With the death of Queen Elizabeth II, time to consider my choices of the best films I’ve seen with monarchs and sovereigns as central or essential characters:
The Queen
The Favourite
The Prisoner of Zenda
Kismet (musical and non musical)
The King and I
The Scarlett Empress
The Rise of Catherine the Great
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
The Curse of the Golden Flower
The Prince and the Pauper
The Last Emperor
The Sea Hawk
The Madness of King George
Marie Antoinette (1938 and 2012)
Queen Christina
Mary of Scotland
Mary Queen of Scots
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Victoria & Abdul
Elizabeth
The King’s Speech
A Man for All Seasons
Beckett
Julius Caesar
Cleopatra
Rasputin and the Empress
Nicholas and Alexandra
The Ten Commandments
Land of the Pharaohs
The Princess Bride
The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Crusades
A Lion in Winter
The Vikings
Eerie Coincidences: As I’ve related in the past, my dearest friend Dave Banks was a source of British royal intelligence, a worthwhile attribute for any tabloid journalist, as he was. Dave passed away last February in northern England where he and his wife Gemma lived in the quaint village of Crookham just miles south of the Scottish border.
Because he was a larger than life presence on Fleet Street, Gemma and their children Tash and Tim organized a commemorative gathering for London-based journalists who could not attend Dave’s funeral in Northumberland. It was held in St. Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, London, at 11:30 on September 8.
Dare I say it, how deliciously ironic that Queen Elizabeth died hours later.
When I related that coincidence to Gemma, she responded, “Especially as I was born the day she came to the throne.”
