Executive Producer Matt Drury on "William & Kate: Inside the Royal Marriage": Taking the Monarchy in a New Direction

On December 8, 2011, NBC Universal held a press call for William & Kate: Inside the Royal Marriage, airing Tuesday, December 13th from 8 to 9 p.m. Eastern on NBC. The special — hosted by Today's Natalie Morales — was a definitive account of the first six months of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's marriage. Executive Producer Matt Drury spoke about the documentary's central thesis: that William and Kate are taking the monarchy in a new direction, and what that looks like from the inside.

With the Duke and Duchess it seems to come naturally — there's no awkwardness. Whenever those kinds of things have been attempted in the past, it just feels wrong.

On the couple's approach to privacy

Matt explained that one of the documentary's most revealing insights came from Ben Fogle, a close friend of the couple: "Ben was very good on how they've moved somewhere quite remote and are trying to keep themselves to themselves — they don't have any live-in staff. But he also talked about how they are very choosy with their friends and the people they keep close to them. There's almost this informal agreement that if anybody very close to them does talk and does reveal private details, they'll find themselves banished from the trusted circle. I found that very interesting because it's not something I'd heard before — it feels like new information about how they manage their private life."

On making the documentary for an American audience

Matt noted the difference in appetite between U.S. and U.K. audiences: "The interest in Katherine as a fashion icon, as a young role model, just seems to be fever-pitched in America. There's this insatiable appetite for the Duchess of Cambridge. What we sought to do was set that in context with how previous generations approached the role. The Queen's children always attempted things of trying to be informal, trying to roll up their sleeves on public tours, but they always looked quite uncomfortable doing it. With the Duke and Duchess it seems to come naturally — there's no awkwardness. You saw them in Canada where the Duke flies a helicopter and lands it on the water, and they get into dragon boats and take part in a race. Whenever those kinds of things have been attempted in the past it just feels wrong. That's something we tried to bring out and contextualize."

On the documentary's relationship with Clarence House

Matt was clear that the production operated independently: "They don't have editorial control. They don't insist on us speaking to certain people and not speaking to certain people. They just let us get on with our job. When we first pitched the program and sought their cooperation, we told them the angle we wanted to take was seeing how they seem to be taking the monarchy in a new direction. And I think that's probably something they're quite keen on emphasizing — that they're helping to modernize the monarchy." William & Kate: Inside the Royal Marriage aired Tuesday, December 13th at 8 p.m. Eastern on NBC.

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