Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)

Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)

Elizabeth: Bertie, I don't think your brother would eat a hot dog.
George VI: How would you know that?
Elizabeth: Because he'd know what was meant!!
George VI: It doesn't mean anything!...Don't ever compare me to my brother again.


What a disappointment.  I was hoping that the critics were wrong about this one (it was panned) but they were right -total crap.

It sounded like an interesting premise: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt meeting with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on the brink of World War II to discuss a potential alliance.


Sadly, the movie focused less on this important meeting and more on FDR's romances with his mistresses, particularly Daisy Stuckley, played by Laura Linney.  Laura Linney's not my favorite actress, but her character was particularly unlikeable in this.  Daisy is simpering, passive, and doe eyed.  She doesn't seem to have anything else in her life other then keeping FDR company and pleasing him.  When she discovers that he has canceled an evening tryst with her only to have sex with another mistress, Missy, at the house he supposedly built especially for Daisy, FDR even has the gall to send the mistress he is in bed with to run after Daisy and convince her that it's okay to share him -you know, because he's such a great, important man, so they just need to be understanding:

Daisy: I don't think I can 'share'.
Missy: Oh I think you can.

And she buys it.  Gross.  FDR, played by Bill Murray, is made out to be very sleazy.  Watching his smug, condescending reaction as two of his mistresses bicker over who gets to take care of him is gag-worthy:

Missy: What are those for?
Daisy: He has a headache.
Missy: You do?
Daisy: It's his sinuses again.  Happens this time every year.
Missy: I know that.  You didn't say anything about having a headache.
Daisy: He's not going to trouble you with everything.  You have enough on your plate.
Missy: What does that mean?
FDR: It means, Missy, that you take very good care of me. [To Margaret] It means you do too.

For a moment, when FDR calls her to his office after the incident, I thought she'd actually mustered some gumption when she yells furiously, "No, you’re not getting off that easy, you son of a bitch!"  Then it goes back a step and we find out that the yelling was just in her head:  "But that’s not what I said.  Instead: 'No. I need to go.'"  She goes home and makes her big stand after the King and Queen have left: "The next day, he sent a car.  But I said I was too ill to take a drive.  I was ill the next day.  And the next.  And the next day after that.  A week after the Royals’ visit to Hyde Park, the President came in person to my house.  I had been waiting."  And he's forgiven.  Wow, she really showed him.  Their romance is beyond boring, and there's a lot of it.

The real Margaret (Daisy) Stuckley and FDR.

The movie could have done without Laura Linney's character entirely, and been better for it.  If it had centered on what was actually interesting about the story, the meeting between the figureheads of two of the major world powers as war looms, it could have been good; instead, we get to watch FDR show Daisy his stamp collection.  And throughout the whole thing, Daisy narrates EVERYTHING, and it is monotonous, overly-sentimental, bad writing.  Instead of telling a story with meaningful dialogue or through strong performances, the movie just relies on Daisy telling us what is happening and what everyone is feeling.



I read that the movie is not considered very accurate historically.  While FDR certainly had romances with these women, it's not known whether he had sexual relationships with them.  Also, while the movie insinuates that Eleanor Roosevelt was a lesbian, I don't believe there is evidence supporting that conclusion.  As Conrad Black states on Nationalreview.com: "This film pushes it, with Missy emerging from FDR’s hilltop cottage rebuttoning her blouse as Daisy arrives, and the king and queen observing his return from their bedroom window in the middle of the night.  Roosevelt’s medical records survive, and there is no doubt that he retained his sexual powers after the onset of polio in 1921, though the impact of inactive legs might have been inhibiting even to such a confident man.  Hyde Park is pretty explicit in implying that Eleanor was a lesbian.  There is no more substance to this allegation than to the feminist confection that Eleanor was a virtual co-president.  The only evidence of supposed lesbianism is a letter to one of her lady friends about the pleasure of kissing her dimpled cheek.  It is more likely that she was simply asexual after, as she put it, “doing her [maternal] duty.”"

The time spent discussing the upcoming war is extremely brief.  Much of the time the King and Queen are on screen is filled with their American hosts going out of their way to be rude to them and make them uncomfortable.  In one instance, Queen Elizabeth enters her husband's room to find him looking at pictures on his wall:

Elizabeth: What are they of-?
George VI: British soldiers.  The 1812 War.  Cartoons actually.  Mocking them.  Us.
Elizabeth: They put you in a room with-?
George VI: The mother tried to apologize.  I told her I found them funny.  She said she tried to remove them, but her son insisted.
Elizabeth: Why would he do that?  What was he trying to say?
George VI: I don't know.  I don't know.  He knows this is important.  He knows why we’re here.

The real Queen Elizabeth and King George VI.

Regarding the King and Queen, I hated how their relationship was portrayed, with the Queen berating him for his stuttering and comparing him unfavorably to his elder brother more than once: "They're trying to make us seem common.  Your brother would never have stood for this.  I'm sorry, but he wouldn't."  Everything I've read has always indicated that they had a very close, supportive relationship.  I can't see those words ever coming out of her mouth -I think it would have been devastating for him, and she did not approve of his brother's behavior at all -but who knows, maybe I'm wrong.  The King also seems like a scared young child, with FDR acting as the wise fatherly figure giving him a pat on the head, which I didn't like at all.  The King had his own strength in my opinion, and FDR isn't shown as very fatherly or wise the rest of the movie, so it doesn't fit.

Bad, bad, bad all around.

Restoration (1995)

Restoration (1995)

 Merivel: You cannot banish joy, for that is the road to madness.


Restoration, like The Last King, is set in the time of King Charles II of England.  The main character is a fictional doctor named Robert Merivel (Robert Downey Jr.).  He is a young, talented physician, but finds his work dark and depressing: "I do what I can to treat them, but our sciences gives us no hope of curing most of them, and I am frustrated!"

King Charles II and Merivel

He is thrilled when he gets the opportunity to go to court and serve Charles II, where he tends the royal dogs, wears fancy clothes, and womanizes to his heart's content, to the dismay of his friend John Pearce, who laments the waste of Merivel's skills:

Pearce:  When you stood in this room and put your hand around that man's heart -something I did not dare do that date -your vital flame was burning.  Now, you see, the light has gone out of your eyes.
Merivel: No, my study of medicine has given me nothing but a perpetual and visable awareness of mortaility; that were I continue it would very shortly bring me despair...
Pearce: You have a gift for healing, Merivel.
Merivel: I do not!
Pearce: Yes.  Oh, yes, you do.  For understanding sickness.
Merivel: Death is a terrible thing, Pearce.  I need color and light, not darkness and death.  I feel I've had quite enough of dark things.  I want bright things and decorative things.  I am, after all, a creature of the new age.

The King's mistress, Lady Castlemaine (never seen), is jealous of another of his mistresses, Lady Celia (fictional).  So Lady Celia is married off to Merivel to appease Lady Castlemaine -with the strict understanding that the marriage will be in name only, as she is to remain the King's mistress.  In exchange, Merivel is given a knighthood and his own estate.

Polly Walker as Lady Celia.

Supporting actors include Ian McKellen as Merivel's loyal servant Will Gates, Hugh Grant as a foppish artist, and Sam Neill as Charles II.

Naturally, Merivel falls in love with Lady Celia against the King's orders, and loses all that he is gained.  "Love was the only thing not asked of you.  Indeed it was the only thing expressly forbidden of you," the King tells him.  Merivel tries to protest that he can't go back to being a doctor, to no avail:

Katharine.

Merivel: Your Majesty, you took me from the Royal College, gave me your dogs to look after, liked me for my foolishness.
Charles II: No, Merivel.  I liked you for your skill.

Turning to his old friend Pearce and Pearce's fellow Quakers for help, he begins to work at their hospital for the mentally ill as he gets back on his feet.  There he meets a damaged woman (Meg Ryan) named Katharine, and rediscovers his talent for healing.



Merivel goes through a lot of big changes as his world evolves around him -court life, poverty, wealth, the Plague, the Great Fire, love, loss.  As I've said before, I like movies where characters go through transformations, and Merivel did, from court fool to selfless doctor, so I enjoyed it.  It was also quite funny.  Tyler watched the last half with me, and thought it was good -he compared it favorably to Tom Jones.

The Last King aka Charles II: The Power and the Passion (2003)

The Last King aka Charles II: The Power and the Passion (2003)


Unfortunately, the version of this mini-series released in the U.S. is an abridged version, with a whole hour cut, making it a 3 hour series.  I have read that the cuts really hurt the show, making things more confusing and messing with the flow of the story.

Portrait of the real Charles II.

Regardless, I did enjoy it.  There was a lot of new information to digest, and so many historical figures I knew nothing about, that I think it would be good to watch it again, but it was enjoyable.  Charles II is a fascinating character, which is probably why so many movies are set during the restoration of his reign (The Libertine, Restoration, Stage Beauty, etc.).

Charles II begins the movie exiled in France, his father having been beheaded and Oliver Cromwell in charge of the government as Lord Protector.  Then, when Cromwell dies, I guess the people figure if a son is going to take over, it should be the King's son (Charles II) and not the Lord Protector's son (Richard Cromwell), which means the beginning of the restoration of the monarchy in England.  It's more complicated than this, but I am not an expert on the English Civil War or the English Restoration by any means.



So Charles II, played by Rufus Sewell, is back in England and on the throne of England.  Things are a pretty big mess for him.  He is traumatized by the death of his father, doesn't get along with his formidable mother, and has a religious crisis on his hands (Catholics versus Protestants, as usual).

Promotional photo of Charles II
surrounded by his women: (clockwise
from front) Queen Catherine,
Frances Stewart, Lady Castlemaine,
Lady Portsmouth, Nell Gwynn.

Rufus Sewell was good, though somehow I pictured Charles II with a less serious temperament -not that I have any evidence to support this idea, it was just an impression I had that he was more easy going-a bit more like how James Villiers played him in The First Churchills.  Still, I did like him.

The monarchs in history either seem to have been loyal spouses or complete leches, and Charles II was the latter.  He had multiple mistresses at all times, and things were pretty serious with most of them.  They often weren't one-night stands (though he had those, too); rather, he had long-standing affairs that involved the women giving birth to his children (most of whom he acknowledged) and many favors exchanged (titles, money, etc.).  An affair with the generous King was highly profitable for the women.  Mistress Nell Gwynne tells him her expectations in no uncertain terms:

Charles: You’re very beautiful, Nell.
Nell Gwynn: You don’t have to pay me compliments.  I’m not one of your simpering court ladies with a head full of romantic poetry.  I warn you, I want more than a quick pleasuring and a few trinkets for my trouble.
Charles: [Sighs] How much more?
Nell Gwynn: I don’t mean money.  I want respect.  I know what I’m worth, and any man who spends time with me better know it to, and that includes Kings.  Of course, if you do want to give me the odd token of your affection I won’t be offended.
Charles: I’ll make you rich, Nell.
Nell Gwynn: Comfortable will do.  To start with.

And another mistress, Lady Portsmouth, is equally clear:

Lady Portsmouth: My honor is my own affair now.  And with your sister gone, I must find another protector.  But alas, Sir, I have no money of my own.  I cannot remain in England.  [Slides closer to him and smiles] Unless, of course, Your Majesty wishes me to stay.
Charles: His Majesty can think of nothing more charming.
Lady Portsmouth: You may kiss me now if you wish.

Lady Castlemaine and a portrait of the
real Barbara Palmer, Lady Castlemaine.

His most prominent mistress for much of his rule was Barbara Palmer, titled Countess of Castlemaine and 1st Duchess of Cleveland.  She was able to wield a great deal of power over him.  I wish I knew her secret (or maybe I don't want to know) -she seemed really pushy and ambitious, she slept with multiple other men, including the King's favorite illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, and his best friend, George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, and still he couldn't say no to her:

Lady Castlemaine: You don’t love me at all.  My good name’s been squandered for a man who treats me with contempt!
Charles: You’re Countess of Castlemaine now.  I made you rich.  What more proof of my affection do you need?  Your position will not suffer by my marriage.
Lady Castlemaine: I have no position.  Other than on my back.
Charles: Whatever I can do for you I will.
Lady Castlemaine: Very well, make me first lady of the Queen’s bedchamber.  [When he hesitates] Out.  Get out!  Go on, you have what you came for, why don’t you just go?
Charles: You’re my mistress, and everyone knows it.  It’d be a grotesque humiliation for the Queen to make you her principal attendant.
Lady Castlemaine: I have sacrificed everything for you!  All I ask is this one tiny thing from you in return!  Well, I see how things must be now.
Charles: If this is what you really want.  Perhaps something can be arranged.

She's demanding and annoying, and for quite a while has him wrapped around her finger (along with multiple other men).  Helen McCrory played Lady Castlemaine, and while she is a good actress, I didn't think she was pretty enough for the part.  Lady Castlemaine was supposed to have been a great beauty, and to have snared so many of the powerful men of the time it seems she would have had to have been gorgeous, and Helen McCrory doesn't quite fit the bill, though tastes were different back then.

Frances Stewart and a portrait of the real
Frances Stewart, Duchess of Richmond.

He also fell in love with Lady Frances Stewart -well, sort of:

Charles: Say the word, and everything you've ever dreamt of will be yours.  Everything.
Frances Stewart: Do you love me, Sir?
Charles: I have rarely felt such a need for a woman.  Perhaps that is love, I cannot say.

Apparently he toyed with the idea of marrying her, but she refused to become his mistress and married someone else before he could really consider it.  Were she as ambitious as Lady Castlemaine, she might have become queen.  It was actually kind of nice to see somebody reject him -he was so used to women saying yes to him.  He became very indignant when she refused his offer.

Charles II with his sister, Princess Henrietta
(with Lady Portsmouth walking behind them)
and a portrait of the real Princess Henrietta.

Nell Gwynn and a portrait of the real Nell Gwynn.

His two favorite mistresses at the end of his life were the actress Nell Gwynn, who was abrasive and crass but at least honest about what she was, and Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, who came from France with the King's sister Henrietta's entourage and was pretty and sweet but also whiny and weepy.  In one amusing scene, which is based on true events, Nell's carriage is attacked by people believing that she is the Catholic Louise de Keroualle, and she yells out cheerfully, "Good people, you are mistaken; I am the Protestant whore!" which is met by cheers.  Charles's wife, Catherine, gets along best with Lady Portsmouth, happy to have her replace Lady Castlemaine, who she hated, in the King's affections.  She even offers her advice:

Catherine: Mademoiselle de Keroualle, you should know by now the King loves his women bright, witty and diverting.  All this weeping and howling is not the way to keep his attention.  It is making you quite ugly.  [Offers a handkerchief] If you want him to love you again, be the woman he yearns for, and has never had.
Lady Portsmouth: What woman?
Catherine: An affectionate mother.

Lady Portsmouth and a portrait of the real Louise de Keroualle, Lady Portsmouth.

His mother, the devoutly Catholic Queen Henrietta Maria (daughter of Marie de' Medici and Henry IV of France), is depicted as cold and heartless, even refusing to visit her younger son's death bed when he asks for her because he is a Protestant.  Diana Rigg plays her, and she looks very old and dowdy.  In her portrait at the time of the Restoration she actually looked kind of pretty, so either the movie took artistic license or the artist painting her did.  I at least think she would have had better hair and clothes.  See my review of The Devil's Mistress for a different portrayal: http://www.kaleenasmith.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-devils-mistress-aka-devils-whore.html

Henrietta Maria and a portrait of the real Queen Henrietta Maria.

The above are just some of his love interests -there were many more.  On his death bed, some of Charles's last words were in regards to his mistresses: "Be kind to Portsmouth and let not poor Nelly starve."

In addition to all these women, he had the aforementioned wife: Catherine of Braganza from Portugal.  When he first meets her, she speaks no English and has an insane hairdo, and he is not impressed: "My god, they've brought me a bat to marry."  He spends his wedding night with Lady Castlemaine.  Over time, as Catherine's English (and hair) improves, and he gets to know her better, he begins to appreciate that she has a kind and gentle personality.

Catherine of Braganza first meeting Charles II and a
portrait of the real Catherine of Braganza.

When she falls ill after a miscarriage, he stays with her through the night, comforting her when she becomes delusional and believes they have children together:

Catherine: Have you seen our little boy?  I fear he must be very ugly.
Charles: No.  He’s a very pretty little boy.       
Catherine: He will be strong and brave.  You will be proud of him.  How are the other children?
Charles: I’ve forgotten.  How many children do we have?
Catherine: Why three of course.
Charles: Of course.  They are well.  Very well.

Catherine in casual dress (trousers).

She is Catholic, and gets attacked by people at court because of her religion, but he seems to respect her piety and protects her.  While she eventually accepts that he will never love her or be faithful to her as she would wish, she still supports him and learns to accept his faults, which wins her points with Charles.  When Parliament (and Lady Castlemaine) pushes him to divorce her, as she is unable to bear children after miscarrying, he refuses, much to her great relief:

Queen Catherine comforts Charles after his sister's death.

Charles: Whispers and rumors swarm around my court like a pack of flies.  The time has come to put an end to so much uncertainty.
Catherine: If the axe is to fall, I pray you deliver the blow swiftly.
Charles: An act of parliament is all I require to end our marriage.  It’s a simple process, I’m informed, with good precedence in law.  But God’s divine will is not to be set aside lightly.  What I am, He made me.  He alone will decide my successor, not Parliament or any earthly party.  I will not grant Parliament rights it may one day use against me or the legitimate heirs of my blood.  I will suffer no more talk of divorce or annulment.  I’ve never considered it.  I never will.
Anne [In tears]: I know you can never feel more than a friend’s affection for me, but as long as you allow me to love and serve you, it is enough.
Charles [Turning to Monmouth]: The past is a closed book.  It can never be reopened.  Whatever you have been told, or choose to believe, there is nothing to be found in it that will change your destiny.  My brother, the Duke of York, is my heir.  Only a legitimate child of my blood will ever replace him, and no such child exists.  Let this be an end to these matters forever.  Forget your vain ambition.  Be happy as you are.

I thought Shirley Henderson, a quirky actress, was great in the part, giving the character a lot of heart and complexity.

The Duke of Monmouth and a portrait of the
real James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth.

Charles also refuses to make his illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, his heir in place of his brother James.  Parliament won't stand for James as future King, as he is Catholic, and though Charles knows that it will cause a huge rift, he will not change the line of succession, and eventually dispenses with Parliament over the issue:

"Talk of the exclusion of the Duke of York from the rightful succession is treason.  Any who speak of it set themselves against legitimate authority and are the heirs in spirit to those rebels who so recently plunged our country into rebellion and civil war.  Can anyone here contemplate such evil without horror?  Let there be no confusion.  The Duke of York is my heir and will remain so.  His right his ordained by God and no man may alter it.   Anyone who denies this truth makes themselves an enemy of God, King and country.  Think on that before you take another step towards chaos.  All the world may see what a point we have come to.  Nothing that begins in such division is likely to end well.  I declare Parliament dissolved.  Gentlemen, go home.  I will not trouble you any further."

James, the Duke of York and a portrait of the
real Duke of York, later James II of England.

Portrait of the real Anne Hyde,
first wife of the Duke of York (left),
and Anne Hyde at a spa with Lady Castlemaine.

He laments later:

Charles II: It's all been for nothing, Nell.  The cause that gave my life meaning, will die with me. I fought to restore everything that was lost when my father was murdered but James will destroy it all.  I know that, I've always known that.
Nell: Then why did you fight so hard for him?
Charles II: Not for him, for the principle.  For the rights of Kings.  Parliament will have its victory in the end.
Nell: You know what I think about politics; it's all a lot of foolish men scheming to ruin each other for no reason anyone can remember a few years later.  If it was up to me, I'd give the throne to Monmouth. Because, in my opinion, a King should always be handsome.
Charles II: Sweet Nell, how much better the world might be if it were arranged to your liking.

The title "The Last King" refers to the fact that he was the last king to rule without a Parliament.

Freeman as Lord Shaftesbury and Graves as the Duke of Buckingham
and as Detective Lestrade and Dr. Watson in Sherlock (right).

Portrait of the real Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
and a portrait of the real George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham.

Other major characters are Rupert Graves as the Duke of Buckingham (Note: Buckingham married Mary Fairfax, the daughter of Thomas Fairfax and Anne de Vere, the main characters from the movie To Kill a King) and Martin Freeman as Lord Shaftesbury, and it was funny to see them together with their enormous wigs after having seen them act  together as Detective Lestrade and Dr. Watson in Sherlock.

I would have liked to have seen the full version of the series in order to get a better idea of the events of the time.  Still, it's a good one to watch, but you have to be okay with some sexually explicit scenes (though the U.S. version did edit out nudity).   I should also mention that the show does contain a lot about the politics of the time, but as I am more interested in the relationships of Charles II, that's what I've talked about here.

One thing that has become clear to me watching this show (and movies about Henry VIII), is that it doesn't pay to get too close to the king.  It's like flying too close to the sun.  His closest friends and advisers either turn to treason, unable to deny their over-abundant ambition, like Buckingham and Monmouth, or they are so loyal that eventually they're expected to take the fall for the King over some issue or other, even if they're very close to him and have offered years of loyal service, like the Earl of Danby and Edward Hyde.  Friendship with the King may seem like a good idea in the beginning, but it often ends badly.  Even his mistresses, who made off like bandits when they were in favor, often ended in squalor -Lady Castlemaine and Lady Portsmouth notably.

Also, it is incredible how many people take what appear to be minor religious differences VERY seriously.  These people were at each others throats over issues that seem so minor to me.  Charles was more tolerant than most, but Parliament, his people, and his family all put such pressure on him kill kill kill all the Catholics or Protestants (depending on their own views).  Hearing them rant their hatred is just baffling.  Did they not have enough to do with their time?  Seriously, people, relax.

Addendum: I am watching the full version now, and it is a much better movie with the added hour.  It makes a lot more sense with the plot gaps filled.  Unfortunately, it also contains a few crude scenes the edited version kindly omits.  It also puts forth the idea that Charles's sister, Henrietta (Anne-Marie Duff), was poisoned to death, and contains a lot more about her life in France (she was married to the King of France's brother, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans) and her work as an envoy between Louis XIV of France and her brother.  Additionally, it introduces William, the Prince of Orange, who would become King William III when he and King James II's daughter, Mary, seize the crown from James, which is just as Charles predicted.  The full version can be purchased on iTunes.

A portrait of the real William of Orange, later William III
of England, and William walking with Charles.

King Louis XIV of France and a portrait of the real Louis XIV.

Isabel (2012) Season 1

Isabel (2012) Season 1



I am so glad I discovered this show.  It's a Spanish show, and I had never heard of it until I did a search looking for a movies about royalty and struck gold.  As soon as I learned that the Spanish had made a Tudors-esque show about Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (their English names), I was chomping at the bit to see it.  Note: The Spanish names are different from the names the people are known by in English history (why we need to translate names into English is beyond me), and I will refer to the characters by their Spanish names for the most part (Fernando instead of Ferdinand, Enrique instead of Henry, etc.)  The only place the 13 marvelous episodes can be watched right now is dramafever.com, a hulu-type site, which offers the show in Spanish with English subtitles.  As a bonus, the commercials are all in Spanish, which makes them more enjoyable
("McDonalds -Me Encanta").

Portrait of the real Queen Isabel I

The show did not disappoint, and actually ended up being superior to The Tudors in many ways (for the record, I did enjoy The Tudors).

It begins with Isabel being crowned Queen of Castile after the death of King Enrique, her older half-brother, and then goes back in time to show how she got there.  The real testament to the talent of the writers is that the show still makes you wonder if she will ever become queen, even though we have already seen that it will happen.  It's all about the journey -the how.  The show always keeps you guessing.  Some things you think will be a big deal are unexpectedly resolved, and other things that you think will be minor take you by surprise by becoming major plot points.

There are many different characters all operating under their own political agendas, and they are all fascinating in their own way.  People are vying for power, changing sides, plotting against each other, and just generally keeping things interesting.  The actors are all terrific, and look more like normal people than the glamazons of The Tudors.  Isabel (Michelle Jenner), for example, while beautiful, is not the stereotypical model/actress you often see.  She only wears makeup on her wedding day, and even then reluctantly and only on her eyes.  The exception is Fernando's mistress before meeting Isabel, Aldonza de Ivorra -she is a bit cookie-cutter, and seems to have been cast mostly for her boobs, as she is topless a lot.  A lot.

Isabel, Princess Juana, and Queen Juana.

Another great thing is that there are not many "bad guys."  Aside from Pacheco and his younger brother, most of the characters are likeable in their own way.  The main focus of the show is the battle between Enrique (and his young daughter Juana, who may or may not be legitimate -a question history still has not answered, though the show seems to favor the idea that she was legitimate) and Isabel for the throne.  Isabel's faction feels she should be Enrique's heir, while Enrique obviously favors his daughter, and different powerful figures jump on the two bandwagons and face off: the devious Pacheco and his bloodthirsty younger brother, Pacheco's influential uncle (Carrillo, Bishop of Toledo), Enrique's friend Beltran, Isabel's mentor Chacon, Chacon's nephew Cardenas, noble bodyguard Gonzalo, the powerful Mendoza family, loyal and likeable Cabrera, Cabrera's wife and Isabel's best friend Beatriz, Isabel's brother Alfonso, Enrique's wife Juana, and more.  I never found myself joining Team Enrique or Team Isabel.  Both sides were likeable, they just had very different agendas.

Isabel and King Enrique.

Enrique is considered a weak king by many.  Unlike, say, Henry VIII, who didn't put up with any crap (and would lop off your head if you looked at him wrong), Enrique is quick to forgive, and follows his heart instead of his head.  His mood can be changeful.  He has strong morals, however, and shows tolerance for other religions, even embracing some of the Moorish customs.  This, and his disregard for traditional aristocratic roles, enrages some of the powerful aristocrats.  His long-time supporter, Pacheco, is enraged when Enrique takes Beltron de la Cueva, a lesser born man, into his inner circle, but Enrique insists on granting him favor, showing Pacheco a scar on Beltron's torso: "You didn’t see the sword thrust that caused it.  You were not there.  I was.  On the brink of death at the Moorish border.  None of the nobles did anything to save me from death.  Only Beltron.  And he was about to lose his own life.  Look at it closely, Pacheco.  Look.  Look at it closely.  Every time you don’t understand why I want Beltron by my side, remember it."

Pacheco, Marquis of Villena.

Pacheco, livid, begins to turn against Enrique, and this is when his Uncle, Carillo, puts forth the idea of supporting Enrique's stepbrother and stepsister, Alfonso and Isabel:

Pacheco: How dare he treat me like that?  And in front of that sissy.  He must prefer him to his wife, that’s why she won’t get pregnant.
Carillo: Don’t believe the rumors you spread.  Remember your enemies used to say the same of you and the King.
Pacheco: Don’t change the subject!  I educated him, got rid of anyone who stood in his way to the throne.  And he repays me like this?
Carillo: Calm down.
Pacheco: Why would I?  Damn our need for kings if they’re going to be like him.  He doesn’t like his position.  I have to do everything.  He’d rather play the lute, talk to poets, and buy exotic animals.  Do you know what he gave the ambassador of India?  Gold?  Spices?  No!  What for?  A leopard.
Carillo: A what?
Pacheco: A leopard.  A kind of lynx, but with fewer whispers.  Everything is collapsing yet you’re able to laugh?
Carillo: Relax.  We still have more cards to play.  Remember when we talked about the heir presumptive, Prince Alfonso?
Pacheco: Perfectly.
Carillo: I received a letter from his tutor, Don Gonzalo Chacon.  You know him well.  One can deduce that King Enrique has not paid the amount agreed upon when his father Juan II died, leaving his stepmother and his siblings Isabel and Alfonso penniless.  In case something happens to the King, we should probably start thinking about the next one.

I actually liked Enrique.  I thought he was conscientious.  I appreciated that he tried to avert war out of consideration for his people:

Juana: They’re denying our daughter’s right to the throne.  What else I there to think about?
Beltran: An immediate answer is needed.  If you allow them to offend you once and go without punishment, nothing will stop them.
Enrique: I think I should talk with them.
Mendoza: Are you going to negotiate?  The people expect authority and leadership from their king, Your Majesty.
Enrique: And I say there will be negotiation.  Summon Pacheco.  I know him well.  I know how to handle this.
Archbishop: You cannot negotiate.  Your  Majesty, you’ll be seen as the most cowardly of kings.  We must go to war.
Enrique: And you, will you go to war?  No, you’ll be in your church praying.  It’s easy for you to send the children of others to die in the battlefield.

I also thought he was a very sad character.  He hated the plotting all around him, and wanted to have a peaceful, happy life, but it was not to be:

Little boy: Do you want to play?
Enrique: It’s too late to play.  I should have done that long ago.
Little boy: Is being King worth it?
Enrique: No.  It’s not worth it.

Isabel is an interesting and complicated character.  She is deeply religious and virtuous, but while some think this will make her weak and predictable, she is willing to stretch the rules and even her principles in order to obtain her goals if need be.  She is fiercely devoted to Castile, putting her duty to Castile above all other things, even her own happiness at times.  Isabel is tough and intelligent, and politically savvy, frequently using words to pacify her allies when they waver from her cause.  For example:

Carillo: Why don’t you listen to me?  You don’t take any of my advice.  I think I have the right to know if my words have any effect.  I want to know if you take me into account.
Isabel: I beg you to leave Your Eminence and me alone. [The others leave]
Carillo: My lady, I’m obliged to remind you.  I convinced the Aragonese, I took you out of Ocana, I brought Fernando, I –
Isabel: You’re the reason why I’m here.  I know.  Don’t doubt that for a second.  Without you, none of this would be possible.  I’m indebted to you.
Carillo: Your future and that of Castile will be golden with the Lord’s help.  I want to know if I’m in or out of that future.
Isabel: You are in, Monsignor.  You are in.

She is lucky to have some very good, devoted friends.  Her mentor, Chacon, is like a father to her, and a steady, wise influence in her life, though politics begin to have an effect on him that he regrets:

Cardenas: I’ve been  in politics for too long.
Cardenas: Why do you say that?
Chacon: Because I’m not happy for a good man who’s recovering.
Cardenas: The good of the majority should be held before that of the individual.
Chacon: That’s right, and that’s why I did it.  I’ve seen a lot of people I love dying.  I want you to witness what I’m about to say and remind me of it if I don’t do it.  I swear that I’ll leave it all when Isabel becomes Queen.  I would have fulfilled my mission, and you will be my substitute.
Cardenas: No, thank you –
Chacon: You will be my substitute.  I will go back with my wife to live the days I have left in peace.  Without hoping a good man to die like I’m doing now.  For Castile’s future.

Cardenas, Chacon's nephew, is another bright adviser, willing to do anything asked of him by Isabel or Chacon.  That usually means traveling a lot.  Isabel sends him hither and yon from country to country as though he could just catch a plane, poor fellow.

Another friend, Gonzalo, is a strong, honorable, and devoted bodyguard, trusted by Alfonso and Isabel with their lives.  He does cause Chacon some concern, however, when his respect for Isabel begins to seem like it could be something more: "The problem with appreciation is it can be confused with something else...Isabel’s destiny is to rule Castile.  There can be no affections the crown cannot allow.  Those are distractions."

Gonzalo.

Beatriz is another long-time friend of Isabel.  Her presence is a great comfort to Isabel.  She marries a good, honest man, Cabrera, who is loyal to the King, but manages to remain friendly to Isabel as well.  Though angry about an arranged marriage to Cabrera at first (while still determined to obey her father and marry him), Beatriz soon realizes his qualities, and her cool resignation turns to love:

Cabrera: I don’t want to seem pretentious, but even in tough times, I can assure you that you’ll want for nothing.  I am His Majesty’s butler and the treasurer of Segovia and Cuenca.  But I suppose you already knew that.
Beatriz: My father knows, and that’s enough.
Cabrera: I know how close you are to Dona Isabel.  And I have no intention of separating you from her.  You can still be her confidant.
Beatriz: As you wish, my lord.  [When he offers her a flower, she rolls her eyes] Thank you
Cabrera: Regarding our home, if you accept me as your husband, you should know that it will be you-Beatriz: Listen, Don Andres.  It’s pointless to keep going around in circles.  ‘If you accept me.’  You’ve already reached an agreement with my father.  I have nothing to accept or refuse.
Cabrera: My lady, I went to your father because I’ve thought of you since I first saw you.  You wore less luxurious garments, but you were as beautiful as you are today.  And you were hungry.
Beatriz: I have a soft spot for sweets.  It’s a defect I can’t help.
Cabrera: Your defects must be wonderful.  And there’s nothing I would like more than to enjoy them by your side.  But it’s your approval I want.  Not your father’s.  Take all the time you need.  And whether it’s a yes or a no, I’ll listen to you and accept it.  Let’s be clear on one thing.  You won’t be forced to the altar.  Not with me.  My lady.  [He leaves, and she smells the flower]

Beatriz and Cabrera.

They also have Carillo, who is a powerful supporter, but it is clear that first and foremost he is looking out for his own interests.  He is instrumental in arranging the marriage between Isabel and Fernando of Aragon, opening negotiations with Fernando's father, King Juan II of Aragon:

Carillo: Tell me, Majesty, what agreements did you have with my nephew?  I think that our friendship, and the information, I bring deserves an answer to my question.
Juan: We were negotiating Fernando’s wedding to his daughter.
Carillo: With Beatriz?  Don’t fool yourselves.  There’s a better candidate than her to be Fernando’s wife.
Juan: Who?
Carillo: Isabel.  She has the king’s blood, she’s Fernando’s age and she’ll end up wearing Castile’s crown on her head.
Juan: You’re very sure of it.
Carillo: I swear on my life, Isabel will be queen.

Juan and a portrait of the real Juan II of Aragon.

Isabel and Fernando.

Things become even more complicated when Isabel marries Fernando, King of Sicily and heir to the throne of Aragon.  Again, though we know from the very beginning that they will wed, there are so many impediments to their marriage that it makes you wonder if they actually will -quite a feat of storytelling.  Watching her and Fernando interact is interesting, as their strong personalities sometimes clash and sometimes unite to make a powerful front:

Isabel: Fernando.
Fernando: I know what you’re about to say.  I shouldn’t have been so rash with Carillo.  We shouldn’t each be fighting our own war.  I’m sorry, Isabel.  But the day will come when I won’t obey him.  I hope you’ll smile then, too.
Isabel: When that day comes, I’ll support you.

They share love and mutual respect, but Isabel is a strong-willed woman, and not about to stand in Fernando's shadow:

Chacon: What worries you?
Chacon: Your husband.  What will he think of not being present at the proclamation?
Isabel: Fernando will understand.  He’s fought for this moment too.
Chacon: What if he doesn’t?  His character is as strong as yours.
Isabel: Then he will learn something important.  He might rule over Aragon, but I’m the one who rules in Castile.

Fernando and Carillo spar.

The costumes and castles are a feast for the eyes.  There are battles and sword fights, which made Tyler happy.  I really can't say anything negative about the show, except that I will probably have to wait awhile before season 2 (which I read started filming in February) is released in the Unites States!  This is just the beginning for Isabel.  I highly recommend this show.

The Lost Prince 2003 (TV Movie)

The Lost Prince 2003 (TV Movie)


"He was the only one of us who was able to be himself." -Prince George

Lalla and Johnnie.

The Lost Prince is about Prince John (Johnnie), the youngest son of King George V (Tom Hollander) and Queen Mary (Miranda Richardson).  He was diagnosed as epileptic and had learning and social disabilities as well as seizures.  His parents sent him from a young age to live with his caretaker, Lalla (Gina McKee, who did a great job), and other servants in the country, away from the eyes of the public, until his death at age 13.

The movie also focuses on the important events occurring around Johnnie, particularly the death of his Grandfather King Edward VII (Michael Gambon), World War I, and the deaths of his Romanov cousins.

Michael Gambon as Edward VII.

Johnnie's grandmother, Queen
Alexandra, admires Johnnie's art.

Photos of the real Queen Alexandra and King Edward VII.

The story follows Johnny, Lalla, Johnnie's brother (the second youngest son) Prince George, and Johnny's parents.  George and his brother are very close, and Johnny is always happy when George can visit.  George is portrayed as a caring brother with more common sense than most around him.  Bill Nighy plays one of the king's advisers, Arthur Bigge, and George enjoys learning from him as he watches the war unfold.

George and Johnnie.

Their parents, the King and Queen, clearly do not know how to cope with Johnnie's problems.  They don't spend much time with him, and mostly leave him in Lalla's care.  To be fair to them, they had six children to care for, didn't really understand what was going on with Johnnie, and had very difficult roles as monarchs.

Queen Mary seems uncomfortable when she visits.

In many ways, Johnnie was much luckier than most children at that time with similar medical conditions.  Instead of being sent to an asylum, he was raised in a nice house with a woman who not only cared for him, but served as his champion.  It wasn't just a job for Lalla.  She truly loved Johnnie and worked hard to make sure that everyone around him treated him well.

The real Lalla and Johnnie.

A visit from George.

When his tutor throws up his hands and gives up on educating Johnnie, she takes on educating him herself, passionately believing that he is capable of more than the doctors claim he can accomplish.  Always remaining respectful, she pushes his parents to spend time with him.  When his mother, in a misguided attempt to help the war effort by collecting scrap metal, tries to take Johnny's beloved gramophone (a gift from his brother George), she risks the Queen's displeasure by speaking up and convincing her to let him keep it:

Lalla: Ma’am…Ma’am!  I implore you not to take Johnnie’s gramophone.  It will, with respect, make no difference to the war at all.   Not one bit.  But for Johnnie it is of such importance.  Please listen, Ma’am.  He gets such joy from it.
Queen Mary: Of course, Lalla, if it means that much to the child.  You may have it, Johnnie.  I shouldn’t have taken it.  Clearly, I shouldn’t have.

When he performs well at an exam, she is bursting with pride.  When he suffers his seizures, she holds him and soothes him.  I can't even imagine what life would have been like for him without her there to fight for him, or if he'd been stuck in an institution as the doctors suggested he should be early on.



One really touching moment is when he marches to the "big house" where his parents stay, with his servants all marching behind him, to perform a recital for his family.  The Queen has made a mistake, and the war council will be meeting, but they agree to sit for a few minutes and listen.  The King and Queen are antsy to leave and meet with the council, and I wanted to tell them to shut the hell up and sit their asses down and listen to their son, because though there's a war on and they're important people, their son needs them for half an hour.  Johnnie basically does just that when his father tries to leave (though with more tact):

George: We will have to stop.
Mary: Lalla, you will take Johnny through the back corridors to the kitchen, where I’m sure they will find you-
Johnny: No!  Certainly not.  I have not finished.  Everybody must wait.  Nobody can leave early.

So everyone listens while he plays the trumpet, and he amazes them with how well he does, and the family ends up listening to several songs with tears in their eyes.  It inspires George to stand up to his father about his own future.

King George and Queen Mary watch the recital.

The real King George V
and Queen Mary.

They all experience privations and emotional turmoil during the war.  Queen Mary suffers the ire of those who condemn her for her German origins, though she works tirelessly for the British cause.  After being verbally assaulted at a hospital she is visiting, she reclines and recites to herself, "I am English. From top to toe, from toe to top.  I am English, from top to toe, from toe to top."  It is nice when King George, in a rare moment (as he is usually very emotionally stilted), expresses his gratitude and appreciation for her:

King George: Today’s news, when it comes, will be extremely vital.  You must go down to the country as we planned.  And I will wire as soon as I hear.
Queen Mary: I will stay here.  Surely that would be best?  I should be here with you.
King George: No.  Please, you must proceed as planned.  We must carry on as normal as much as possible.  Otherwise, waiting for the news…I find it very difficult.  The wire will be waiting for you by the time you get there.  I know I don’t often say this.  I find certain things so difficult to say out loud.  But you mean so much to me.

The Romanov cousins on a visit.

Tsar Nicholas checks in with
Empress Alexandra duting a visit.

Tsar Nicholas II posing with his cousin, King George V.


Real photo of Nicholas II and George V.

Photo of Empress Alexandra and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

King George, to his shame, helps convince the government to withdraw their offer to let the Romanovs receive sanctuary in England.  He thinks their presence will cause the people to become angry with him, and comes up with excuses such as that Balmoral is his only available house and it's not suitable this time of year -pitiful, considering the Romanovs were staying in a farmhouse.  Johnnie is sweet and proposes they could stay with them, and imagines them at his house, playing with the animals.  When the Romanovs are killed, a very graphic and disturbing scene, the King is haunted by his decision.  He couldn't have known what would happen, but he has blood on his hands nonetheless, and he knows it:

King George: Tell me, do you really think we had a choice about letting them in?
Arthur Bigge: We could not know how things would develop.
King George: Did we have a choice?
Arthur Bigge: For the stability of the country, I don’t think we had a choice.  Ultimately we must remember it was the government’s decision.
King George: Maybe that’s what the public will be told.  But we know.  Hm?

Johnnie and Georgie then imagine Kaiser Wilhelm II of and the Emperor Franz Joseph I staying at the farmhouse (note: Emperor Franz Joseph actually died in 1916, and his successor, Charles I, was the Emperor in exile).  It's innocent and idealistic:

Photo of the real Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany
and photo of the real Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.

Johnnie: So now the war has finished, will anybody be coming to stay with me?
Georgie: Well not the Russians, clearly.
Johnnie: Because they’re dead.
Georgie: Still, there are others that can come.  The Kaiser’s run away to exile.  So has the Austrian Emperor.  They could come and stay with you, Johnnie.

At the end of the movie, Johnnie passes away after one of his episodes, and Lalla is devastated.  Queen Mary is as well, though she doesn't know how to show it very well:

Lalla [crying]: I loved him.  I loved him so very much.  There was never a child like him, Ma’am.  I’m so sorry.
Queen Mary: No, Lalla, you mustn’t worry.
Lalla: Because he was different.  I don’t know how to say this.  He made you, he made me feel…
Queen Mary: Not confined.
Lalla: Yes.
Queen Mary: Is that how he made you feel?
Lalla: Yes, Ma’am.  Not that I felt confined –
Queen Mary: I know what you mean, Lalla.  I shall miss him so very much myself.  I do already.  Does that surprise you?
Lalla: No.  No.

It's a great movie.  The pace is slow, but never dull, even at 3 hours.  A moving and powerful story of love.