Crowning glories: A decade-by-decade look at the life of Queen Elizabeth II.

An eight-part documentary starting on Prime this week takes a decade-by-decade look at the life of Queen Elizabeth II.

Charles Colville (right) has no desire to interview the Queen. “I’m sure that shows a lack of journalistic ambition,” he laughs.

Yet, without access to the monarch herself, the BBC producer has pieced together an intimate, decade-by-decade portrait of one of the world’s most famous women.

Elizabeth, an eight-part documentary, includes interviews with people closest to her, going as far back as friends who joined her in the Girl Guides and had swimming lessons with her as a child.

“The people around the Queen have done a very good job of keeping her relatively mysterious (until now),” says Colville. “We uncover anecdotes and sides of her personality that people don’t know.”

Beginning with a glimpse into her childhood, Elizabeth investigates the Queen’s marriage to Prince Philip, her Coronation and major subsequent events in her life.

Colville recalls a memorable interview with one of her deputy private secretaries who said, “Even in the 1990s, I could see her getting out of the royal train, huge crowds waiting for her, and she had to pull herself together to face them.”

It’s an insight that prompts Colville to say, “The idea that someone has done that for their whole life, even though they aren’t naturally gregarious, naturally extrovert – yet they think it’s their duty to do it – is an extraordinary sacrifice.”

When asked to imagine what an interview with the Queen would be like, Colville anticipates she wouldn’t be very forthcoming. But after filming Elizabeth, there is one question he would like to ask.

“Has she enjoyed being Queen?” he wonders.

“I just hope she has. Otherwise it’s been a jolly long life sentence.”