It’s the biggest royal anniversary of the year and it’s almost upon us. May 24th 2019 marks two centuries since the birth of Queen Victoria, a monarch so influential, she gave her name to an era. And as part of our Victoria series on Royal Central, we’ve got a special prize to mark the event over on our Facebook page.
To celebrate the anniversary of Victoria’s birth, Network On Air has released three famous tellings of the queen’s story. Victoria the Great was released in 1937, 100 years exactly after the start of the queen’s reign. It stars Anna Neagle as Victoria and follows the early years of her time as monarch as she sought to establish her power. Her royal romance with Prince Albert, their marriage and family life are also portrayed. It was nominated for several awards at the Venice Film Festival.
Sixty Glorious Years, again with Dame Anna Neagle as Victoria, was released the following year. It follows the queen through the rest of her reign as she emerges from deep mourning for Prince Albert and watches her own family grow. Both films were directed by Herbert Wilcox who went on to marry Anna Neagle.
Photo courtesy of Network On Air
The final telling of Victoria’s story is the most controversial. Victoria Regina is a TV adaptation of plays by Laurence Housman focused on the queen’s life and which were initially banned. He penned them in 1934 but the Lord Chamberlain ruled no telling of a monarch’s life could be performed until at least a century after the start of their reign. The plays were subsequently premiered in 1937 and adapted for TV in 1964 with Patricia Routledge in the lead role. They have never been released on DVD before.
Sixty Glorious Years and Victoria the Great are all available to buy as DVD and Blue Ray while Victoria Regina is out on DVD (DVDs £9 each and Blu-Rays £11.50 each) at Network On Air.. Here at Royal Central we’re giving you the chance to win all three films in a competition on our Facebook page. Just head there now to find out more.
Over the coming days, we’ll also be reviewing the films here on Royal Central. The competition closes on Friday, April 19th 2019 – good luck!
