No wedding, no Crown
What’s a royal obsessive to do?
Are you a royal desperado, in that binge watching kind of way?
The House of Windsor, under that and other grand names, has provided five British monarchs to date, but it took you a quick minute to breeze through the recently released second season of “The Crown’’ on Netflix. And the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle isn’t until May 19, for heaven’s sake.
Word is the third season of “The Crown’’ won’t be released until 2019, so what’s a royal obsessive to do in the interim? Some ideas on what to read and watch while you wait:
A CORONATION
The Smithsonian Channel will mark the 65th anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday with a rare TV appearance by the queen herself in a new documentary about her big day, aptly titled “The Coronation.’’ The 91-yearold monarch has a look back at the King Edward crown she wore only once, a solid gold, five-pound ornament made in 1660 with 440 jewels.
“VICTORIA’’
How about some appointment TV for the second season of this Masterpiece series that began in 2016?
Season 2 begins on Sunday and a third season has been confirmed. The show so far has focused on the early days of Queen Victoria’s reign. It stars Jenna Coleman as the young and angsty Victoria and Tom Hughes as the curt but cute Prince Albert.
Most Americans know the show as a PBS series, but each season has aired in the United Kingdom on ITV before hitting the states. There’s plenty of
“Upstairs Downstairs’’ drama and oddly amusing one-liners to make it all worthwhile.
HOUSE OF WINDSOR
“Diana, in Her Own Words,’’ ‘’Empire of the Tsars,” ‘’Prince Philip: The Plot to Make a King,” ‘’Elizabeth at 90: A Family Tribute,” ‘’The Royals” and ‘’The Royal House of Windsor” are all available on Netflix.
Love them or hate them. Just know that the mix of drama and documentary is there for you. The first season of the ‘’The Royal House of Windsor” includes interviews and archival footage that jibes nicely with events covered in ‘’The Crown.” It begins during the First World War as the family navigates anti-german sentiment and rebrands as Windsor from previous family names of German descent on the paternal side.
Interested in time hopping? There’s the Showtime series “The Tudors,’’ available on Netflix. It stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers and covers the tumultuous 16th-century court of King Henry VIII. And there’s “Reign,’’ a vivid drama originally on the CW that spans the rise of Mary, Queen of Scots. It’s also on Netflix. Plenty of sex and political intrigue there. Just sayin’.
LATEST FROM THE BIG SCREEN
If you feel like big and fresh film productions, find “Dunkirk’’ and “Darkest Hour.’’ They’ve got you covered on Second World War England.
In the latter, Winston Churchill (this one played by the recent Golden Globe-winning Gary Oldman and Gary Oldman’s movie prosthetics) is newly appointed as prime minister and
must decide to fight or negotiate with Adolf Hitler. The gritty “Dunkirk’’ puts viewers on the beach and in the heart of peril as the famous evacuation during fierce battle unfolds in the French town of Dunkirk.
Out in 2017 and still to be had on demand is “Victoria & Abdul,’’ a followup to Judy Dench’s star turn in the 1997 “Mrs. Brown.’’ Both feature Dench as a sad Queen Victoria.
WHAT TO READ
There’s an official companion book to “The Crown.’’ Written by British historian Robert Lacey, “The Crown: The Official Companion, Volume 1’’ covers 1947 through 1955.
One book, described by the Sunday Telegraph as possessing a “bouncy charm,’’ is “Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage,’’ by Gyles Brandreth.