December 5, 2012

To the Castle Born: Royal Babies Get Their Due (Date)

With all the word atwitter (literally) over Will and Kate's baby news, it seemed as good a time as any to reflect on a few of our favorite films honoring young royal families. These are just a smattering: let us know your faves!



Young Victoria: So many stories of royal families are depressing. Loveless marriages, babies stashed in towers... How refreshing to see a monarch who actually had a happy family life, for as long as it lasted.



Marie Antoinette: It's hard to forget the birthing scene in this movie. The queen delivered her child in front of a standing-room only audience of looky-loos. They were on hand to make sure the baby presented was the genuine article, so to speak. We assume Kate will get a tad more, uh, privacy.



The Duchess: Lady Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, faced an impossible choice: Give up her lovechild, the product of an affair, or surrender any future interaction with her older children. Heartbreaking! (Incidentally, Georgiana is an ancestor of Prince William's mother, Diana, through the Spencer lineage.)


The Lost Prince: This film tells the bittersweet story of Prince John, the youngest child of George V and Queen Mary, who, because of epilepsy and a developmental disorder, was kept apart from the rest of the family and out of the public eye. (He was raised primarily by a nanny, played in the film by Gina McKee.)


The Princes in the Tower: Not every royal baby has it lucky. Ask young Edward V and Richard, sons of Edward IV. They were confined to the Tower of London after their father's death by Richard III, who presumably had them murdered. Okay, (sigh) let's move on to more happy stories!... 



Sleeping Beauty: ...An animated movie should do the trick! Princess Aurora was cursed by Maleficent at birth to prick her needle on a spinning wheel at the age of 16. Three fairies and a handsome prince helped undo the spell, and they all lived happily ever after...here's wishing the same for England's expected bundle of joy!

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