tched ITV's The Queen starring Helen Mirren and a scarily accurate Michael Sheen playing Tony Blair and have been compelled to post on it. As I've said before in this blog, I was never a "Diana supporter" but I was unbelievably touched by her death, the week leading up to her funeral and the funeral itself - even if I did feel on occasion that the whole outpouring of grief was a tad over the top. A girl at the firm I worked in at the time was signed off for a month by her GP due to "stress over Diana dying, like. I just can't stop crying, like". She seemed remarkably cheerful a week after the funeral when I saw her at the theatre but that's another story.What struck me most about watching The Queen was that HRH really did not have an idea of the depth of feeling of the Great British Public - you could of course argue that she was out of touch with her subjects in her gilded cage or that her generation didn't know how to show their emotions. You could also say that she was fed up to the back teeth of Diana ruling the roost as the People's Princess and saw this as yet another (rather final and hardly planned) ploy by her ex daughter-in-law or, as Saskia has just said via text, "petrified that Wayne Sleep wanted to dance at the funeral".
However, what stood out for me was that the Queen seemed to be more upset about a merchant banker from a neighbouring estate killing a stag that her shooting party was stalking. She visited him soon enough, hanging upside down with his antlers off. The stag, not the merchant banker.
The scarily accurate portrayal of Tony Blair showing his frustration - torn between his Sovereign and the people that elected him. Mr B must have felt like giving the royal person a right good shaking but no doubt feared The Tower or at the very least a good mauling by the Royal Corgis.
On the whole though, a worthwhile two hours snuggled on the sofa with a bag of Minstrels and a snoring husband. The way that footage of Diana and of the mourning crowds interlinked with the actual film was magnificent - but two points. Firstly, HRH put two labradors into her 4x4 as she headed off into the bracken but three got out. Secondly, how fabulous would it have been if the television minion that advised his Queen that she was "going out live in one minute" as he bustled up to her before she had her face powder touched up had actually said "One minute Yer Madge, break a leg duckie!"
5 comments:
I meant to watch that but forgot it was on and watched the excellent Coming Round the Mountain on BBC1.
I caught the end of The Queen though.
I watched Coming Round the Mountain too but recorded this. It sounds fascinating, just need to make sure it gets watched. I do have a habit of recording programmes and making home-movies and forgetting all about them for 5 years.
I too noticed the dog cloning....who knew the Queen's cars could do that. She apperas to have a superpower, so why isn't she on Heroes?
Saw this on DVD few months back. Presumably quite accurate? Who knows? Haven't been a staunch monarchist for many a year and this did nothing to persuade me otherwise....
M&M - worth a viewing, if only for the fact it's Helen Mirren
Silvana - I do that too! I found a film that I'd recorded, ooh ages ago, quite by accident the other day
Kelly - my car has the ability to clone empty crisp packets and chewed up plastic bottles...
Debio - am not a royalist but have got a deep rooted fascination with the history of the monarchy...was a good way to spend a couple of hours though.
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