Queen seen swimming, cooking and off-duty in archive footage that claims to show her true ‘shy’ personality

‘Behind that serious countenance, someone with a very lively sense of humour,’ says former press secretary Charles Anson

(ITV)

Outwardly, the Queen has maintained a certain level of stoicism and seriousness throughout her 67-year reign.

Less is known about the monarch when she is away from royal duties, but a documentary to air on Thursday night help sheds some new light.

Airing on ITV on 8 April, The Queen Unseen features interviews and previously unseen footage of the Queen as well as sharing commentary on her true nature and personality behind-the-scenes.

The amateur home footage included has been recently digitised in colour and shows the Queen in some off-duty moments.

It features clips from tours in countries such as New Zealand and also includes videos of time spent at Balmoral in Scotland.

(ITV)

One clip comes from when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh stayed with New Zealand’s Governor-General, Sir Willougby Norrie over Christmas in 1953 while on a break from a royal tour.

Footage from Christmas Day shows Prince Philip in the outdoor swimming pool at the house struggling to get onto an inflatable lilo.

The Queen also joined the family by the pool and reportedly when the Governor-General’s family took their dog for a walk, she said “she wished she could come with us”.

Read more:

• Queen ‘told Meghan she could continue her acting career’, claims royal expert 
• Kate Middleton ‘being very careful’ not to take limelight from Prince William, claims royal expert 
• All the bizarre powers you didn’t know the Queen has 
• 7 things you may not know about Princess Anne
• Princess Eugenie got into trouble with royals for sharing behind-the-scenes palace photo

Other home footage from time spent on holiday in the Scottish Isles shows the Queen enjoying downtime and cooking for friends on a barbecue.

Speaking about the candid holiday footage, royal biographer Robert Hardman says in the documentary: "There were no appointments, she could get up when she liked, wear what she liked, all the family were there and that simply didn’t happen anywhere else.”

In footage from 1972, the Queen is also seen eating an orange that has been picked for her by President Tito of Belgrade. The monarch is seldom seen eating in public.

Elsewhere in the documentary, interviews with people who have been around the Queen help to demystify her character.

(ITV)

Charles Anson, press secretary to Her Majesty from 1990-1997, says that the 94-year-old monarch is funny. He said: “There’s actually, behind that serious countenance, someone with a very lively sense of humour.”

Sports presenter Clare Balding recalls witnessing the time the Queen, a “natural country woman”, won a Tesco voucher at an equestrian event.

She said: “There’s a very innocent, lovely, childlike joy at winning a rosette or a Tesco voucher for 50 pounds, which happened a couple of years ago.

“And honestly, you would have thought The Queen had won the lottery!”

Anson also reveals that the Queen actually has quite a shy personality, though it is often hidden in the public eye.

He said: “The Queen is, by nature, quite a shy person. Her temperament and personality is on the side of being reserved and being holding back slightly.”

The Queen Unseen airs at 9pm tonight on ITV.