2012 A Royal Affair

2012 A Royal Affair

Christian loses it and tackles and fires Carolina's servant.

A Royal Affair is a historical drama.  I was not familiar with the story, so it was fun to learn about a piece of history of which I knew nothing.  Carolina Mathilda leaves England to marry King Christian VII of Denmark and become its queen.  She is very eager and excited at the prospect.  She is beautiful, accomplished, elegant, and enthusiastic to be a good wife to the king.  Unfortunately, the king turns out to have mental issues.  He acts like a child, has wild mood swings, embarrasses his new wife in public, and carouses publicly with prostitutes.  Carolina quickly bears him a son, and then the two keep their distance from each other, Carolina now repulsed by her husband.

Portrait of the real Carolina Mathilda.

Christian improves when he befriends his new doctor, Struensee, a man secretly part of the Enlightenment movement.  Struensee becomes his best friend, and encourages him to take power back from the council, where he has acted previously only as a puppet.  He also befriends the charming and educated Carolina, who is also pro-reform.  Carolina and Christian become a bit more friendly through the mutual friendship, and as they work together to come up with new reforms.  Unfortunately, it's too late for their marriage.  Christian has become more likable, but the damage has already been done, and Carolina's affections are no longer with him, and never will be again.

Struensee meets his daughter.

Christian eventually dissolves the council completely, and Struensee increasingly gains power, effectively running the country in the king's stead.  His friendship with Carolina turns into a love affair, resulting in the birth of a daughter.  Struensee has reached too high, and the deposed council and the king's stepmother seize power and have Struensee executed against the king's wishes, and Carolina exiled (and divorced from Christian, never to see her children again).  Carolina Mathilda dies abroad at the age of 24, and the movie ends with her two children reading the memoirs she has written for them, and an epilogue lauding the reign of her son, who reinstated Struensee's reforms and made many more.  It was a good movie.  I especially liked the actor that played Christian (he made the character nuanced and avoided caricature), but they were all good.  The costumes were beautiful.  It did drag a bit near the end, and could have been a little shorter.  Not a cheerful ending, but that's history.

Carolina is arrested.