The Lost Prince
Jan. 19th, 2006 02:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceebeegeeI watched this DVD last week. It's quite well done. It's a two-part BBC miniseries about the short life of Prince John, the youngest son of George V and Queen Mary--the Prince had a number of health problems and died at 13. I actually knew of him before because he was another one of those "hidden" people in a large family that interest me--people whose stories weren't told because they died young, or had some illness, or there was some mystery attached to them for whatever reason. People like Rosemary Kennedy, or my aunt Maude. I've seen pictures of John with his older siblings, David (aka Edward, Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII and then the Duke of Windsor) and Bertie (aka Prince Albert, later George VI, the current Queen's father), Princess Mary, the younger brothers Henry, Duke of Gloucester and George, Duke of Kent. I remember seeing this sweet little baby, sickly looking, in his mother's arms--he always intrigued me, that sweet doomed face.
(This is another picture--John is in the front, on the left.)
Just look at that little woodgy face!
As short as his life was, John lived through the end of Edward VII's reign, and throughout World War I--the movie uses his life as a framing device to showcase this theme, the end of the beautiful era, that warm, calm 19th century, and the beginning of the pointless destruction of the early 20th century, with World War I and the Russian Revolution. The device is made more interesting because of the nature of John's sickness--he was epilectic and had other problems, like possibly Asberger's disease (or some form of autism). He was known when he was quite young for charming or honest sayings, a result of either his illness or his youth, and the movie develops him as a sort of "I am a camera" character, recording all these extraordinary events, like the funeral of his grandfather, Edward VII (which all the crowned heads of Europe attended, since they were all closely related--George V and the Kaiser and Nicholas II were all first cousins, as was Empress Alexandra to the first two).
As John grew older, his epileptic seizures started getting worse, so the Royal Family had him live with some retainers (including a devoted nanny) on an estate not too far away. The movie paints this in a pretty bad light and portrays Queen Mary to be quite a bit more callous than I believe she was--I'm not really sure what else they could've done, since his seizures were pretty severe. It's clear from her diary she was pretty upset from his eventual death. (And of course why she should come off so much worse than the boy's FATHER is sexist.) Empress Alexandra doesn't come off too well either, and Nicholas is portrayed to be an absolute fool. (Hee, there's a wordplay--as in absolute monarch? Oh, I kill myself.) There's a wonderful imagery developed when the Russian Imperial Family visit England in 1906 (?)--Nicholas is seen swimming and from the way he's stealing looks, it's clear he think he's pretty awesome for swimming so well. The 4-year old John punctures his vanity by saying "he looks like an Emperor-Fish." Two of the Grand Duchesses think he's adorable and cast admiring glances his way. Then later you see Nicholas swimming in Russia, indulging in his little vanity, luxuriously enjoying the water. Then you see his inner counsel of Army officers patiently waiting on the bank of the river--it's the day Nicholas mobilized the Imperial Army, making World War I inevitable.
The movie also does not pull punches about George V's betrayal of the Imperial Family--after Nicholas's abdication, George agreed to have them come to live in England because, as I said, he was first cousins to both Nicolas and Alexandra. In fact, he and Nicholas resembled each other greatly:
My mother calls them twin cousins. Anyway, George agreed to give them refuge in England--and then, upon considering how unpopular Nicholas was in England, and how potentially shaky his own position was (monarchies were falling right and left in those days), withdrew the offer. Which of course eventually led to the entire Imperial Family being murdered in the basement of the Ipatiev house in Ekaterinberg (which the movie also depicts). There's also a beautiful scene at John's estate in the country, when he's inside the gate and a beautiful noblewoman is walking by, and greets him, telling him to "enjoy this lovely, lovely day..."--the scene sums up that last long beautiful summer of 1914, before the world changed forever.
All the performers are strong, but I especially liked the two boys who play George (later Duke of Kent), John's next oldest brother and steadfast champion, the two boys who play John, Miranda Richardson as the Queen, and Gina McKee as the nanny.
(This is another picture--John is in the front, on the left.)
Just look at that little woodgy face!
As short as his life was, John lived through the end of Edward VII's reign, and throughout World War I--the movie uses his life as a framing device to showcase this theme, the end of the beautiful era, that warm, calm 19th century, and the beginning of the pointless destruction of the early 20th century, with World War I and the Russian Revolution. The device is made more interesting because of the nature of John's sickness--he was epilectic and had other problems, like possibly Asberger's disease (or some form of autism). He was known when he was quite young for charming or honest sayings, a result of either his illness or his youth, and the movie develops him as a sort of "I am a camera" character, recording all these extraordinary events, like the funeral of his grandfather, Edward VII (which all the crowned heads of Europe attended, since they were all closely related--George V and the Kaiser and Nicholas II were all first cousins, as was Empress Alexandra to the first two).
As John grew older, his epileptic seizures started getting worse, so the Royal Family had him live with some retainers (including a devoted nanny) on an estate not too far away. The movie paints this in a pretty bad light and portrays Queen Mary to be quite a bit more callous than I believe she was--I'm not really sure what else they could've done, since his seizures were pretty severe. It's clear from her diary she was pretty upset from his eventual death. (And of course why she should come off so much worse than the boy's FATHER is sexist.) Empress Alexandra doesn't come off too well either, and Nicholas is portrayed to be an absolute fool. (Hee, there's a wordplay--as in absolute monarch? Oh, I kill myself.) There's a wonderful imagery developed when the Russian Imperial Family visit England in 1906 (?)--Nicholas is seen swimming and from the way he's stealing looks, it's clear he think he's pretty awesome for swimming so well. The 4-year old John punctures his vanity by saying "he looks like an Emperor-Fish." Two of the Grand Duchesses think he's adorable and cast admiring glances his way. Then later you see Nicholas swimming in Russia, indulging in his little vanity, luxuriously enjoying the water. Then you see his inner counsel of Army officers patiently waiting on the bank of the river--it's the day Nicholas mobilized the Imperial Army, making World War I inevitable.
The movie also does not pull punches about George V's betrayal of the Imperial Family--after Nicholas's abdication, George agreed to have them come to live in England because, as I said, he was first cousins to both Nicolas and Alexandra. In fact, he and Nicholas resembled each other greatly:
My mother calls them twin cousins. Anyway, George agreed to give them refuge in England--and then, upon considering how unpopular Nicholas was in England, and how potentially shaky his own position was (monarchies were falling right and left in those days), withdrew the offer. Which of course eventually led to the entire Imperial Family being murdered in the basement of the Ipatiev house in Ekaterinberg (which the movie also depicts). There's also a beautiful scene at John's estate in the country, when he's inside the gate and a beautiful noblewoman is walking by, and greets him, telling him to "enjoy this lovely, lovely day..."--the scene sums up that last long beautiful summer of 1914, before the world changed forever.
All the performers are strong, but I especially liked the two boys who play George (later Duke of Kent), John's next oldest brother and steadfast champion, the two boys who play John, Miranda Richardson as the Queen, and Gina McKee as the nanny.
