The Windsor Castle Fire: The Untold Story - Channel 4

Synopsis

This documentary creates a minute-by-minute account of the battle to save this iconic building. Many who were there that day reveal what really happened behind the castle walls. From an apprentice decorator, one of the first to see the fire, and his fearless actions to rescue priceless works of art, to the numerous firefighters who risked their lives to fight the blaze, including one who witnessed a man trapped in a roof collapse and another who thought two of his colleagues had died in a fireball.

For more than 12 hours, 200 firefighters battled this catastrophic fire as it burnt through the world’s oldest inhabited castle. More than a million litres of water were used to combat the blaze. Firefighters explain the tactics they used as they attempted to extinguish the fire, while others describe the multi-million-pound salvage operation, a race against time to rescue hundreds of priceless paintings and Royal treasures. The Queen’s press secretary at the time, Charles Anson, reveals how the Queen was devastated but philosophical after witnessing the fire for herself. In the aftermath of this disaster the Queen also had to deal with a major row about funding, which ended up changing the Royal Family forever.