Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
Royally ridiculous!
The Windsors are back for their first Christmas special – and it takes bonkers to a whole new level
Brace yourselves for a Christmas like no other, as outrageous Royal Fami ly sitcom The Windsors returns to Channel 4 with an hour- long special. Given that in the first series, shown earlier this year, we saw Camilla try to blow up the Palace, Prince William campaign to abolish the monarchy, an illiterate Prince Harry seduced into proposing to Pippa Middleton, and Kate Middleton contracting ebola on a humanitarian mission, it’s fair to say reverence will be in short supply.
‘ When I first read the scripts I thought it sounded like The Addams Family meets Made In Chelsea,’ laughs Hugh Skinner, who plays Prince William. ‘ I didn’t wor ry about people’s reactions to it, I just thought it was affectionate. And even when I saw the first series I didn’t feel bad. It’s so ridiculous that it’s probably less insult ing than something more naturalistic. I mean, obviously Prince William doesn’t work in Pret A Manger, and Prince Harry can read.’
Hugh and the rest of the cast, which includes Haydn Gwynne a s Camilla, Harry Enfield as Prince Charles and Louise Ford as Kate Middleton, obviously have a blast bringing the ludicrous ideas of writers George Jeffrie and Bert Tyler- Moore to life. Whether it’s Beatrice and Eugenie being radicalised and plotting to travel to Syria, Camilla getting pregnant at 68 or Kate snogging the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Fans will be happy the storylines for the Christmas special, set at Sandringham, are even more bonkers than before. When the family discover someone has taped over the pre-recorded Queen’s Speech that’s due to be broadcast with St r ict ly Come Dancing – and with the Queen now abroad – it’s down to Prince Charles to fill in for his mum, live. But with brother Edward directing and Charles going off-script, disaster looms.
Banished from the house, Fergie and her girls are sleeping in the stables but pinning their hopes on getting back into the fold by releasing a single called Daddy Come Home For Christmas. And Kate finds herself at war with Camilla over the Christmas dinner.
There’s also a nod to Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, with George III as the ghost of Christmas past – a brilliant cameo from Harry Enfield’s long-time comedy collaborator Paul Whitehouse. ‘My George III is on medic a t ion – arsenic and lead! – so he’s just a bit eccentric,’ says Paul. ‘ He’s able to show William a glimpse of his father’s past so he can real ise how Charles has become the slightly damaged individual he is in the show.’
Vicki Pepperdine is also new to the cast as Princess Anne. ‘They’ve mixed Anne with Mrs Danvers, the housekeeper from Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, and it’s all rather austere and, “What are you doing in my house?” It’s great fun,’ says Vicki. ‘ I brought my own false teeth for the part, I see that as Anne’s thing. But it’s not an impressions show, it’s a family comedy. It’s not mean, it’s just funny.’
And has being involved in The Windsors changed the actors’ opinion of the real Royal Family? ‘ I think it’s too far removed to inform it either way,’ says Tim Wallers, who plays Prince Andrew. ‘But I like the Royals. And I think the family’s in good hands with the younger generation.’
While we never actually see the Queen or Prince Philip, they do of ten send foul- mouthed yet strangely affectionate messages to their relatives. ‘ I suppose the question everybody asks is, “I wonder if they watch it?’” says Vicki Pepperdine. ‘ We don’t know. Although I don’t think Princess Anne actually has a television. She’s far too busy.’
The Windsors Christmas special is on 23 December at 10pm on Channel 4.
‘Fergie and her girls have to sleep in the stables’