Stephen Arnell

‘Perpetuating falsehoods’: films about royal fiascos

  • From Spectator Life
The Young Victoria (Shutterstock)

As the nation waits with bated breath for Sunday’s broadcast of Oprah Winfrey’s already notorious interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, here’s a smorgasbord of royalty in the movies, both real and fictional.

With the success of Netflix’s, The Crown at the Golden Globes (granted a semi-seal of approval from Prince Harry) and the threat of yet another biopic of his mother (this time starring Kristen Stewart), the appetite for on screen depiction of ‘The Firm’ shows no sign of lessening.

Recently there’s been a slew of saccharine TV movies from the likes of Hallmark and Netflix, all with the same basic plot, namely the travails of ‘inappropriate’ royal romances, which are of course pertinent to the current infighting in the House of Mountbatten-Windsor.

The Prince of Wales never really found himself depicted as the romantic lead in any movies, always rather the dissatisfied heir or miserable partner to his late ex-wife.

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