BBC apologises to Queen Elizabeth over photo shoot

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters) The BBC apologised to Queen Elizabeth for wrongly implying that she had stormed out of a photo shoot with American celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.

The British broadcaster backtracked on its implication that the monarch had lost her temper when asked to remove her crown.

The story became headline news around the world after a promotional trailer for a BBC documentary ''A year with the Queen'', due to be shown later this year, was shown to journalists.

''In this trailer there is a sequence that implies that the Queen left a sitting prematurely. This was not the case and the actual sequence of events was misrepresented,'' it said in a statement yesterday.

''The BBC would like to apologise to both the Queen and Annie Leibowitz for any upset this may have caused.'' Queen Elizabeth, who was being filmed for the behind-the-scenes documentary, was depicted as apparently having flounced out of a room at Buckingham Palace with an aide carrying her robes.

Scenes of the Queen and Leibovitz clashing over the request to remove the crown were followed by footage of the monarch walking down a corridor and telling her lady-in-waiting: ''I'm not changing anything. I've had enough dressing like this thank you very much.'' But the footage was actually filmed as the Queen made her way to the sitting.

The BBC said the promotional trailer was not intended to provide a full picture of what actually happened or what will be shown in the final programme.

The monarch had worn her crown and her Order of the Garter robes for the sitting with the photographer.

The trailer showed Leibovitz telling her: ''I think it will look better without the crown because the garter robe is so...'' Before the photographer could finish saying ''extraordinary'', the Queen gave her an icy stare and replied: ''Less dressy, what do you think this is?'', pointing to what she is wearing.

The trailer then cut to the Queen apparently walking off in protest.

The photographs were taken ahead of Queen Elizabeth's 80th birthday and an official trip to the United States. Leibovitz released four official portraits of the Queen.

Leibovitz is known for her quirky props when photographing famous people. Hollywood actress Whoopi Goldberg posed in a bath of milk and she photographed actress Demi Moore naked and heavily pregnant.

REUTERS SW PM0915