Was ‘Flash Gordon’ the Queen’s favourite film?
Everyone has a favourite film. Even if you don’t think you do, you definitely do. The same goes for even the most powerful people in the world, from the American President to the British Prime Minister (we’d guess that Joe Biden’s is Saving Private Ryan and Liz Truss’ is Babe), but what about the former monarch of Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth II?
Popular rumours suggest that the late Liz was a fan of several BBC shows, including Pointless, Antiques Roadshow and Strictly Come Dancing, with Camilla, now the Queen Consort, once revealing that she did watch the popular dancing show. Aside from somewhat predictable TV shows, we also know that the Queen was an unlikely fan of Twin Peaks, once turning down an opportunity to hear a Paul McCartney set to instead watch the latest episode of David Lynch’s series.
Although many consider the latest series of Twin Peaks to be an elongated movie, the truth is, it isn’t, with the Queen’s favourite movie reportedly being an entirely different fantasy flick.
Back in 2020, the British cult icon Brian Blessed claimed that the Queen’s favourite film was actually one of his own, saying the 1980 sci-fi Flash Gordon was adored by the monarch. In conversation with Yahoo Movies, Blessed stated: “The Queen, it’s her favourite film, she watches it with her grandchildren every Christmas”.
Continuing, Blessed goes as far as to mimic the Queen’s accent, quoting her as he bellows: “You know, we watch Flash Gordon all the time, me and the grandchildren. And if you don’t mind, I’ve got the grandchildren here, would you mind saying ‘Gordon’s alive’?”. Though the report is unconfirmed, the Queen clearly had a fondness for Blessed, appointing the actor an OBE for his services to art and charity in 2016.
Speaking about the legacy of his character in the iconic sci-fi movie, which follows a football player and his friends who find themselves saving the earth from a camp, fantasy threat, Blessed, who plays Prince Vultan, stated, “Everywhere I go, they all want me to say ‘Gordon’s alive!’…The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, horses and queens, and prime ministers, they all want me to say ‘Gordon’s alive!’, it’s their favourite film”.
The Queen isn’t the only lover of the movie either, with the Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi naming Flash Gordon one of his all-time favourites. Due to revive the film for the 21st century, Waititi is also attached to make a live-action remake of the movie, with producer John Davies stating, “He has the most fantastically interesting vision for this movie. And you can only know it is Taika”.
Continuing, he adds: “It is what he does. It is the way he looks at the world. He is the greatest guy in the world. He is the funniest guy in the world. And he thinks on a different plane. And this movie embraces everything that’s special about Taika, and his vision”.
