If you want saccharine overload
like double dose of
caramel with your popcorn
then this is the movie for you.
Hi, my name is Katie Nicholl,
Vanity Fair's Royal Correspondent
and today I'll be reviewing movie scenes
that depict the British Royal Family.
Well, like the rest of you,
I'm here working from home,
having a little bit of
extra time to catch up
on all those wonderful movies.
So sit back, relax, and
we're going to take you
through some of the best
and perhaps of the less accurate
depictions of the British Royal Family.
Hands up, I am guilty
of watching this movie.
I think I watched everything
when Meghan and Harry got engaged.
- Let's see.
Chicken's just about ready,
and...
Harry?
- Right here.
I didn't really do this the
proper way the first time.
Will you marry me?
- It is very loosely based on fact.
Although saying that, the
clip that we just watched
is accurate because we know
from the couple themselves
that Harry proposed, got down
on bended knee, Meghan said.
She was cooking a roast
chicken at the time.
They were living together
at Nottingham Cottage.
So actually that scene
isn't completely fictitious.
That is what happened.
- [Prince Harry] Center
diamond is from Botswana.
- That's so beautiful.
- And these two stones were my mother's,
from a brooch she always
wore on her left lapel
over her heart.
- They've done their research
and they are being true
to fact where they can be.
The ring, for example,
that he proposes with.
Harry did source a diamond from Botswana.
The two other diamonds were
from his mother's collections.
- She wouldn't just have approved of you.
She would have loved you.
- This, you've got to take
it with a bucket load,
rather than a pinch of salt.
It's good fun.
It's so easy to watch.
I have to say, the casting
is absolutely brilliant.
I mean, she looks so like Meghan.
So, yes, it's high on fiction,
relatively mediocre of fact, but listen.
If you want to grab a bucket of popcorn
and just sit back and watch something
for the sheer fun of it,
this movie's for you.
- Prime Minister?
- Good morning, Majesty.
Sorry to disturb,
but I was just wondering
whether you'd seen
any of today's papers.
- I managed to look at one or two, yes.
- This scene takes place
after the death of Diana.
The Queen is in residence at Balmoral
with Duke of Edinburgh,
the prince of Wales,
William, and Harry, who've just been told
that their mother has died,
and the Prime Minister at the time,
Tony Blair, calls her up and says that
public opinion is turning against her.
The people are wondering where she is
and why she isn't back in England.
- [Tony Blair] In which case
my next question would be
whether you felt some kind of
response might be necessary.
- Helen Mirren is so
extraordinarily amazing
at emulating the Queen.
I mean, even the way she
takes her spectacles off
and briskly polishes them on her cardigan.
- I believe a few over-ego
editors are doing their best
to sell newspapers.
It would be a mistake
to dance to their tune.
- [Tony Blair] Under normal
circumstances I would agree,
but...
well, my advice is,
I've been taking the temperature
among people on the streets
and well, the information
I'm getting is that the mood
is quite delicate.
- So what would you
suggest, Prime Minister,
some kind of a statement?
- No, ma'am.
I believe the moment for
statements has passed.
I would suggest flying
the flag at half mast
above Buckingham Palace,
and...
coming down to London
at the earliest opportunity.
- That is exactly what happened.
The Queen really stuck to her guns.
She made a point of staying in Scotland,
and I remember researching
this period for my book,
William and Harry, back in 2010,
and speaking to someone who
knows the Queen very well
and asking them, "Why did
she make that decision?",
and this person said to me,
it was really very simple.
It was probably one of the few times
that the Queen has put
herself and her family
before the needs of her nation.
For a woman who has given
her whole life to duty
and put herself after the public,
this was the one occasion
where she didn't do that
and yes, she got some flak for it.
Yes, she got some critical
headlines, but for her,
being with those two grandchildren
who just lost their
mother was more important
than coming and addressing
the crowds in London,
but the movie goes on to show
that she did come back to London.
- First, I want to pay
tribute to Diana, myself.
She was an exceptional
and gifted human being.
- She did make that infamous
address from Buckingham Palace
and she did indeed go
out and meet the crowds.
She is seen in this scene
walking through a cleared mine
towards the press pack and
she goes on to address them
and talk about the importance
of the work that she is doing.
This is a very accurate
depiction of what happened
in the late 90's, just
before Diana's death.
This was one of the last
big humanitarian campaigns
that she embarked on.
Really, quite poignant
and I think the movie captures very well
Diana, her spirit, her
humanitarian campaign.
- All this land can be farmed again.
The children can play in the fields.
The clearance is a lengthy
and hazardous process.
Humanity's only defense against landmines
is to stop manufacturing them.
Thank you.
- You look at the costume, it's amazing.
It's an absolute replica
and the actress has a really
strong likeness to Diana
and you know, this is a
moment that really did happen,
and in fact, a moment that should be well
and still be fresh in all
of our memories because
last year Prince Harry
was also in South Africa
and he went to visit the area
that his mother had walked through.
When he retraced his mother's
steps through this field
that is now a thriving
community with schools
and hospitals and
communities living safely
so it's quite topical
because we're seeing her son,
Prince Harry, literally
carry on in the footsteps
and carrying on the work that she started.
- God, I hate to tell you this.
They've refused you the
title of Royal Highness,
which is yours by right.
I'm sorry.
- Of course.
They're cutting us off, then.
Closing ranks completely.
- It's a double blow
for Edward and Wallis,
because not only have they been told
that no member of the
Royal Family is going to go
and attend their wedding.
The Royal Family has also made it clear
that Wallis will not get the
title of Her Royal Highness.
So she would be the Duchess of Windsor,
but she would not be Her Royal Highness.
You see that disappointment
captured very, very well.
Edward decided to essentially
leave the Royal Family.
He abdicated.
He chose not to be king,
in order to marry the woman
who he fell in love with,
who happened to be Wallis
Simpson, an American divorcee.
This film, I think, captures
very well the sacrifice
that the King had to make for love,
and also what it meant for Wallis.
For me, this is a really
good one to revisit
because the ghost of the
abdication is something that
still lives large in the
corridors of Buckingham Palace
and it's actually something
that you heard people
talking about very much in recent months
since the successes have stepped down.
Of course, Harry hasn't abdicated.
He remains His Royal
Highness, Prince Harry,
but he has chosen to essentially
abdicate in all but name.
He and Meghan have
exited the Royal Family.
It very much mirrors what
Edward did at the time
which was to exit the Royal Family
for the woman who he loved.
[big band music]
- It was VE day and the world,
the nation was celebrating
the end of the war, and
Elizabeth and Margaret
were allowed out.
[big band music]
[laughter]
- I think the costumes are fantastic,
and I think the closeness
between the sisters,
between Margaret and Elizabeth,
who at that point were incredibly close,
being back in London to
celebrate the end of the war,
I think that sense of
excitement and celebration
is beautifully captured in the movie.
[big band music]
- The Queen, by the
way, does love to dance.
I mean, you won't see
her dancing at the Ritz
like you do in this movie,
but she will dance when she's at Balmoral,
she takes parts and
stuff in Ghillies Balls,
where she loves to dance.
[big band music]
- Elizabeth and Margaret were allowed out.
That's true but that's
kind of where the fact ends
and the fiction begins in the movie.
They certainly weren't
allowed out of the Ritz
where this scene takes place,
on their own without
chaperones, without staff, then.
They were far better protected.
The Queen never goes anywhere
without her protection team.
That would be an absolute new case.
When she was princess in this,
Elizabeth before she was queen,
she's never dancing or you
know, celebrating alone.
There are always protection officers
at a much closer distance than you think,
but they are often very well disguised.
They blend in.
Royal protection is always
there to look after the Queen,
but you just might not always spot them.
I can spot them most of the time
because being on Royal
engagements a lot of the time
you get to know these protection officers.
You get to chat to them.
They know you.
You know them by name,
and they're usually the
ones telling you to get back
because you're standing too close.
I think the fascination is
that these films bring to life
in a very real way, what
the Royal Family does,
and some of the sort of, key
moments, in Royal history,
If you look at the Queen,
they center on the most dramatic moments,
on the controversies, on the standoffs,
on the episodes, the real life episodes
that absolutely gripped, not
just the nation, but the world.
So, throw in some brilliant casting and
focus on that dynamic, dramatic,
controversial moment
and you're going to get bums on seats.
That film's going to be a success.
