How The Royal Family Has Changed Over The Last 100 Years | Royal Secrets: Part 2 | Real Royalty

i'm alice loxton and i present documentaries over on history hit tv if you're passionate about all things royal history sign up to history hit tv it's like netflix but just for history you've got hours of ad-free documentaries about all aspects of the past you can get a huge discount for history hit tv make sure you check out the details in the video description and use the code real royalty all one word when you sign up now on with the show [Music] [Applause] when britain's future king edward prince of wales fell for a twice married american divorcee wallis simpson their secret affair caused a constitutional crisis that would cost him his crown on this day the decision of king edward viii was awaited with anxiety throughout the empire he became the first monarch in british history to voluntarily give up his throne the man who gave up more than any other man has ever done for love of a woman linking him forever to one of the world's most enduring love stories i viewed it as the greatest romance of the 20th century i have found it impossible to discharge my duties as king without the help and support of the woman i love [Music] it's been 80 years since edward quit his throne for wallis simpson the people are still fascinated by their love story and what happened to them after he was no longer king at ten thousand pounds ten thousand sold many of the items under the hammer today have been sold at auction twice before attracting record-breaking prices one million five hundred thousand pounds that they're still pulling in the bids for a third time shows how fascinated people still are with this remarkable story one of the most precious and perhaps the most beautiful is a 1952 onyx and diamond bracelet it's shaped like a stalking panzer and it just became the star of the night edward windsor was the eldest of six children fathered by george the duke of york later king george v he was born on the 23rd of june 1894 when his great-grandmother queen victoria ruled the british empire he was christened with seven names edward albert christian george andrew patrick david he chose david as his christian name and that's what the family and close friends called him for the rest of his days life was not easy for david his father was determined to prepare his son for the job he would one day inherit his childhood was along military lines stand up straight be on time dress properly giving the young prince a strong sense of duty when his father became king one of his first acts was to make edward now 17 the prince of wales [Music] [Applause] a lavish mini coronation in a medieval welsh fortress carnavan castle this grainy film of the ceremony shows king george personally crowning his teenage son who from then on would be known as edward prince of wales when the first world war broke out in july 1914 edward was among the first to sign up keen to see active service he joined the grenadier guards and became a staff officer but the prince of wales was not allowed anywhere near the front line the secretary of state for war lord kitchener feared not only that he might be killed but also that the germans might capture him alive edward pleaded to be allowed to fight with the men he was training with he argued that he had three other brothers able to become heirs to the throne despite the ban on him fighting edward visited the trenches whenever he could a newsreel cameraman went with him to show the british people that their heir to the throne was at the very heart of the battle they didn't know that the prince stayed behind when the men went over the top to take on the german machine guns edward was even given a military cross one of the highest army awards for valor at the time few knew that he had not fired a single shot in anger the public image of the future king was being carefully managed handsome brave and heroic when the great war ended edward became a roving ambassador he could do no wrong able to experience things that lesser mortals could only dream of from the austrian turtle we have secured the latest pictures of the prince of wales's early attempts at skiing the prince's aptitude for all sports is well known and it will not be long before he has found his snow legs so to speak if there was something that had never been done before he was the royal to try it here is the first flight of the prince of wales over london the prince sat next to the pilot in a giant bomber and flew for an hour over the capitol at the end of the flight the prince said it was a glorious stunt a phrase which caught the fancy of the world's journalists edward had become the pinup of his day women adored him men envied him the ultimate bachelor but his family wanted him to settle down find a wife and produce an heir to the throne but edward wasn't interested married women were more his style and one in particular had his eye the american socialite wallis simpson he first met her in 1931 when he was 36 and she 41. it wasn't love at first sight he already had a married girlfriend thelma furness but there was something about wallace that intrigued him [Music] by 1935 it was clear that edward and mrs simpson had become an item albeit a discreet one they were regulars of london's high society social scene and the government of the day was concerned mrs simpson was not only married she was an american how would that sit with the general public when edward tried to officially introduce wallis to his parents they refused the concern was so great that the government ordered scotland yard's special branch to spy on the couple the surveillance was kept under wraps for more than 60 years it only came to light when the government decided to declassify some royal documents in 2003 sensitive papers concerning the royal family are usually kept secret for 100 years but these were released 36 years early revealing police reports from 1935 which alleged that during her first year with edward mrs simpson was also seeing another man [Music] the mystery man according to the special branch officer was a car salesman from yorkshire he was also married his name was guy marcus trundle [Music] staff working at the national archives are far from sure that the 1935 reports are to be believed now i'm not saying that mrs simpson did not have an affair with guy trundle i just don't know the doubts have crept in because the reports have been spiced up by the undercover policeman who spied on mrs simpson he writes that wally simpson and her husband ernest were jews an incorrect rumor that was doing the rounds at the time i won't say i won't believe it but i have not been convinced that it's true especially in the light of the other pieces of information in these reports the police interest in edward and mrs simpson came to an abrupt end in january 1936 with the death of george v shortly after midnight the world heard the broadcast announcement death has come peacefully to the king at 11 55 on monday the 20th of january 1936 [Music] britain had a new king edward to my mother and to us his children the vast crowds assembled reverently at the bureau the homage to the late king's memory is a thing that we will never forget the way was now clear for him to pursue his affair with mrs simpson whatever the cost to the country or his family [Music] guns boomed out in the distance as a new chapter of english history was unfolded by the gotta king arms the garter command were unfolding a new king and ruler of the then british empire the high and mighty prince edward albert christian george andrew patrick david is now edward viii the people had high hopes for edward even braving driving rain to see him in action bad weather sparked the king's drive for the state opening of parliament as a pageant and a spectacle but it did not deter the crowds who lined the route to tear his majesty as he went to his first meeting with parliament since his accession he spoke optimistically of the future of industry and trade and of shipping and of the strengthening of britain's defence forces while they are essential for the defense of the empire no opportunity will be lost for the promotion of peace throughout the world it was not peace but work which was challenging the uk at the time and the former prince of wales found disastrous levels of unemployment amongst the welsh the grimmest phase of all this tour came at dallas the king inspected what had once been a busy and prosperous steel works nine thousand men lost their jobs when this works closed down the king left south wales with the determination that something must be done his determination put him at odds with the government of the day he was supposed to stay out of political issues but it wasn't only his politics that worried the government his relationship with wally simpson was becoming ever more intense [Music] he was showering her with jewelry and taking her on luxury holidays edward had been on the throne for less than six months when his reign almost came to an end a right-wing irish extremist tried to shoot him in hyde park during the trooping of the color near quadriga man jumps out pistol in hand as the king passes a mounted policeman plunges from his horse there's a short scuffle and the pistol falls near the king's horse and before many know what's happened george andrew mcmahon is hurried off in custody and later taken to post street mr bush will you tell us exactly what happened i noticed a disturbance in the crowd and i saw three policemen arresting a man it didn't look like an actual attempt on the king's life well it all happened so quickly and was all over in a few seconds one could not possibly form an opinion but the most remarkable thing of all was a way in which the king continued on his way at the head of his troops as if nothing had happened as he continued to carry out his duties edward viii was also still courting mrs simpson out of the public eye when news of it broke in the press the government gave him an ultimatum give up wallace or renounce the throne quite apart from the fact that she isn't of noble blood mrs simpson has twice been in the divorce courts to my mind that completely rules her out as queen of england i don't think anybody for a moment with a single exception of the king himself thought that uh there was ever a chance of her being queen ever and i'm sure she didn't she's much too sensible because he was very stupid man she was a very intelligent woman as the political debate raged the people joined in too i think the king should marry the woman he loves all right the king should please himself doing marriage because he knows he got everybody behind despite the public support edward's throne was now on the line the nation is behind him and we must not lose him on this day the decision of king edward viii was awaited with anxiety throughout the empire and the decision was not what the people wanted to hear a few hours ago i discharged my last duty as king and emperor edward's reason for abdicating was not political i have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as king as i would wish to come without the help and support of the woman i love edward became the duke of windsor and his younger brother bertie king george vi the news sent shockwaves around the world he had been king for just 325 days the third shortest reign in history [Applause] [Music] wally simpson divorced her husband ernest and six months after giving up the throne edward quietly and privately married the woman he loved in the south of france [Music] she became the duchess of windsor but edward's brother the new king banned members of the royal household from attending the wedding edward was now in exile banished by his own family within months the pair were in germany being fated by adolf hitler and his henchmen a huge crowd greeted the duke and duchess of windsor the purpose of the visit was to study social institutions and welfare edward and wallis studied joseph goebbels hitler's propaganda boss and had tea with hermann goering commander of the luftwaffe and mastermind of the holocaust but the most important meeting of the lot was with the man who personally invited the duke and duchess to germany [Applause] it is march 2016. a rare photo album containing images of edward and mrs simpson from that 1937 visit is being sold to a private buyer someone who doesn't want to be identified or have the picture seen there are several pictures showing the duke of windsor with nazi officers but pictures like this led to complaints that the duke was fraternizing too openly with the nazis the album was sold for 5 600 pounds but the photographs are not the only record of edward and mrs simpson's trip to see hitler german newsreel cameramen were there and filmed extensively for propaganda purposes the official visit gave way to the allegations that edward was a nazi sympathizer and a traitor king in the making the album doesn't contain one of the most infamous images from the visit one which shows the duke giving what looks like a nazi salute it was quietly sold for 1800 pounds at another auction in wales in july 2015. modern historians have uncovered evidence that hitler intended putting edward on the throne again if germany succeeded in conquering britain in 1940 there was a plot in germany to put him back onto the british throne and he ended his life in 1970 saying hitler wasn't a bad chap in the second world war was the responsibility of the jews and the reds edward was no stranger to german culture his family had strong german connections and he spoke the language fluently one of his best friends was diana mosley wife of the fascist leader sir edward [Music] in mosley great meeting in the heart of england even though it disapproved of his german connections the then british government found jobs for edward as far away from the uk as possible on the way to take up his appointment as governor of the bahamas the duke of windsor called bermuda a guard of honour was spawned by navy army and home guard but the allegations of nazi collaboration were always there the royal outcast flirtation with nazism is well known he and his wife visited germany in 1937 and met adolf hitler but was he a traitor prepared to see a nazi victory in britain in order to regain the throne with his wife wallis simpson as queen i think that he will come over as a fool as a man whose idiotic vanity and egotism drove him down a path that was extremely injudicious however i do not think that there's going to be anything to suggest that he actually actively helped britain's enemies during the war after the war edward and wallis effectively retired to paris where the french gave them a palatial mansion edward's family did not really want to see them but they did return to the uk occasionally arriving at hendon airport the duke of windsor returns to england for the first time since 1940 to visit his mother in the grounds of marlborough house the duke was welcomed by queen mary whom he had not seen for nine years the liner queen elizabeth is ready to sail as the duke of windsor prepares to return to new york he hopes to come back to britain shortly for coming back soon goodbye carl thank you yes i hope too wherever else they went the duke and duchess would treat it like royalty the duke and duchess of windsor in happy mood arrive in the united states for the first time in 18 months they particularly enjoyed american presidents and hollywood stars as the 60s became the 70s edward's health began to fail prompting the royal family to begin the process of ending his exile his doctors wouldn't let him take tea with his visitors so the duchess took them upstairs afterwards to see him the visit was arranged at the queen's request she spent 37 minutes there rather longer than planned this was the first time that she'd received the queen in her own home ten days later edward died less than a month short of his 78th birthday [Music] his body was flown back to britain for burial at windsor castle there was no state funeral no pomp and circumstance this was a simple service a private act of remembrance by a small congregation of mourners on top of the coffin there was no crown but a wreath from the duchess of windsor outside the public had gathered once again still wanting to pay their respects even after two days of the lying in state the service lasted half an hour then with the queen the dashes of windsor left the chapel the service also finally laid to rest 36 years of feuding edward was back in the fold as was the love of his life wallace this afternoon the duchess attended the last and completely private act of remembrance for her husband his burial at the royal mausoleum at frogmore within the grounds of windsor castle and after that service the duchess left immediately for her home in paris she leaves with the memory that this past week thousands have shown their affection to the last for her husband [Music] wally spent her final years in isolation in paris suffering from increasing dementia the mansion which the city gave to her and her husband so many years ago stood for lorne today the body of the duchess still lying inside the chimneys are corroded the roof has not withstood the weather and the boundary fence lies unrepaired on monday evening the duchess's condition suddenly deteriorated her staff called her doctor he in turn summoned a paris specialist who diagnosed pneumonia this morning the duchess woke up feeling considerably better but then the fever quickly worsened and within two hours she was dead and so the drama which rocked britain to its core fifty years ago ended here in the border bologne this morning she died 14 years after edward and was buried next to him at windsor castle the windsors have left a lasting legacy their love story has become the stuff of tv and movie legend many famous names have played the couple edward fox played him in the tv series edward and mrs simpson do you think history treated him fairly life treats us all more or less as we deserved and madonna wrote a hollywood film about her i viewed it as the greatest romance of the 20th century called w e as in wallace and edward well i think it's a complex story and i don't think there's any real there's no black and white there's no real clear-cut villains good guys or bad guys it was important for me to portray everyone in the film as a human being even the actors chosen to play the couple bought into their story he didn't try and hide his life behind closed doors he just enjoyed everything and it became it was much more public and much more troublesome i think to the rest of royal family than anybody really wanted it to be after all these years what edward really wanted is hard to tell but one thing is clear he really was the king who gave up his throne for the woman he loved until death department it's 1936 and europe is in the grip of adolf hitler an emerging dictator who will soon have the world at war in the uk the royal family is also in turmoil the king edward viii is in love with a married woman and it said he's sympathetic to the nazi cause [Music] his brother the duke of york will soon inherit the throne and a nation in crisis but he has little ambition and a stutter which made speaking in public terrifying i have the greatest pleasure in in declaring it open can the duke conquer his demons and overcome his timidity to take on the third reich as britain's wartime king for the second time in the lives of most of us we are [Music] at war [Music] the exhibition is an empire [Music] undertaking the man who was soon to become king george vi had a problem which was worrying his advisors of the commonwealth of nations they called it the king's speech i have the greatest pleasure in because he [Music] a result of a hidden childhood trauma which meant the pre-war battle of rhetoric was being won by hitler terrorism millions flocked to see him and radio and newsreel footage carried his messages of hate around the world the power of speech had become a vital part of the propaganda war george could not compete but his stammer could be tamed by this man lionel logue an unorthodox australian speech therapist log took george under his wing and subjected him to a tough regime of intensive vocal therapy we've had a very good show here tonight and i thank you all very much and i wish you good night few knew about it at the time it was a well-kept secret but 90 years later logan's efforts were revealed in the hip movie the king's speech which won four oscars and many other awards the fundamentals of lionel's technique was no matter who you are from what station of life because he was also working with world war one returned soldiers with what we would now call post-traumatic distress syndrome particularly for that generation of men in 1937 and the obstacles and their suspicion of therapy and they were suspicious of all psychology really lionel logue died in 1952 but left behind a legacy his transformation of a stuttering george into a regal king possibly the most startling piece of evidence loke died a year after the king but his diaries helped his grandson write a book about the relationship it was his grandfather's own words that helped colin firth learn about the nature of the king's stammer he says contracts teeth and mouth and mechanically close his throat gets chin down and closes his throat at times and so you know an extraordinary habit of clipping small words and in on and of saying the first syllable of one word and the last of another so this all helped inform very useful for college yeah the real george vi never expected to be giving speeches as king that was his elder brother's job i have determined to renounce the throne to which i succeeded on the death of my father and i am now communicating this my final and irrevocable decision when edward quit his throne to be with a woman he loved america's wallis simpson george was suddenly thrust into the harsh glare of the royal limelight [Music] no one was less suited to be a monarch than the then duke of york his brother had previously captured the headlines a dashing figure while george led a relatively quiet life preferring to spend his time at a modest london home with his young daughters [Music] he did have to appear in public he relied heavily on his wife elizabeth no way was he classic king material [Applause] he was born albert frederick arthur george on the 14th of december 1895 at sandringham in norfolk a huge estate that had been a royal retreat since 1862 it was the age of the victorians his great-grandmother queen victoria would reign for another five years he was christened albert but the family shortened this to bertie a nickname that stuck with him for life bertie had four brothers and a sister the eldest edward being third in line to the throne they all lived in a mansion called york cottage where bertie was born it became their prison controlled by their father who would become king george v on the death of his father edward vii he treated his five sons like lower ranking naval officers and was obsessed with discipline punctuality and obedience at the age of 13 bertie who had developed a stutter because of his father's abuse was sent to naval college it turned out to be the making of him he was put under the care of the school doctor louis gregg a former captain of the scottish rugby team greg was physically imposing and tough but unlike the king he did not bully bertie for 20 years greg guided bertie through life after college they both joined the navy and fought alongside each other in the great war this is rare footage of the battle of jutland the only significant naval battle of the war between britain and germany the result was inconclusive bertie was in the thick of the action manning a gun turret after the war bertie turned to the air force and quickly qualified as a pilot but the risks associated with flying were too much for the royal family and he was persuaded to pursue a less dangerous life cambridge university where louis greg continued to keep an eye on him cambridge provided bertie with a golden opportunity to indulge his passion for sport mostly as a spectator but he did become a fine golfer he also played tennis at the highest level in 1926 at the age of 30 bertie became the first member of britain's royal family to take part at wimbledon partnered by greg he played in the first round of the doubles it didn't go well he and louis were tranced in straight sets by british opponents who had previously won the championships greg's influence on bertie extended beyond the military and sport he helped turn the duke into one of the world's most eligible bachelors the roaring twenties brought a huge sexual revolution women got the vote on both sides of the atlantic becoming mistresses of their own destiny and that included overturning the traditional battle of the sexes once a year the bathing bells take a sweet revenge all the other 364 days they spend their time parading in front of a lot of men to be judged for beauty or something now they're in the judge's place and the beach lifeguards are being judged aren't they cute baby take a bow they like that one [Music] the winner is a man named ken griffith they call him up and then hot him up music heated things up too jazz crossed the pond to london and fun-loving women became flapper girls as they did the charleston in the middle of it all was bertie single and fancy free as was his brother the prince of wales the pair had become inseparable and equally outrageous they took up with a pair of married women and called themselves the four dudes because they could do whatever they wanted this photograph shows the carefree casual side of the gang it was how they really saw themselves bertie was smitten by his doom an australian socialite sheila chisholm that the affair was doomed his father the king demanded an end to it offering bertie the title the duke of york provided he gave up sheila he chose royal duty over love but admitted to being heartbroken but not for long within weeks another young woman had come into his life a member of the british aristocracy who would turn his world upside down bertie's new girlfriend was 19 year old elizabeth bose lyon the ninth child of the earl of strathmore a noble line that stretched back to the 14th century elizabeth had been raised in glams castle an ancient pile in the scottish lowlands in 1920 she moved to london to become part of the royal society scene she became a debutant and caught bertie's eye it wasn't love at first sight as far as elizabeth was concerned but she did become his tennis partner they became a regular fixture on the double circuit it took bertie two years and two goes at proposing to her before she finally agreed to marry him she later told a friend that she married bertie out of duty only later did she fall in love at their wedding in westminster abbey huge crowds gathered it was the first royal wedding to be turned into a spectacle and to be substantially filmed previously the royals had been married quietly in private chapels but the ravages of the great war had left britain battered and depressed it was thought a bit of pomp would cheer things up the black and white newsreel doesn't do justice to the colorful turnout bertie cut a dashing figure in his air force blue dress uniform his new wife wore a medieval style lace dress [Music] in 1923 radio was king in britain but the bbc was prevented from relaying the ceremony because the then archbishop of canterbury feared it might be listened to in disreputable pubs and bars [Applause] it was to be three years before the royal couple had their first child during that time bertie's wife became hugely popular and earned herself a nickname the smiling duchess the yorks were a happy family their daughters elizabeth and margaret grew up with only minimal press intrusion movie newsreels were few and far between but all that was about to change the king's life was moving peacefully towards its globe the reign of george v had come to an end death has come peacefully to the king at 11 55 edward prince of wales was now king and his younger brother next in line [Applause] 326 days later unexpectedly bertie became king he chose the name george rather than albert by his side sat his faithful wife now queen elizabeth their daughters were now heirs to the throne in europe war was on the cards the hitler youth were holding training and recruiting camps in germany preaching intolerance and aryan values britain's king meanwhile was organizing a very different rallying call [Music] to galvanize the nation's workers bertie had set up summer camps to help boost morale and the virtues of equality alongside him in this newsreel footage are his wife and daughters princess margaret and the future queen of england princess elizabeth in germany hitler's words were also seducing members of george's family in particular his brother edward now known as the duke of windsor [Applause] much to the annoyance of the british government he and wallis simpson visited hitler and the fuhrer vowed to return him to his throne if germany succeeded in conquering britain [Music] edward wasn't the only one who thought hitler could be a friend here in bavaria mr chamberlain was recorded a roar of piles from the crowd his mission of peace was greeted with enthusiasm by the people of germany when i come back i hope i may be able to say as hotspur says in henry iv out of this metal danger reflect this flower safely appeasement of course didn't work and britain needed an ally one with power and influence the new king found himself in america at the white house charming president franklin d roosevelt recently our nation has had the pleasure of a visit from king george vi as a courteous recognition of the cordiality and the good will that prevails between two great nations its significance lay in the fact that friendship could exist between the two countries without fear of any act of aggression by the one against the other hitler was now the aggressor and the king and the president formed a lasting friendship [Music] but their joy was [Music] first the short-lived premier then mr chamberlain for britain rejected hitler's so-called peace offer because it was based on the old recipe of the burglar making friends with the police after he got what he wanted we know now what nazi promises are worth [Music] war brought a new friendship for the king winston churchill had replaced neville chamberlain as prime minister the fate of holland and belgium like that of poland czechoslovakia and austria will be decided by the victory of the british empire and the french republic the whole world is against hitler and hitlerism churchill became the voice of britain but if anybody likes to play rough we can play rough too taking the war of words to the heart of the nazi hierarchy when i warned them that britain would fight on alone whatever they did their generals told our prime minister and his divided cabinet in three weeks england will have a neck run like a chicken some chicken [Music] while churchill led from the front the king led by example by subjecting his family and the staff in buckingham palace to food rationing turning off the central heating royal parks were dug up and planted with much needed crops and the king saved water too no bath in the palace could have more than five inches of hot water birdie moved his daughters to the relative safety of windsor castle but he and his queen remained in buckingham palace to face the german blitz with the rest of london it wasn't long before it became a target and they had a close call this was the effect of a time bomb that exploded in the grounds of the king's london home it fell only a few feet from the palace building close to the king's sitting room the king and queen were in the sitting room with the windows open when the bomb went off had they been closed the royal couple would have been shredded by flying glass truly this is a wall of all the people they're all in it the attack while shaking the royals proved a massive propaganda boost not even a direct hit on the palace could bring down the monarchy and in the queen's words they could now look the east end in the eye [Music] which is exactly what they did the morning after the night before often saw the king and queen in east london amongst the devastation virgie's wife became more than just a symbol of the bravery of the people in the face of hitler's onslaught she became a champion for the women of britain who she felt were often underrated by the war effort many of you have had to see your family life broken up your husband going off to his unlucky task your children evacuated the places of greater safety we no less than men have real and vital work to do to us also is given the proud privilege of serving our country in her hour of need the hour of need also meant her husband wearing military uniform for almost six years when war broke out he vowed not to wear civilian clothes in public again until the fight was over bertie relentlessly taught the battle lines and garrisons to personally thank his men to show he was right behind them the mood of the country about its king was captured by the singer vera lynn who had become the forces sweetheart she sang about the day she met the king he taught and we spoke just like towards [Music] when hitler committed suicide in his berlin bunker on april the 30th 1945 the war was all but over a week later bertie and his family were able to take to the balcony of buckingham palace to lead a nation's rejoicing five years ago i promised you blood toil tears and sweat and your untiring response brought us in the end victory over germany even though it was very much churchill's hour the crowds who flocked to buckingham palace made it clear who they wanted [Music] the people of britain had spent a long time fighting for their king and country [Applause] seven years later bertie was dead at the age of 56 [Music] a 40-year smoking habit had helped kill him but it was the long years of war that were most to blame [Music] his devotion to duty almost certainly cost him his life his 14 years on the throne coincided with the most destructive war in history the end of an empire which once covered a quarter of the earth's surface and a third of its population when he was born there were few cars on the road man had yet to fly homes were lit by candles or gas at his death there were more than four million cars in britain the world's first commercial jet airliner the comet was in service and over 20 million people would tune in to watch his personal legacy on television the coronation of his daughter queen elizabeth ii it's 1982 it really is the beginning of a new era time magazine votes the personal computer man of the year children are highly receptive to the new gadgets it's adults who are computer shy while the world's press chase princess diana who is a mother for the first time giving birth to a boy william who will one day be king i am ready now to get out and do different stuff there's so much i want to do a prince who will become as popular as the people's princess the adulation that the young prince receives during official engagements has in the past appeared to embarrass him the people of britain want william as their monarch sooner rather than later they will be king and queen new surveys show that more than half would prefer william as the next monarch [Music] prince william was born at st mary's hospital in west london may we see your son you're all highness and the nation celebrated it's a new prince [Applause] with confirmation of the birth the celebrations began [Music] [Applause] william is the first heir to the british throne to be born in a public hospital just like his mother diana he became a target for the press from the day he could walk his first day at school at the age of three was a major event it seemed half of fleet street were there to record this small moment of history there were no worries about leaving his parents the prince set off to meet his new classmates with a determined swagger the prince was introduced to his classmates simply as william as he left school at the end of his first morning prince william proudly held up a paper mouse he'd made it himself and was taking it home to show mum and dad when he was eight william was sent to a private boarding school the boarding fees are more than 7 000 pounds a year prince william is guarded here by 17 members of the royal protection squad despite the close protection squad williams soon made headlines when a fellow pupil whacked him on the side of the head with a golf club and the heir to the throne found himself heading for hospital with a fractured skull just weeks before his ninth birthday up in his private ward d7 prince william said to be comfortable and well on his way to a full recovery get well presents have been arriving among them a well-wrapped teddy bear balloon when it was time to send william to secondary school his mother and father decided to send their eldest son to one of the country's top schools eaton his father the prince of wales went to gordon and said it was like serving a prison sentence he's determined that prince william's school days should be happy ones eaton is famous for educating kings and political leaders who end up running the world now he is of course not a normal schoolboy nor indeed he's eaten a normal school will he fit in easily or will he face extra pressure because of who he is it's not so they're unused to celebrity or or royalty even their royalty from all around the world who go to the school so of course he'll be special in one one sort of way but i doubt boys in the school or even masters will make much of it but the press did the new boy was under siege something had to be done time for the chairman of the press complaints commission lord welcome to step in lord wacom took the opportunity of an engagement at the london press club to appeal to editors to respect the complete privacy of princess william and harry for two years the media has agreed not to intrude on the princes while they're in school but lord wacom wants the truce expanded and extended until they're grown up i think it should cover the whole time that they're having education there should be no intrusion into their privacy william was nicknamed wills at eaton and for two years he was able to make his mistakes behind the school's closed doors the death of his mother changed everything and thrust him back into the limelight when disaster struck the royal family were on holiday in scotland for the past five days most of the royal family including the queen have been 521 miles away at balmoral leaving the palace empty with no flag flying william was also at balmoral as his father tried to protect him from the outpouring of grief going on in london opinion here is divided but increasingly today much of the anger which was at first directed at the paparazzi has been focused on the royals themselves well it must be very very cold-hearted not to have a flag up i think it's a disgrace on the whole royal family as the family's popularity plummeted the queen tried to head off the growing criticism the queen has asked me to say that the royal family have been hurt by suggestions that they are indifferent to the country's sorrow and the tragic death of the princess of wales the princess was a much-loved national figure but she was also a mother whose sons misled deeply the sons helped save the day by spending time with those grieving for their mother william thank you so much thank you was a master stroke and cemented williams place as the successor to his mother's position as the people's royal william achieved good grades at eaton enough to guarantee him a place at university but he surprised everyone by deciding to take a gap year he's chosen to spend most of it in chile with the youth charity rally international working on environmental and community projects i wanted to do something constructive i thought this was a bit more of a way of making trying to help people out and meet a whole range of different people from different countries and at the same time helping people in remote areas of chile i raised myself about five and a half thousand pounds did your father chip in as well um you might have helped slightly not very much so haven't you been all the bloody time william was now 18 and for the first time he began to reveal his true feelings towards the press corps that was now reporting his every move i think prince william has a great number of reasons for disliking the media in general most particularly of course when you think of what they did to his mother the princess of wales matters came to a head when princess diana's former private secretary patrick jefferson decided to write a book about life inside the royal household patrick jefferson seen here being handed a card by diana was a senior aide for eight years in his book already being serialized in the sunday times he portrays her as a schemer and a liar well of course harry and i are both quite upset about it that our mother's trust has been betrayed and that um even now she's still being exploited but i don't really want to say any more on that tonight patrick jefferson defended his decision to go ahead with the book i'm sure that when the whole book is read it will eventually be seen to be truthful and sympathetic to the memory of the late princess this is the first time that prince william has spoken publicly about his mother since her death it's a sign of the deep hurt that he and prince harry clearly feel at the continuing press coverage over diana prince william for one now seems determined to put a stop to it i think we've very much seen a royal for the new century very relaxed not stage managed happy to josh a bit with his father in an informal way but not scared to say exactly what he's feeling and certainly not prepared to dodge the difficult issues [Music] the difficult issues included having a private life at st andrews university where he enrolled under the name william wales even before he'd attended a single lecture of his art history course he spent several minutes meeting the crowds some of whom had waited hours for the chance to wish him well this time the media played ball and backed off gaining a royal seal of approval i've been left to limit the media in a big way actually and for that i am very grateful it's been three and a half years obviously so far where um i've been very independent and and been left alone to sort of study and do my own thing really doing his own thing meant not thinking too much about the throne he would one day inherit he must have the odd thought in a quiet moment about a day when he would be king i look on the brighter side of everything there's no point being pessimistic or being worried about too many things because frankie lives too short looking on the brighter side included having a love life william was now a sex symbol adored by women of all ages i've had um lots of kids come up and ask my autograph um i've had grandmothers stop me and ask me um if they know any good places to buy underwear um no actually i was a bit stuck by that one and actually that was the first one i didn't mind being supposed to be that one really caught me out like most university students william wanted to have fun but being a future king meant keeping a low profile his friends coined a code name steve which enabled them to talk openly about him and his exploits without anyone else knowing who they were referring to to begin with obviously uh his fellow students were very aware you know this is prince william and now his tournaments and purposes are very regular student lives an ordinary student life he's worked really hard not to let his presence disrupt his feather students existence being called steve also helped when it came to dating the young woman who had first caught his eye as he arrived at saint andrews 18 year old kate middleton prince william and kate middleton met as teenagers during their first year at university their rooms in the saint andrews hall of residence were close to each other they became friends but it wasn't true love at first sight it took this costume and charity modelling show for william's head to be well and truly turned he paid 200 pounds for her to take to the catwalk she sort of she wore something a little bit risque with such dignity you couldn't help but notice her um and so yes that was perhaps the time when he really sort of saw her as something a little bit special [Music] it was to be two more years before the press got something to really get their teeth into william and kate together on a swiss ski slope three months later they both graduated william's grandmother the queen was there as he collected a geography degree and kate won in history in his own words it is time now for the big wide world but today williams family like any other well almost came to say a proud farewell to a place that has allowed him a more normal life than any royal in history and partly of course it's been about this woman very soon kate middleton could be one of the most famous women in the world and yet she must try to forge a career on her own terms this was a proud day for the family and an occasion with its own quirky traditions like being patted on the head with a leather pouch containing a fragment of the trousers of a 16th century preacher peculiar you said it for two years kate tried to forge a career on her own terms but the media wouldn't leave her alone before kate middleton had even got engaged the media fascination was evident little wonder that the palace has today compared her experience to that of diana lessons were learned from the tragic end of the diana's story but clearly not by everyone it wasn't long before kate had had enough her solicitors wrote to the press complaints commission saying she was being continually harassed [Music] probably the biggest difficulty the royal family has in fulfilling its role these days is the fact that there is a sort of 24 7 global media but william and kate didn't shut the media out altogether they were photographed hugging in public for the first time in switzerland speculation about engagements and marriage stopped when william followed royal tradition and joined britain's armed forces twelve grueling months of training go into making an officer and being second in line to the throne doesn't entitle you to an easy ride and this counter insurgency training with william taking part in a hostage dilemma at a vehicle checkpoint before cadets can graduate they must take part in operation winter victory a tough 10-day exercise in cyprus a traditional ceremony at the end sees the recruits putting on their regimental berets for the first time when william made the grade kate was there to watch his passing out parade it was her first official royal engagement and the rumor mill went into overdrive talk of a wedding has always been pooh-poohed by the prince himself [Music] uh no i don't think royal watchers say palace officials are equally dismissive today despite the denials some retailers jumped on a royal bandwagon to william and kate's dismay they were utterly astonished that woolworths had done this and they say there is nothing on the cards at the moment of an engagement announcement behind the scenes the relationship had become strained and the couple had agreed to split they looked so good together who didn't think that in kate william had found the perfect future bride itv news has learned that kate and william had in fact split before and at this time it's final he has the feeling that you know with his parents marriage breaking up that he he just doesn't want to make a mistake but i think it's more the fact that he just cannot make the commitment right now in his life now that they were both single william and kate were regularly photographed out and about apparently enjoying themselves separately it was william who blinked first williams suddenly saw these pictures in the newspapers of her leaving nightclubs with quite eligible young men who thought i'd made a bit of a mistake here but william couldn't do much to rectify the mistake even if he wanted to his royal duties were gathering pace as he picked up qualifications fit for a future king flying officer william wales graduating with number 227 and then the 97 horses [Music] when the moment arrived the prince of wales was simply beaming with delight he was here in his dual role of air chief marshall and of course proud dad [Applause] william was now a royal air force helicopter pilot with something to win over the woman he now realized he loved if you want a surefire way to impress the girlfriend then landing your helicopter in her back garden might be hard to beat william who was recently awarded his raf wings touched down in a field in the grounds of kate middleton's family home earlier this month the prince was flying a chinook helicopter similar to this one it was the same aircraft he used on a separate occasion to pick up brother harry on route to a stag party williams military graduation coincided with wars being fought in iraq and afghanistan like his brother harry he yearned for action on the front line i didn't join the forces to be like i said alongside before molly cuddled or treated any different and i think as a future head of the armed forces it's really important that i was getting at least get the opportunity to be credible and to do the job that i signed up for and to do the best i can for william there was to be no opportunity to do the best he could but harry was able to do two tours in afghanistan the guys who are doing the same job as us are being shot out on the ground and i don't think there's anything wrong with us being shot at as well um and yeah people back home will have issues with that but we're not special and the guys out there are as simple as that william was special and the closest he got to action was as an air force search and rescue pilot it was totally apparent to me straight away how important the job is every day you come in to work and you don't quite know what's going to happen it's quite exciting in that sense it's unpredictable but at the same time it's great that you get to go out and actually save someone's life or at least make a difference to someone you know when you know that they're in trouble that difference was soon clear on his very first mission william was the co-pilot in the rescue of a heart attack victim from an offshore oil rig as britain struggled to recover from the great recession caused by the collapse of the banking system the royal family broke the news everyone was waiting for i think it's the best news we've heard for a long long time after a session now is depression at least we'll have something to celebrate to have a royal wedding next year is so important for the tourist trade not everybody was happy britain was still in austerity mode every penny was being counted if it's anything like charles and dies next year's wedding is going to be a huge event and huge royal events mean huge security bills so who exactly is going to pay for all this here's a clue it starts with a t and it ends with axpayer it would be really inappropriate for them to have a lavish ceremony at a time like this when there's such huge pressure on public finances shall we he said william and kate married in westminster abbey on april the 29th 2011. and with that the most anticipated moment of the most watched event ever fleeting and like the best of shows leaving the audience wanting more almost immediately they got more ladies and gentlemen i now announce that the princess catherine doll is now on sale thank you royal memorabilia by the truckload from coins to condoms value of this royal wedding to the economy is 620 million pounds in extra spending by tourists and brits alike but william is more than a money maker being an heir to the throne usually means your life is not your own prince william is now at a crossroads in his military career he must decide whether or not to stay in uniform the alternative of course is to follow his father's footsteps from the military to full-time royal duties william didn't follow but he did leave the military to become a full-time air ambulance pilot as part of a trauma rescue team in east anglia starting a new job can be intimidating even for a future king i just want to say very very happy to be here first day nerves william is the first royal in direct line to the throne to take on a paid and taxable job in civilian life he's earning 40 000 pounds a year here he doesn't need the money and will give it all to charity the move drew criticism from those who believed he was avoiding his duties as future king full-time royal role is banned around quite a lot and no one actually really knows what that means but i think i can still manage to do my commitments and my responsibilities as well as i can but equally do something that i think is incredibly important and that will you know prove me hopefully in good stead for the future the future for william is uncertain apart from his grandmother the queen britain's longest serving monarch he has become the most popular member of the royal family i think william's got it in him to be a good king many people in britain now believe the long-term prospects for the monarchy would be improved if william and kate were next in line they will be king and queen new surveys show that more than half would prefer william as the next monarch in the meantime william and kate must get used to being international superstars photographed and fated wherever they go i think they're quite a nice role model for the um for the younger generation but william's personal battle with the media is far from over his children have become targets and he wants it stopped the paparazzi pursuit of prince george amounts to stalking raising questions of not just harassment but child protection and security would you be happy if there was a series of photographers who were always following around taking pictures of your children who are as young as two and as babies last week police found a photographer using the boot of his car as a hide to keep the prince under surveillance and it's claimed other children have been used to lure george interview if you can't have any privacy in the world um i can't see anybody wanting to be a member of the royal family it's not worth it your soul gets destroyed 2011 britain is in the grip of a coalition government it's seen a quarter of a million march as one against the coalition's cuts the country has just lived through the worst recession in living memory i'm afraid to tell you there's no money left but not everyone is unhappy [Music] hundreds of thousands more will join this crowd many are already settling down for the night you've even got monaco's socks on and underpants to go with it [Music] prince william and kate middleton are getting married i now announce that the princess captain dollar is now on sale thank you royal collectibles are selling like hotcakes even stars and celebrities are joining in would i buy them i would send them some uh some congratulatory marijuana what would i buy him a toaster obviously i would send them a beautifully handcrafted jewel encrusted bong kate's life is about to change forever fairytale wedding of a commoner marrying her prince very much a reality [Music] when kate middleton married prince william she became the most famous royal wife on the planet and a future queen of england her profile was so great that she transcended britain's previous most popular royal wives her husband's mother princess diana she was the people's princess and that's how she will stay in our hearts and in our memories and her late great grandmother-in-law queen elizabeth the queen mum [Music] at the turn of the 20th century the future kings of england had little choice in their partners despite their status they had less control over their future than most of their subjects future wives were often picked by royal parents from a pool of eligible princesses from across europe each royal marriage was forged to strengthen alliances and allegiances ensuring peace and trade across the continent queen victoria was the master of this real game of thrones her nine children were married off to the royal families of germany denmark and russia when edward vii died in 1910 his funeral was attended by dozens of royal heads of state most of whom were his relatives but these family ties would be of little use when four years later war broke out across europe the marriage between the new king george v and the german-born mary of tech could not hold europe together king george v visited berlin with the present queen mary far more vividly than the colorless sentences of history books these earlier pictures convey the untiring efforts of the english royal house to wed the relations of europe into a peace-loving family the peace-loving family was torn apart and royal marriage-making was never the same again by the 1920s britain's royal men had graduated to choosing their own women how times had changed class and previous relationships were now the biggest considerations when the heir to the british throne edward prince of wales and his younger brother albert started to hang out with married women who were also australian and american the establishment and their royal family was in uproar edward lost his throne when he refused to give up his american divorcee but albert chose more wisely and became king lady elizabeth bo's lion was to become the most popular royal wife of modern times though no one knew it then elizabeth was the youngest daughter of the earl of strathmore from a noble line of scots that stretched back to the 14th century she was raised with nine siblings in their ancestral home of glams castle a huge medieval pile in the scottish lowlands her upbringing was religious with a focus on the responsibility that came with wealth but that didn't stop her from regularly indulging in parties cocktails and wicked humor at one party in 1910 a fortune teller is said to have given elizabeth a prediction you will live to be a queen and the mother of a queen when the great war maimed and injured thousands of soldiers glams was turned into a nursing home and a teenage elizabeth became the life and soul of the carers she also showed a cool head when fire broke out in the castle she was the only member of the family at home she took control and set up a human chain that saved many of the family's priceless antiques elizabeth started dating her royal husband-to-be when she moved south to london and attended one of the great high society balls of the age she was just 19 and it wasn't love at first sight britain's latest royal wife first met her husband-to-be when they both signed up for the university of saint andrews unlike elizabeth beau's lion kate had not come from a line of aristocrats she doesn't have a drop of royal blood in her her ancestors include coal miners and labourers and her second cousin twice removed is a current burlesque dancer and former playboy model however her parents former airline cabin crew became multi-millionaires after starting a successful party business they live in a georgian mansion in the quaint village of bucklebury in berkshire kate whose younger sister pippa was later to cause a huge stir at the royal wedding attended one of the best schools in britain marlborough college popular intelligent and good at sports kate holds the school's high jump record to this day we played hockey together in tennis she was an incredible swimmer but um she was also quite famous for being um a cricketer as well and a bit of a touch rugby player she was pretty good kate was also pretty good at acting in school she played a woman who receives a prediction that echoed that given to elizabeth bo's lyon 80 years earlier rich gentlemen is it all i never hoped for you couldn't help me indeed i'm marrying me and hurry you'll fall in love with me this youtube video becomes even more amazing when you hear the name of the man kate falls in love with it the fictional prediction started to come true at a university charity fashion show when william paid 200 pounds to see kate walk down the catwalk in this outfit there's one in particular sort of semi-transparent very nice very flattering dress you couldn't help but notice her that was perhaps the time when he really saw her as something a little bit special prince william was smitten soon william and kate had started a love affair and in their second year like millions of other students they shared a flat with two friends in a terraced house in a st andrews street renowned for its parties the parties might have been fun but kate would soon find that as with any royal romance the course of true love rarely runs smooth elizabeth beau's lion also had an unusual start to her relationship with her future king at first she and prince albert were more tennis partners than lovers elizabeth who valued her freedom saw the life of a royal wife as far too restrictive and twice turned down albert's marriage proposals his brother edward met with elizabeth to try and persuade her to marry albert and at least one newspaper of the day got the wrong end of the stick reporting that elizabeth was to wed the prince of wales when it was finally announced that elizabeth was to marry the duke of york she agreed to talk to the press giving a candid interview in which she revealed the true story of their courtship multiple proposals no engagement ring and worst of all albert's private nickname was bertie her new in-laws to be responded quickly by banning her from speaking directly to the press again a royal edict she was to follow for the rest of her life in the 1920s there was no such thing as a press pack or 24 7 news elizabeth bose lyon was left alone unlike kate middleton in 2007 more of a hunted animal than a potential fiancee of a future king britain's paparazzi were now hounding kate around the clock even a fairly average photo of her made the cover of this magazine and she's not just there through being prince william's girlfriend she's there as a fashion icon as gossip colin fodder even as a role model it means people are interested in her and it means people can make money off her while at official engagements kate was to some extent protected from press intrusion there was suddenly interest in every aspect of her life her treatment drew parallels with the way williams mother lady diana was treated when she became engaged to prince charles how will you coping with all the press attention well as you could you can see you can tell you're bearing up with it quite well though because it must be quite a strain with all of us after you what it is prince william would tell her about the life his mother had the the trauma she had the the stress she had the one thing that you could say about kate that she would think things through for herself we don't know a lot about kate she's kept herself quite protected she's given no interviews she said nothing and it's been a model of discretion but even the model of discretion couldn't second guess the tactics of the press when she wouldn't talk they read her lips it was at sandhurst at william's passing out parade that kate made her first official appearance as prince william's girlfriend while william pounded the parade ground in front of his grandmother a lip reader revealed her innermost thoughts to be i love him in uniform he's so so sexy not a remark you'd often hear in royal circles the constant attention of the cameras eventually took its toll and kate tried to put a stop to it by complaining officially to britain's press complaints commission the photograph in today's daily mirror shows kate middleton just walking down the street carrying a cup of coffee but alongside they say she looks stoney-faced perhaps they say it's because she's fed up with prince william today's complaint to the press complaints commission suggests if she's fed up with anyone it's with photographers she's got to expect some photos to be taken if she's out in public she's got to expect us to be there royal weddings are now multi-million pound events no matter who the bride is or how rich or poor her family really are for these lavish occasions the father of the bride cannot possibly afford to pick up the tap for the newly betrothed couple the guesstimates are coming thick and fast the actual cost between 20 and 40 million with a potential security bill in the tens of millions they do say organizing a wedding can be the most stressful time of your life in 1923 when elizabeth bose lyon and prince albert got married there was far less stress and they didn't have to pay for the wedding cake a famous cake and biscuit maker came up with one of the biggest ever made a 300 pound 10-foot tall cake with icing miniatures of glams and windsor castle they charged six months a time to see it and thousands stood in line for hours for the actual wedding seats were sold at between 250 and 5 000 pounds at today's prices the streets of london were filled with people eager to catch a glimpse of the beautiful bride who chose an unusual medieval style wedding dress her groom wore the uniform of a royal air force group captain complete with a chest full of medals [Applause] [Music] when it came to kate middleton's wedding her in-laws to be in the new age of austerity made sure costs were kept within reason reigning in some of the grandeur of when prince charles married diana at that time three million people were unemployed but the event reportedly cost as much as 30 million pounds and they invited three and a half thousand guests by comparison princess elizabeth in 1947 saved up ration cards to purchase the fabric needed for her dress there were two thousand invited guests kate and williams wedding was mostly funded by the queen and prince charles with the uk taxpayer picking up the security bill security for the royal wedding will involve thousands of extra police officers many of them lining the route between buckingham palace and westminster abbey problem is paying those officers for the day will actually cost the met millions of extra pounds worth of overtime kate and william also had a giant cake eight tears of it not a freebie this time but one paid for personally by her mum and dad they also bought her wedding dress it was in this that the woman who never looks bad had never looked better her dress had come from the fashion house of the late great alexander mcqueen designed by his successor sarah burton demure long lace sleeves a corset satin top which flared from the waist her lace veil sheer enough to show her every expression expressions are an important part of being a successful royal wife in the 1920s elizabeth beau's line was so radiant she became known as the smiling duchess when she unexpectedly found herself queen alongside her husband king george vi she continued to smile and won even more hearts [Music] her majesty queen elizabeth receives the crown of glory honor and joy may god enrich your royal heart with his abundant grace and with everlasting gladness in the life that is to come [Music] the new queen's crown of glory was specially made for her platinum with 2 800 diamonds as the threat of war with germany depressed europe britain's king and queen made a state visit to france it was expected to be a somber in black affair because elizabeth's mother had died three weeks earlier elizabeth got her favorite fashion designer norman hartnell to create an entire white wardrobe it caused a sensation and won her a legion of [Music] fans unfailing charm of the queen have won the respect and affection of the whole french people one diplomat said we have taken your queen to our hearts from now on she rules over two nations [Music] 50 years later princess diana assumed elizabeth's role as the royal fashion icon whatever she wore became a must-have and that included the styles and customs she adopted when on royal visits elizabeth's influence was still being felt in 2015 when the president of china xi jinping made his first state visit to britain kate wore a diamond-studded tiara passed down from elizabeth's collection her sparkling designer gown matched the chinese flag how charming the queen looks she is wearing a crinoline gown of silver and gold with white furs and a glittering tiara in the late 30s elizabeth's wardrobe cheered a nation being dragged into war one that would put her husband in the front line without freedom there can be no enduring peace and without peace no enduring freedom and she firmly by his side the king's speech made it difficult for him to communicate but he made up for it by personally supporting the armed forces while elizabeth became the royal face on the home front when hitler's bombs destroyed the east end of london during the night she was there the next day dressed in pastel shades to show compassion and hope britain's wartime leaders noticed that when elizabeth visited munitions factories productivity shot up she also became the champion of the women who now manned the factories in a hundred ways you have filled the places of the men who've gone away to fight your work whatever it may be is just as valuable just as much war work as that which is done by the bravest soldier sailor or airman who actually meets the enemy in battle the enemy had already noticed the woman who had never been taught how to be a queen adolf hitler dubbed her the most dangerous woman in europe and the guard of honor of the royal navy the army and the royal air force dip their colours in reverent homage to a king leaving his capital forever after the death of her husband in 1952 elizabeth became the queen mother as her daughter took the throne she quickly became the nation's favorite granny as the new queen's children were born and raised and she made sure that the entire family followed her devotion to royal duty and service to the country later in life the queen mum became a media personality in her own right the satirical puppet show spitting image characterized her as a gin drinking royal matriarch who just loved to have a good time in the year 2000 it was as she celebrated her 100th birthday the first british royal to do so it wasn't only her family who turned out to wish her well forty thousand members of the british public were there too from being britain's favorite royal for most of the 50 years she was the queen mum elizabeth was a guiding light for her daughter the queen according to royal insiders they spoke every single day of their lives when the queen mother died at the age of 101 everyone mourned the loss of a national treasure when the queen mother first became a royal wife women were still campaigning for equal voting rights during her lifetime in bad times and good she saw massive change as a royal elizabeth was never able to exert political influence however she became patron of more than 350 charities many of them connected to disability or social injustice even when homosexuality was illegal she surrounded herself with gay staff and friends when a conservative government minister admonished her for recruiting gay people the queen mother replied without them we'd have to go self-service it was her daughter elizabeth who signed into british law the equal marriage act of 2013. the royal wives who followed her broke many of the royal traditions and protocols she had held dear diana caught the mood of 1980s feminism when she refused to vow to obey when she married prince charles and her subsequent public feud with the family and divorced from the heir to the throne was not what royal wives were supposed to do kate middleton has also changed the way the house of windsor is perceived by being commonly known as kate rather than the duchess of cambridge or princess kate she is very much one of us the genuine people princesses everything to like and nothing to dislike how great is that kate has caused a stir by using her royal status to bring mental health issues amongst children into the forefront of her charitable work i often get asked why i decided to spend time highlighting the mental health of children since beginning my work in areas like addiction for example i have seen time and time again that the roots of poor mental health and adulthood are almost always present in unresolved childhood challenges this was the duchess doing what she does best making herself at home among the children at the harlem-based mental health center immediately making one new friend who then introduced her to all his friends the staff were more than impressed it was awesome she got on her knees to play with them which was great i mean she's pregnant and she got on her knees to play with my children if it all looked a little familiar there's a good reason 25 years ago princess diana visited harlan the similarities are striking and not lost on the american media following in the footsteps of royal wives before her kate has put her huge popularity to good use bringing light to taboo subjects around the world they are fascinated with william and kate and in particular the duchess whose every public move is accompanied by the clicking of countless cameras in that spotlight it was again towards the children that she was drawn if she feels comfortable with them it's clearly reciprocated look at the face of the little boy shaking her hand who can now tell his friends he's met the future queen of england may 2015 the world is in chaos france is now on its highest level of alert against another terrorist attack the so-called islamic state is waging war in britain the prime minister is fighting to stay in power don't you ever dare lecture us about how to help the many in our country and a royal event is capturing the headlines we welcome this humble duty the second ball of the royal highnesses the duke prince william and kate middleton are celebrating the birth of their second child princess charlotte oh it's fantastic little baby girl well done hello princess good honor [Music] her brother george just two years old will one day like his father be king but charlotte is almost certain never to be queen one of a growing number of the royal family who are destined to serve but never inherit they are the spare heirs [Music] so the new princess will be fourth in line to the throne and she doesn't know it yet of course but this little one already occupies a unique place in british constitutional history she is the first female royal heir who cannot be superseded by a male heir born after her charlotte is unique in more ways than one her great-grandmother queen elizabeth is britain's longest and oldest serving monarch her grandfather prince charles will one day become king her father will also become king as will her brother george but she unless something tragic happens to all of them will always be a princess her official position puts her forth in line to the throne but that doesn't mean charlotte will be able to live a normal life free from the burdens of royal duties and cameras the house of windsor doesn't work like that charlotte like all spare airs within what the royal family call the firm will be groomed from the moment she toddles to step into the breach should the unthinkable happen and there is precedence for this close to home when elizabeth was born she was never expected to become queen not only was she female at a time when male heirs were given priority over their elder sisters but also her father wasn't a direct heir his brother edward was spare elizabeth's destiny was changed only because her uncle chose love over duty and queen elizabeth isn't the only one kings such as william ii through to henry viii were also spares perhaps the most famous and tragic spare heirs are known as the princes in the tower edward v of england and richard of shrewsbury the duke of york when their father edward iv died his brother richard took his young sons aged 12 and 9 to the tower of london for safe keeping they were never seen again and their uncle became richard iii prince charles's namesake and ancestor charles the first was also a spare heir who inherited when his older brother died of typhoid but he made a hash of it starting a civil war with his own parliament and having his head chopped off in 1649 modern spares don't get beheaded but their every move is now scrutinized and followed by the media as elizabeth's younger sister princess margaret discovered i think that princess margaret did find at it at times quite frustrating because i remember her saying once you know nobody ever asked her opinion about anything she was just told when to turn up and told what to do princess margaret was 10th in line to the throne when she was first told to wave to the british people she and her sister both expected to remain spare heirs enjoying a childhood under the radar how wrong they were nobody thought she would ever be heiries to the throne her parents were the duke and duchess of york then suddenly her father became king the royal family at the coronation and the 11 year old princess was next in line to become queen during world war ii elizabeth as a potential future queen was in the forefront of the war effort while margaret was filmed as a fun-loving civilian leading to a view within royal circles that she was a spoiled child but the public liked her and she became popular when she mingled with the crowds outside buckingham palace as the war in europe ended instead of appearing on the famous balcony with the rest of the royals that popularity grew [Music] as her sister gave birth to children margaret was pushed further down the pecking order but when elizabeth became queen margaret found herself the center of attention despite her royal upbringing she was unprepared for the social world that was to follow as the post-war years became the 50s and then the swinging 60s margaret found herself at the heart of high society and a fashion icon princess margaret retains her place as an outstanding leader of fashion for the charm so much her that charm made her the most photographed woman of her day but her love life remained largely private britain's press was nowhere near as tabloid as today the wheels came off her bandwagon when news leaked out that she was in a close relationship with her father's former equity captain peter townsend equeries are officers of the royal household who were supposed to assist members of the family not date them peter townsend was 16 years margaret senior with two children from a previous marriage the romance became as controversial as the one that had caused her uncle edward viii to abdicate matters went from bad to worse when townsend divorced his wife and asked the princess to marry him upon princess margaret center's worldwide interest and sharing the spotlight is group captain peter townsend the group captain accompanied the late king and his family on their south african tour he and the then very young princess were forming a friendship two years ago he left the royal household and was posted to brussels rumor that they had belonged in love seemed confirmed at this stage it was still asked will they become engaged millions all over the world impatiently wonder a female in the milk business was the only one not curious margaret accepted and informed her sister whose consent was required it was now understood that there could not be any news until the prime minister had had audience with her majesty after her return to london queen elizabeth was in a bind as monarch she could not say yes without the support of her government and the church of england and they were both saying no even though the general public supported margaret behind the scenes she was facing bitter opposition her royal family feared a repeat of the edward viii controversy on october the 31st 1955 margaret issued a statement saying she had decided not to marry peter townsend now she has put her royal duty first the hearts of all intern and the commonwealth are with the young princess who has chosen not self but country but margaret showed no sign of not enjoying herself as she rejoined the nightlife of london her close circle of friends became known as the margaret set and her life became a succession of fast cars clubs and all night parties she also found a new beau billy wallace the son of a government minister but their planned marriage was cut short when he was caught having an affair whilst on a visit to the bahamas margaret eventually fell for one of britain's top photographers anthony armstrong jones he had taken the official portraits for the queen and prince phillips royal tour of canada in 1957. when they married in westminster abbey it became the first royal wedding to be broadcast on television 300 million watched worldwide because he was a commoner and in those days it was unthinkable that they might have children without a royal title armstrong jones was made the first earl of snowden and margaret became the countess of snowden [Applause] even though the wedding captured the imagination of television viewers it did not meet with everyone's approval anthony was after all a photographer without royal blood it was antony's day job as a photographer that first brought tensions to the marriage he spent long periods abroad for his work often with attractive models margaret expanded her social set to include showbiz celebrities she spent time with rolling stone mick jagger and comic actor peter sellers who was smitten by the princess he called mam darling by 1973 the snowdens were separated in all but name but margaret really caused an upset when she began a relationship with this man sir roddy llewellyn a baronet and tv gardening expert he was 17 years younger the son of a former olympic equestrian gold medalist and a member of the british aristocracy the papers dubbed him margaret's toy boy as the princess enjoyed the high life britain's politicians criticized her saying she wasn't worth the 55 000 pounds she received from the public purse every year although she remained on good terms with armstrong jones in 1976 they formally separated margaret became the first senior member of the royal family to divorce since henry viii who ended his marriage to catherine of aragon to marry amberlynn margaret never remarried in her later years her health declined she had always been a chain smoker and drank heavily she died in 2002 at the age of 71. the princess died here at 6 30 this morning after suffering a stroke confirmation of princess margaret's death came in a printed statement posted outside buckingham palace and we just read the notes of prayer you know nothing went quite right for her did it and never portrayed very well with the press i don't think we always it was a bit cruel to her i think margaret isn't the only spare heir the press has been cruel to that's what he's been up to is that really him that's really him [Music] ever since he could walk prince harry the youngest son of princess diana and prince charles has kept britain's tabloids busy as the brother of a future king he is the ultimate spare heir growing up in the harsh glare of his parents acrimonious split in divorce and the tragic death of his mother in paris there was a hug for one well-wisher otherwise it was hard to believe princess harry and william are just 12 and 15. [Music] harry won the nation's heart at his mother's funeral as the loneliest boy in britain but it wasn't long before he began to show a rebellious streak he was caught smoking cannabis and drinking underage when he was 17. it was in this pop that the 17 year old is said to have been drinking and smoking cannabis the serious allegations and one of the newspapers has actually said that they're prepared to offer us what they describes the dossier well i'd like to see what's in that because if there is evidence on which we can act we'll do so prince harry wasn't punished by his father instead charles discussed harry's problem with him and his brother william before sending him to this rehabilitation clinic in peckham south london where he heard from recovering heroin addicts about the effects of drug taking but the young harry continued to create headlines he got into brawls with the paparazzi outside london nightclubs wild days as a drinker and smoker of exotic substances might be behind him but then just a week ago allegations that he cheated to pass an art exam strenuously denied by clarence house and now last night's fisty cuffs we know that prince harry is a bit of a wild card he seems to enjoy the nightlife and no one's having to go in for that i mean he seems to like a night out drinking and dancing with pretty girls well thank goodness he does but the reality here um is that it's gone beyond that the reality went even further when harry was photographed wearing a nazi uniform at a fancy dress party brother william was there too and the overall theme was colonials and natives all the focus has been on jewish hurt and the old veterans before the second world war and of course that is deeply important because it's the month of auschwitz but actually i'm deeply offended too by the very theme of the party that both william and harry went to get their costumes for what kind of a theme is colonials and natives in the 21st 21st century these you know what kind of message are they giving about themselves these aristocrats these aristo brats actually that's the culture of the british ruling class it is the colonial culture for us as africans you know that's our experience of the british monarchy i think the difficulty is just that one thing that you never quite know if you're going to be called upon as it were to become king or instead have what you if you're being really cynical could say a relatively pointless life harry next caused an internet sensation when he played strip poker in las vegas leaving little to the imagination but in the uk newspapers were constrained by privacy laws but like the rest of the british media we can't show you them because to do that would be a breach of his privacy even though they're plastered all over the internet and you've probably seen them already you know it's almost like we're going back to the days of uh edward and mrs simpson when the whole of the world knew about their affair but it wasn't reported in the uk despite all this harry remained one of the most popular royals two helicopter combat tours in afghanistan helped they made him a hero second lieutenant wales is back in england a country which he said he didn't like very much in a recent tv interview such a sentiment coming from a member of the royal family would normally generate deeply unflashing headlines but not now not in the week of harry's tabloid reincarnation as the hero soldier prince and the question now for prince harry is whether he can show the same discipline in the rest of his life now he's back home as he did during the time that he was in the front line on the front line in afghanistan if he falls out of a nightclub drunk in two weeks time a lot of the good that's been done over the last few days will be undone again very quickly the good wasn't undone harry's next step was to champion an olympic-style competition for disabled and wounded service men and women it won him the hearts of the nation 400 wounded service personnel from 13 countries are competing in the games and harry believes their determination is a lesson to us all prosthetics dogs wheelchairs high performance cars 4x4s tattoos we've got everything here it can only be the invictus games [Music] [Applause] no blowing from the left thank you the birth of his nephew prince george pushed harry further down the royal order but it hasn't bothered him it's fantastic to have a another addition to the family i only hope my brother knows how expensive my baby sitting charges are harry seems content in his new role as britain's favorite spare heir he has his faults but by god he's got his good points and and you know when i go on tour with harry it's a joy because every day he puts 110 into it he might be the spare to the air but he's made himself very relevant the same cannot be said for harry's uncle prince andrew the duke of york once second in line to his elder brother charles when their mother became queen elizabeth a succession of royal births pushed him down the inheritance list and his reputation has suffered despite being like prince harry a real war hero in the 80s he flew helicopters in the falklands wall and was in the pick of the action his royal highness prince andrew a lieutenant who calls himself simply the driver was punctual for his briefing and for the first time we were allowed to film what is to him simply routine search and surveillance by the end of the 90s his love of flying had earned him another nickname air miles andy even though he was an official uk trade and investment ambassador the life of a working royal prince andrew's civil list salary is a quarter of a million pounds none of the prince's trips broke the rules agreed between the treasury the department of transport and the royal household security journey length effective use of royal time and yes value for money are considered but a tight schedule the household argues is reason enough for flying yet other royals are more circumspect while the duke of york never took a train or even a scheduled flight for journeys under 2500 pounds the princess royal did so nearly half the time prince edward and his wife a quarter of the time if it's good enough for us why isn't it good enough for members of our family certain individuals in the royal family may need to be reminded on occasions that we are spending public money it's not only air miles that have got the duke into trouble his love life has been littered with controversy too first there was cou stark an actress from new york then came sarah ferguson better known as fergie he married her and they had two children the princesses beatrice and eugenie fergie became a figure of fun ridiculed for her weight issues and labelled the duchess of pork by a satirical tv show spitting image media once dubbed me great fun fergie she was the breath of fresh air and then it was just rand and then it was fat fergie which gave way to fat and appalling fergie and ultimately my favorite and the best one of all who ever thought it up fergie the duchess of pork yes come on porky sword we're supposed to be entertaining can't you forget about molly oh sorry i uh you're right i can stand up here and i can laugh but boy did it hurt prince andrew was also hurt by the tabloid headlines alleging his wife's extramarital indiscretions the main man was john bryan a texan multi-millionaire john bryan the texas businessman in the pictures with the duchess of york was saying nothing in public this morning but in separate legal moves he took out two court injunctions in an attempt to suppress their publication andrew and fergie divorced in 1996 but his world came crashing down again when fergie was caught by a journalist from the news of the world trying to sell access to him she was asking for half a million pounds what's a hard-up duchess to do when a businessman you hardly know offers cash in return for meeting your ex her former husband prince andrews is the uk special representative for trade and investment as such he has access to some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world that seems to be why his former wife thought she could sell access to him sarah ferguson told the undercover reporter she only gets 15 000 pounds a year from her divorce settlement so the guardians of the firm that's based here must now decide whether to push her further from the spheres of royal patronage or whether that runs the risk of her doing something even more embarrassing in future prince andrew continued to draw criticism for his globetrotting and he was seen in the company of numerous controversial figures colonel gaddafi in libya and jeffrey epstein in new york a convicted sex offender prince andrew was later forced to stand down as the uk's special trade emissary after it was revealed he had visited epstein honors release now the duke is named in court documents filed this week by a woman claiming she was repeatedly forced to have sexual relations with him the uncharacteristically forceful statements from officials here are being driven by prince andrew himself he'll be kicking anything that comes in sight because he knows he's innocent and because he knows he's innocent he's not going to be pushed around and he's not going to be lying low and officials are letting it be known that palace lawyers are watching how the story is being reported because prince andrew is only referred to in passing in the american proceedings there's nothing he can do over there so he has to wait for someone to say something over here that could justify a legal action and unless they do he has no way to clear his name britain's royal spare heirs have always had more than their fair share of controversy and no doubt in the years to come more skeletons will emerge to further embarrass those who sit on the house of windsor throne it's incredibly difficult for the the younger sibling to a future monarch because they are in the public eye but they don't have the protection perhaps and they don't have the advice and they don't have the role of king or queen

Channel: Real Royalty

Views: 2,355,419

Keywords: Queen Elizabeth II, Real Royalty, Windsor family, crown affairs, monarchy dynamics, noble marriages, regal history, regal romances, regal splendor, royal affairs, royal alliances, royal biographies, royal ceremonies, royal engagements, royal households, royal influence, royal intrigues, royal love stories, royal marriages, royal traditions, ruling families

Id: j37junXJe1s

Length: 110min 25sec (6625 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 24 2022