The TVE program History of our cinema celebrates its tenth anniversary. And to celebrate, beyond summarizing the Iberian perspective on the seventh art through guests from different generations, it required an official greeting from Queen Letizia. The queen, who will long for her past as a journalist and presenter, graced the program with a three-minute speech on a set. She stood alone, looking at the camera, and delivering a dissertation on the cultural power of cinema, peppered with famous quotes from great Spanish directors.
The greeting became an act of brilliance for the queen to remind the audience of her talent as a presenter. Carrincló, full of energy, and with the self-confidence of the most dedicated student in the class who wants to go up to the blackboard to point out the differences. The thematic news channel 24 Horas echoed the message.
The question, however, is whether public television should resort to this kind of congratulations and outdated gimmicks today. The monarch on television should be perceived more as an intrusion than as an added value. On the other hand, it opens a window of propaganda for the Crown, linking it to culture and a context of modernity. Cinema in the monarchy or the monarchy in cinema? In any case, it can be used as a trigger for stories, always from a position of freedom. Grace Kelly, as Princess of Monaco, might have made sense as an institutional and symbolic representative of the film world, but that is not the case with Letizia. She seeks the approval of a hegemonic power associated with the most conservative tradition.
