Queen of the SCREEN
She’s the subject of many movies – even if they do have a dollop of artistic licence!
THEY’RE the most famous family in the world yet the people who occupy the H o u se of Windsor remain an enigma – and that’s part of their appeal. “There’s no more private family than the royal family,” says John Lithgow, who played Winston Churchill in The Crown. “The rest of us just spend our time being fascinated by them.”
And because of the mystery, plenty of artistic licence is added to the many movies and shows revolving around the royals. Some are tongue-in-cheek, others are decidedly daft and some are so gripping and true-seeming it makes you wonder if what you’re watching is the real deal.
NATIONAL LAMPOON’S EUROPEAN VACATION 1985
Queen Elizabeth lookalike Jeannette Charles appears as the monarch in a dream sequence in which Clark and Ellen Griswold (Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo) meet the royal family, who are thrilled to have the American tourists at the palace.
FACT OR FICTION? Fiction. The royals aren’t known to have random tourists over for dinner (as if !).
NAKED GUN 1988
Jeannette Charles once again plays Her Majesty. This time she’s on a royal visit to Los Angeles when she’s targeted by an assassin, and it’s up to inept cop Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) to protect her. At a baseball game, she’s invited to throw the first pitch.
FACT OR FICTION? Turns out the filmmakers were surprisingly prescient: in 1991 the real queen attended her first baseball game in the US, and Nielsen would meet her in 2005. She never, however, lobbed a baseball.
AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER
In her third turn as the queen, Jeannette Charles bestows a knighthood upon Austin Powers after he captures Dr Evil. FACT OR FICTION? Fiction. Austin Powers hasn’t been knighted. No matter how hard he might try to behave.
CHURCHILL: THE HOLLYWOOD YEARS 2004
Neve Campbell plays Princess Elizabeth as she’s romanced by American soldier Winston Churchill (Christian Slater), who’s assigned to save the monarchy and thwart Hitler’s plans for global domination.
FACT OR FICTION? A bit of both. Elizabeth was the first female member of the royal family to join the armed forces and served during World War 2. But of course, Churchill was not American and he and the queen were never romantically involved. Nor did they go on adventures together.