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OU on the BBC: Family Ties - On the wrong side of the royal blanket

In Alison Pierce’s family, stories of a ‘royal connection’, of a child being born ‘on the wrong side of the blanket’, have persisted for generations. Read more about the programme on the wrong side of the royal blanket.

06 Jan
2006
Production team Alison

In Alison Pierce’s family, stories of a ‘royal connection’, of a child being born ‘on the wrong side of the blanket’, have persisted for generations.

And take the photograph of a little girl called Annie out of her family album, and place it alongside a picture of Edward VII...and the resemblance is striking!

This is the intriguing story about illegitimacy in late Victorian times, of a possible ‘upstairs-downstairs’ alliance between servant and master…or even a cover up for a royal mishap!

The film follows 51-year-old Alison as she attempts to get to the bottom of a story that was passed down to her by her Great Aunt Connie, just before she died. The mystery centres on Alison’s great grandmother Naomi Kaye, who was in service as a cook in a grand house in Kent, and involves the birth of her illegitimate daughter, known in the family as ‘Annie Hardinge’.

First broadcast: Wednesday 11 Jan 2006 on BBC FOUR

Family Ties in more depth:

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• Body text - Copyrighted: The Open University
• Image 'Alison' - Copyrighted: Production team

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