Networks to Pay Tribute to Prince Philip

TVNZ 1 and Prime are pre-empting weekend programming to mark the passing of the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.

Premiering tonight at 8.50, after TVNZ 1’s double-banger debut of Nigella’s Cook, Eat, Repeat and Baby Chimp Rescue will be The Duke in His Own Words.

The BBC special is billed as an “intimate tribute” that was filmed over a year at Windsor Castle. Reads the BBC press release:

What started as a personal tour turned into something much more revealing and unexpected – a journey through the life of a very modern man, a pioneer and innovator who was at the heart of the British Monarchy, and the Queen’s side, for over seventy years.

In his role of Ranger he shows us around the Windsor estate, and describes what it was like when he first arrived in 1952: how he transformed the castle inside and out; how he handled the old guard; his biggest bug-bear, the tree-huggers; his successes and (very messy) failures as an ecopioneer; how he turned Windsor into a home fit for a young and growing family; what is was like following in the footsteps of his predecessor and ancestor Prince Albert; he tells us about his love of polo and the real reason he built a polo club on the grounds, and how he wrote the rules for carriage-driving- the sport he never gave up.

And he even touches on his own place in history, and his firm belief that it is for others to decide his legacy …

There is relaxed banter with the film crew, funny off-camera exchanges (which we include), but there are also serious and at times some very poignant and reflective moments.

And all this at the place he calls home-which of course will be his final resting place too.

This is the real Duke, in his own words, a unique and enduring portrait which reveals the side of a man rarely seen.

Prime will pre-empt tomorrow night’s Outback Truckers at 7.30 for the premiere of Prince Philip: For Queen and Country.

Reads the billing: “Husband to the most famous woman in the world, as well as naval officer and gentleman with a mischievous wit, Prince Phillip stood by Queen Elizabeth II’s side as she became the UK’s longest-reigning monarch.”

Mewanwhile, here’s the wall-to-wall coverage the UK’s free-to-air networks have scheduled.