There have been many royal related films released over the years. I have listed below my top five royal associated films.
The King’s Speech: The 2010 film starred Colin Firth as King George VI who struggles with his speech impediment and receives help from an Australian speech therapist who provides vital assistance in preparing the nervous King before his first wartime radio broadcast during World War Two in 1939 after Britain declared war on Germany. The movie was a box office success and won numerous awards including four Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.
The Queen: It starred Helen Mirren as Her Majesty The Queen and focused on the British Royal Family’s reaction to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. It also starred Martin Sheen as Prime Minister Tony Blair who, alongside Prince Charles, had a contrasting view to The Queen throughout the movie as he thought Diana’s funeral should be a public affair while she believed it should be private. Mirren would win an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 2006 British fictional drama. Queen Elizabeth even praised Mirren for her portrayal of her in the film and invited her to Buckingham Palace for dinner.
Cleopatra: The 1963 drama starred Hollywood legends Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra VII and Richard Burton as Marc Antony. The film would win four Academy Awards and be nominated for five more; at the time, it was the most expensive film ever made and almost bankrupted 20th Century-Fox. The classic movie covered the struggles of Cleopatra during her reign, her relationship with Marc Antony and Julius Caesar and ended with her death. The New York Post called it “one of the great epic films of our day.”
The Princess Diaries: Although not based on any real royal family, it was one of my favourite movies as a child, and I even enjoy watching it to this day. Based off the books by Meg Cabot, it starred Anne Hathaway as a nerdy high school student Mia Thermopolis who found out that she was a princess and first in line to the throne in a small country in Europe called Genovia. It also starred Julia Andrews as the Queen of Genovia who travelled to the United States to meet her granddaughter and let her in on her royal identity. The Disney comedy film ended up making a sequel called The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement where Queen Clarisse helped her granddaughter find a husband so she can succeed the throne as the next Queen, as Genovian law required a Queen to be married to rule (and yes Prince William is even mentioned to which Mia says she “would absolutely accept”, but he was not an actual choice since he would one day be monarch in the UK).
The King’s Choice: The Norwegian film was released last year and was based on a true story regarding King Haakon VII (the current King Harald’s grandfather) who refused to bow down to the German invaders and to continue the fight against them during World War Two. He went on to lead the Norwegian resistance from London. It focused on the first three days after the German invasion of Oslo and was well received across the globe. It was nominated for 12 awards.
Honourable Mention – The Prince and Me: American university student Paige Morgan (Julia Stiles) attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a pre-med student when she met a Danish foreign exchange student named “Eddie” (whose real name is Edvard) – unbeknownst to her that he was the Crown Prince of Denmark. As these movies go, they meet, have a complicated relationship at first and eventually fall in love. By the end of the film, they were engaged, and Edvard has become the King of Denmark after his father’s abdication. Coincidentally, it was released in 2004 – the same year that the real Crown Prince of Denmark, Frederik wed Australian Mary Donaldson.
Honourable Mention – Queen Christina: The 1933 Hollywood film starred Swedish born Greta Garbo as Queen Christina of Sweden who became Queen of Sweden in 1632 when she was just six-years-old. The movie covered her life and how she became an influential and powerful leader during the Thirty Years’ War. How she was expected to marry a suitable and royal man was also discussed, including how she fell in love with a Spanish Roman Catholic envoy who she was forbidden to marry). Christina had to choose between royal duty and love. She elected to never marry, abdicated in 1654 and converted to Roman Catholicism. Queen Christina was a commercial success in the United States and across the globe.
Do you agree or disagree? What royal related movies would you have put in your top five? Let us know in the comments below!
