Tensions behind the throne
Private Lives of the Monarchs TV Yesterday Scheduled for Monday 20 November To be a royal is to be expected to project an image that embodies both power and control. Behind the facade, though, things are often very different, as Tracy Borman explores in a new six-part series that picks up on many of the themes in her previous Private Lives of the Tudors.
First up, Borman looks at the life of Queen Victoria, and in particular two of her closest relationships: with her husband, Albert, the Prince Consort, and her wayward son, Edward, who had a reputation as a playboy as a young man and whom Victoria eventually came to despise.
For the second episode, Borman considers another fractious relationship, that between George III and his son, the Prince Regent. The two hated each other, and their relationship was further complicated by George III’s recurring mental illness. The problems between the two coloured the life of the future George IV, and may go some way to explaining his profligacy. Later in the series, we can also look forward to shows about Charles II, Louis IV of France and Henry VIII.