Saturday, January 22, 2011

AS SEEN ON TV: PRINCE "BERTIE"

On this date in 1901, Edward VII was proclaimed King after the death of his mother, Queen Victoria........

PRINCE ALBERT EDWARD
(FUTURE KING EDWARD VII)

AS SEEN IN:
'Edward The King'

AS PLAYED BY:
Timothy West

From Wikipedia:
When Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, Edward became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and, in an innovation, King of the British Dominions. He chose to reign under the name Edward VII, instead of Albert Edward—the name his mother had intended for him to use, declaring that he did not wish to "undervalue the name of Albert" and diminish the status of his father with whom among royalty the name Albert should stand alone. The number VII was occasionally omitted in Scotland, even by the national church, in deference to protests that the previous Edwards were English kings who had "been excluded from Scotland by battle".

J. B. Priestley recalled, "I was only a child when he succeeded Victoria in 1901, but I can testify to his extraordinary popularity. He was in fact the most popular king England had known since the earlier 1660s."
Only six chapters of the mini-series 'Edward The King' are available on YouTube, so I wasn't able to get the appropriate segment to represent this historical event. (I've ordered the full series from Netflix - after all, there are plenty of historical figures represented! - and will have some screen captchas soon.)

Here is the description of the opening moments in Chapter Eleven ("King At Last"):

Episode XI. King at Last (1902-1902)
Scene I. The New Sovereign.


Charles Carrington and Francis Knollys talk about Bertie who they say has waited nearly 60 years to be king. They note that Balfour and Lansdowne are after Lord Salisbury already. Balfour tells Salisbury that it is time to insist on constitutional reform. And the king should not interfere in government. Bertie comes in and gives a little speech to the assembled group. He says that he wants to be known as Edmund VII.

There is an official announcement of the new King Edward VIII. God save the King!

For a full episode guide to 'Edward The King',
click here.

BCnU!

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