All the times members of the Royal Family have appeared on TV

King Charles and the Queen Consort Camilla appeared in Eastenders this year, but it’s not the only time royals appeared on TV (Picture: AARON CHOWN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

We’re used to seeing the Royal Family on our TV screens, from the annual Christmas speech to special events.

And we’re used to seeing the royals fictionalised, thanks to Netflix’s The Crown, now airing its fifth series.

In 2022, the royals have been on screens a lot for rather sad reasons – including the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

Luckily, if history is anything to go by, they’ll have plenty of opportunities to be on TV for happier reasons in the future. Here’s all the times royals have had cameo appearances on soaps, reality shows and other TV sketches…

I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

Starting with the most recent, Mike Tindall – son-in-law of Princess Anne – is currently starring in 2022’s series of I’m a Celebrity.

Despite saying he will mind what he says about the royals on the show, Mike has shared a memorable story of Zara almost ‘choking him to death’ during labour.

Coronation Street

King Charles, when he was still the Prince of Wales, appeared on Coronation Street’s live episode broadcast on December 8, 2000 for the programme’s 40th anniversary.

The cobbles got a touch of royalty (Picture: Anwar Hussein/Getty)

He was seen in footage on a television news bulletin as he was on a supposed visit to Weatherfield as Councillor Audrey Roberts was presented to him.

In reality, the footage was filmed earlier in the day as actress Sue Nicholls was presented to the Prince when he visited the Granada studios.

EastEnders

The Queen Vic had some other royals appear when the then Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall joined the cast for a street party celebrating Her Majesty’s 70 year reign.

In scenes filmed at the show’s Elstree set in March, ahead of the Platinum Jubilee, the episode aired over the bank holiday weekend in June.

EastEnders star Kellie Bright, who plays Linda Carter on the show, said that Charles and Camilla were ‘amazing sports’, adding: ‘I just hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.’

The Repair Shop

Proving that he’s one of the more showbiz-ready members of the family, the King’s third appearance on screen was during a special episode of The Repair Shop.

For a centenary episode of The Repair Shop, King Charles (then Prince Charles) joined Jay Blades and the team with some very special heirlooms in need of restoration.

Ahead of the episode, the BBC explained that he would ‘choose a piece of pottery made for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and an 18th Century clock to be restored by the programme’s team of experts.’

King Charles appeared on BBC’s The Repair Shop in a special episode (Picture: PA)

In the episode, Blades received a tour of Dumfries House in Scotland from The King himself, and met students from the Prince’s Trust who were learning traditional skills such as stonemasonry and blacksmithing.

In the episode, Charles talked about the benefits of apprenticeships and promoting practical or more vocational skills in young people, which he has seen during work with his Prince’s Trust.

Friends

The biggest sitcom in the world came across the pond to London for a special set of episodes, so it was  only fitting they had a touch of royalty to cement the episodes.

Fergie made some Friends (Picture: Warner Bros TV / Twitter)

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, appears in the iconic series, hanging out with Matt LeBlanc’s Joey.

Pre-dating the selfie, Joey whips out his camcorder to document the moment, filming himself standing next to Fergie, who says she finds his hat “kind of dashing.”

In I’ll Be There for You: The One About Friends, Kelsey Miller writes that while the royal had been “coaxed into the appearance by her daughters,” it actually helped relieve some of the animosity toward her in Britain. “At a time when Fergie-bashing had become a national pastime, Friends was a welcome relief,” she said.

This Morning

This Morning has welcomed many members of the Royal Family.

In 2018, Charles and Camilla joined forces with presenters Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby to celebrate the show’s milestone 30th anniversary.

In 2020, Kate Middleton spoke to Holly and Phil about her community project Hold Still, with one of her patronages, the National Portrait Gallery, and her motivations for utilising photography to capture the nation in lockdown.

Top Gear

In 2019, Mike and Zara Tindall felt the need for speed and appeared in BBC’s Top Gear.

Mike and Zara paved a lane of their own by starring in Top Gear (Picture: PA)

In the episode, Zara hopped into the driver’s seat as she appeared on the show’s Star in A Reasonably Priced Car segment.

The couple also raced against each other, with Mike pipping Zara to the finish post. Mike clocked in at 40.5 seconds whereas Zara finished in an impressive 41.6 seconds.

As they sat laughing and joking on the sofa, Zara revealed that Mike’s favourite type of music to drive to is musicals.

Smiling, he confirmed: “Rock of Ages I do enjoy. Obviously A Star is Born is big at the moment.”

BBC’s Big Night In

William had a Big Night In to raise funds for people impacted by Covid (Picture: BBC)

In 2020, Prince William made a surprise appearance with Stephen Fry on the BBC’s Big Night In tonight to help raise money for charity.

Children In Need and Comic Relief teamed up for the first time to raise money for charity and celebrate unsung heroes amid the Covid crisis.

Comedian Stephen Fry starred as Lord Melchett as he sat down to a Skype chat with Prince William.

Countryfile

Back in March 2013, the then-Prince Charles guest edited an episode of BBC’s Countryfile to mark the 25th anniversary of the long-running show.

The Olympics Opening Ceremony

One couldn’t forget the late Queen Elizabeth II’s iconic appearance during the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony.

Opening with Daniel Craig’s James Bond marching down the halls of Buckingham Palace, Bond finally ends up face to face with the Queen herself.

It’s a Royal Knockout

Now. How could this list neglect to mention the royal-centric episode of the classic gameshow, It’s a Knockout.

The Grand Knockout Tournament (also known as It’s a Royal Knockout) was a one-off charity event which took place on 15 June 1987, and was shown on British television on 19 June 1987

The show was conceived and organised by Prince Edward, who had been keen to develop a career in TV and theatre after he left the Royal Marines. The show featured Prince Edward, Anne, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew and his then wife Sarah Ferguson as team captains, each of whom supported a different charity.

The show was hosted by Stuart Hall, Les Dawson and Su Pollard.

the event drew an audience of 18 million domestically, making it the fourth most-watched programme of the year. It was later watched by 400 million viewers worldwide and raised over £1.5 million for the respective charities.

Still, despite being a ratings success, it’s long been known as a disastrous memory for the royals.

The Queen, biographer Ben Pimlott recalls, viewed the escapade with derision even before the cameras started rolling. In 1996 book The Queen, Ben writes of the Queen: ‘She was against it. But one of her faults is that she can’t say no.’

‘There was not a single courtier,’ one recalls, ‘who did not think it was a mistake.’ Their advice was confounded by youthful enthusiasm and the Queen’s maternal indulgence.”

Seeing royals dressed as vegetables and throwing ham at each other seems unfathomable today, but it really happened.

Royal Family 1969 documentary

Before there was Keeping up with the Kardashians, the Royals tried reality with a 105-minute documentary titled ‘Royal Family.’

Broadcast on June 21, 1969, the concept behind the documentary was to soften the royal image.

It was Lord Brabourne, the son-in-law of Lord Mountbatten, who suggested the idea.

It’s been widely reported that the royals, including the Queen, were against the idea from the start – and this can be believed if their reaction to the show afterwards is any indication.

After its premiere, Buckingham Palace greatly limited the film’s circulation, at least in its entire form.

‘I never liked the idea of “Royal Family”, I thought it was a rotten idea,’ Princess Anne later recalled, according to an account in the 2015 book, Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family.

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‘The attention which had been brought upon one ever since one was a child, you just didn’t need any more.’

The finished documentary showed a year in the life of the royal family.

Queen Elizabeth was featured working and making small talk with world leaders like US President Richard Nixon.

Royal cameos in film

From the small screen to the silver screen, some royals have appeared in film.

Princess Beatrice appeared in 2009’s The Young Victoria.

The Princess became a lady-in-waiting for a film role (Picture: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

The real-life great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Beatrice takes on the more humble role of a lady-in-waiting to the monarch (played by Emily Blunt), popping up in full Victorian garb.

Beatrice’s mother, Sarah, Duchess of York, was among Martin Scorsese’s team of producers on the film – making the cameo a bit more understandable.

Prince William and Prince Harry were also slated to appear in a Star Wars film in 2017.

The (British) Empire didn’t get to strike back because the Princes were too tall (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)

Known fans of the sci-fi series, William and Harry visited the set for The Last Jedi in 2017.

John Boyega revealed to the Hollywood Reporter that William and Harry filmed secret cameos as stormtroopers.

The scene never made it into the final edit, however, with the appearance reportedly being cut because the brothers were too tall, which made them stand out among the ranks of their fellow space soldiers.

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