost loved ones and those who were injured.
The documentary also looks at the enormous success of the Queen’s state visit to the
Republic of Ireland last year.
The Queen and Ireland is on UTV Tuesday 26 June 2012 at 8pm.
-EndsFor further information please contact Sian Devlin UTV Communications on 028 9026
2187