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Princess Margaret not amused 12/9/2005
A royal rumpus caused by a British comedy film classic shot in Snowdonia has finally been revealed - nearly 40 years after the event.
Princess Margaret was apparently left fuming when she visited the set of the irreverent Carry on Up the Khyber.
The revelation came from the Wales Screen Commission who are honouring the movie as part of the North Wales Film and Television Trail.
On Friday, September 30, a plaque will be unveiled in Llanberis because the location shooting in 1968 happened high above the village.
The Watkin Path that leads to the summit of Snowdon doubled for the Khyber Pass and the cast and crew spent several weeks in the area.
Richard Coombs, the Film Liaison Manager of the Wales Screen Commission, in North Wales, said the royal “incident” spoke volumes about the irreverence of the Carry On films.
He said: “Princess Margaret visited the set during the filming and was shown a clip including the scene in which Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond, played by Sid James, writes to Queen Victoria.
“In the letter, Queen Victoria is addressed as ‘Dear Vicky’ and Princess Margaret was said to be incandescent with rage. I think it’s fair to say she was definitely not amused.”
Apart from the wrath of the Royal Family, Carry on Up the Khyber is by common consent the best of the series.
It is set in British India in 1895 when, according to a plot that takes a few liberties with history, Sir Sidney and his 3rd Foot and Mouth Regiment are trying to prevent the scheming Khasi of Kalabar from starting a full-scale rebellion.
The risqué Carry On series has a faithful following to this day with loyal fans around the world.
A Carry On fan club and website is run by Andy Davidson, whose professional life is a complete contrast to his private passion - he works as a PR executive for the IBM corporation in Zurich.
According to Andy, the Carry On films were a national treasure and the honour being bestowed by the Film Trail was “fantastic news”.
His Carry On website receives up to 2,000 hits a week and re-runs on satellite television have ensured a new legion of fans across the world.
Andy said: “Regular visitors range from young kids just discovering the films with their parents to people in the 70s and 80s who similarly enjoy watching with their grandchildren.”
“We recently did a survey and we are accessed by fans from 89 countries – all over Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and literally all around the world. They’re especially popular in America.”
“We run a poll on the website allowing people to vote for their favourite Carry On film and Carry On up the Khyber is always way up there on top of the list.”
“It’s a very wholesome formula, good family entertainment. They’ve been reviled during the hey day of political correctness as being sexist and ageist.”
“But the fact is, and I’ve got young kids myself, there is something there for everybody - there’s plenty of innocence and good clean smut, in the fine old British tradition.”
“Carry On Up the Khyber is a massively popular Carry On film. One reason is that it doesn’t really feel like a British film at all – it’s very extravagant and extremely well shot and it doesn’t look anything like Wales!”
“After the actor Bernard Bresslaw had finished working on the film, he was in a restaurant with some friends and the Indian waiter came up to him.”
“The waiter asked if he had enjoyed working in his country – he was absolutely convinced that it had been shot in India.”
And Peter Rogers, who produced the Carry On series, regularly received letters from ex-soldiers who had served in India, saying they recognised where he had filmed it.
The Carry On films are now shown in 140 different countries – including India itself though the costumes were originally used in another continent.
The costumes worn by the soldiers were hand-me-downs from a very different film classic, Zulu.
Richard Coombs said: “Carry On Up the Khyber was British film comedy at its very best.”
“It had a stunning cast and stunning writing, stunning production values and almost 40 years after it was made it still holds up as a great example of British comedy.”
“I think it is appropriate that we are paying tribute to Carry On Up the Khyber to represent a brilliant series of films that are now a British institution.”
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