Gina! Gina! Ella!
-Gina! Carina! Ella! -Gina! Carina! Ella!
Gina! Carina!
Ella! Ella!
Hello, Winston, this is Operations.
-Are you hearing me? -Hear you clearly.
Stand by for testing.
-Testing now. -Testing five, four, three, two, one.
Mummy.
I've come to make a final representation.
And to beseech you not to do this.
I wish to address my people. It's my right.
You have forfeited that right.
There are things I wish to say.
In which capacity? You're no longer their king.
As a private individual.
Oh, no one wants to hear from a private individual.
Well, I beg to differ. The newspapers are for me.
The best thing for everyone would be if you said your goodbyes
quietly, privately, and disappeared into the night.
Preferably never to return.
-I didn't say that. -But you thought it.
Admit it.
Elizabeth! Margaret! Come inside!
This is Windsor Castle.
There follows an important announcement from his Royal Highness,
the Duke of Windsor.
A few hours ago, I discharged my last duty
as King and Emperor.
And, now that I have been succeeded by my brother,
the Duke of York,
my first words must be to declare my allegiance to him.
This I do with all my heart.
Come along, girls.
You all know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne.
-I have found it impossible to carry... -Girls. Girls!
...the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as King,
as I would wish to do,
without the help and support of the woman I love.
This decision has been made less difficult to me by the sure knowledge
that my brother has one matchless blessing...
-Come in. Both of you. -...enjoyed by so many of you,
and not bestowed on me.
A happy home, with his wife and children.
And now we all have a new king.
I wish him, and you, his people, happiness and prosperity...
with all my heart.
God bless you all.
God save the King.
All right, Charles, all right. Stop it.
Well... good luck, darling.
Thank you.
And thank you for all this. It looks splendid.
This is the first proper home I've ever had.
-Tommy. -Good morning, Your Majesty.
-You tracked me down. -Slightly, ma'am.
If Your Majesty has no objection,
I thought we might attend to the Cabinet papers
after your meeting with Their Majesties. Your schedule allows for 20 minutes.
-For the papers? -No, ma'am,
20 minutes with Their Majesties, then directly on to the paperwork.
And then?
Things will become more manageable once everything settles down.
Will it?
And once the Palace is your main residence.
Our understanding is that he is arriving at Southampton as we speak.
- Alone? - We believe so, ma'am.
Hm. That's something.
Some last minute adjustments to the funeral arrangements.
If you are in agreement, ma'am, we thought that the Duke of Windsor
should join the Dukes of Gloucester, Kent and Edinburgh.
But that'd be the row behind me. Breathing down my neck.
We could, if Her Majesty likes, increase the distance,
put him back a few rows.
Any chance that could stretch to being on the steps outside the chapel?
I'm sorry, I know he's your son.
A son who gave up the throne and, effectively, killed my other son.
Why not put him there? Close to the Prime Minister?
-Thank you, ma'am. -Cry Baby.
-What? -It's what he calls Winston.
He and his wife have nasty little nicknames for all of us.
I'll tell you yours, if you ask me nicely.
No, thank you.
Shirley Temple.
Ready, sir.
This is indeed a sad arrival in my country.
I have crossed the Atlantic for the funeral of a dear brother,
and to comfort Her Majesty, Queen Mary.
My heart goes out to the widowed Queen Mother
and her two daughters in their grief.
Thank you.
-Down there, look! -Right, that's enough. Look sharp!
His Royal Highness, the Duke of Windsor, Your Majesty.
Dear Mama.
Poor Bertie.
So young.
One can only be thankful for all the years one had him.
So wonderfully thoughtful and caring.
An angel to his mother, wife and children.
I honestly believe he never thought of himself at all.
He really was the perfect son.
I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you.
You've been very much in our thoughts and prayers.
Ours?
You'd be wise not to mention that woman's name for the next few days.
-I mentioned no name. -The implication was enough.
If you say so.
I offer that in the spirit of maternal advice
that you may emerge from this trip with any remaining respect or affection at all.
I had hoped all this might wait.
I'm afraid not, ma'am.
I understand.
Shall we?
Now, the top sheet is simply a summary of all the contents of the box.
And we have in this case, a five power conference first. See...
-That's this one? -Yes.
-So this... -More detail.
-So, we start with this. -Yes, Your Majesty.
- He's here. - He's here!
Don't rush, darling. It'll take him an hour to get to the front door.
And then an hour to get through the bloody thing!
Now, don't forget the two things we discussed.
-I won't. -The children keeping my surname.
-Yes. -And us staying here in Clarence House,
not moving to Buckingham Palace. Both very important.
I know. I won't forget.
-And don't be nervous. -I'm not nervous.
You look nervous.
Be firm. Just lay down the law.
I know he's Winston Churchill and all that, but remember who you are.
-You're-- -Nobody.
The Queen of England.
Don't let me overrun.
The Prime Minister, Your Majesty.
Your Majesty.
I so looked forward every Tuesday to my audiences with your...
dear papa.
His late Majesty was a hero
to me and to all his people.
Thank you.
Do sit down, Prime Minister.
I've ordered tea. Or something stronger, perhaps.
Oh, dear. Did no one explain?
The Sovereign never offers a Prime Minister refreshment.
Nor a chair.
The precedent set by your great-great-grandmother
was to keep us standing like Privy Councillors.
To waste time is a grievous sin.
And, if there is one thing I have learned in 52 years of public service,
it is that there is no problem so complex, nor crisis so grave,
that it cannot be satisfactorily resolved within 20 minutes. So...
shall we make a start?
She's in with the PM now.
And I made it abundantly clear how important it was
that she and the children take your name.
It's your name too. It's the name I gave you.
Having Mountbatten as the name of the Royal house,
having your first-born son, Charles, as the first Mountbatten king...
Well, that would be some achievement, wouldn't it?
Now, I would like to discuss your coronation.
Yes.
I have a proposed date which has been run past Cabinet and approved.
-Summer, I hope. -Indeed. Next year.
Next year? Why the delay?
For your benefit entirely.
A long period between accession and coronation
was of great value to your father.
He had five months.
You're proposing I have 16 before I am crowned.
Yes.
That would take anyone weeks to read...
-Anyway, thanks for the drink. -Thank you, Jock.
-Sir. -Sir.
Foreign office first, let's surprise Anthony.
- And? - Nothing.
We discussed the end of rationing of sugar, butter and meat,
the situation in Korea, and the date of my coronation.
I barely got a word in.
Of course not, the man barely draws breath.
-You have to butt in. -You can't!
Not in the private audience.
So, what about the issues I asked you to address?
-I will find the right time. -When?
-Why would he do that? -What?
Why would he want to delay my coronation?
What are you talking about? What-- Elizabeth!
I realize we've had our differences in the past.
If you'll allow me.
But, for now, let us think only of what we have in common.
You've lost a husband and father,
I a brother.
Let us be united in grief, on equal terms, for someone we all loved.
I'll be here for a few days after the funeral
before I return to New York.
Perhaps we might find time to see one another.
For lunch, or a walk.
Yes. I'd like that very much.
Your Majesties.
- We must go, girls. - So soon?
Yes, to Westminster Hall.
To see Papa.
With this family, when you're in, you're never quite sure that you're in.
But when you're out, there's no doubt at all.
You're out.
Why can't you just be civil to him, Mummy?
Let bygones be bygones.
Sixteen years since the abdication, and he was close to Papa.
Because the man is a monster!
The responsibility of becoming king killed your father
and I will never forgive his selfishness and weakness in passing on the burden.
He has done nothing for this family.
And don't be fooled by his obsequiousness.
The only reason he's even civil to us is because he wants to leech off us
with a rich allowance to keep that Jezebel divorcee of his in the manner
to which she's become accustomed.
Well, I've spoken to the lawyers
and we have a little surprise in store for them.
My dear darling Peaches...
They say hell is an inferno.
What a sunless, frozen hell we both escaped in England.
And what a bunch of ice-veined monsters my family are.
How cold and thin-lipped,
how dumpy and plain.
How joyless and loveless.
The way Cookie treated me looking down at me through her dumpy nose,
it was as much as I could do not to let her have it with both barrels.
And Shirley Temple, who has the rank now
to silence her common mother, sadly, has no mind of her own.
But I remained civil because I am following your advice...
to keep them on side, keep a foot in the door...
and see what we can get out of the wretched circus.
Perhaps even a raise on the allowance, who knows?
It's the only revenge I can think of for the insult of your non-invitation,
to drain their coffers to our benefit.
Thinking always of you
and counting the minutes until I am back in your arms.
Your loving David.
...and therefore commit his body to the ground.
Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life,
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
-What is that thing? -Oh, I inherited it from my grandfather.
Well, as you know, Kaiser Wilhelm was not blessed with a normal physique.
No, the withered arm.
Ah, but he loved to shoot, so modifications had to be made.
They didn't modify a shotgun, they modified a cannon.
You are a cheat, Hannover.
I realize that, beyond these walls, the country mourns,
struggles under a program of austerity and rationing
but, what to do?
It might all appear indulgent
but, in keeping the estate and the local community going,
we are all doing our share tonight for the economy.
So, let us start with a toast.
- To His late Majesty, the King. - The King.
- And, the Queen that has succeeded him. - The Queen.
And to our generous host.
And the Royal house that is now in his name.
To our host and the Royal house.
- To the Royal house Mountbatten. - To the Royal house Mountbatten.
Right, come on, then. You can do it.
Kick it back.
Kick it back, boy. Go on.
- It's not going to bite you. Kick it. - Ah, it's a Burnley centre back.
Tell me, do you play football with your boy?
-When I get to see him, yeah. Rugby. -Rugby? Chance'd be a fine thing.
This one doesn't seem to want to do anything but dream.
Ah. Your old man struggling a bit, is he?
Well, come on then. Show him how it's done.
Right. Come on then, Charles. Let's give you something to aim at.
That thing's been buzzing around all morning.
Right between his trousers.
Yup. Taking aerial photographs for some magazine.
-Oh, is that right? -Mm-hm.
It was always my dream to join the Air Force.
But Dickie put me in the Navy.
He felt the social connections would be better.
Hm. Judging by where you ended up, I'd say the plan worked.
- Ha. - Come on, Charles. Bash it.
Not bloody bad, Charles. Not bloody bad.
-No, Daddy, not in the bushes! -In the bushes he goes!
No, Daddy! Not the bushes!
Right, Charlie Boy, here we go. I'm going to teach you...
Come on, then!
Oh, it's vile.
Tommy Lascelles comes up to me at the funeral, of all places,
asks me for a word then tells me, to my face, "Do you credit it?"
I come all this way, back to this gaping wound of a country,
forbidden to bring my own wife, to pay respects to my dear, late brother
and they compound an already traumatic and painful trip with this humiliation!
The timing does seem particularly unfortunate.
It's an outrage!
-How much is the allowance? -Ten thousand a year.
The agreement between Bertie and me was that I would give up everything
and go into exile and keep a low profile in return for a pension
that was clearly meant to be for the term of my whole life, not his!
Now he's barely cold and Cookie turns off the bloody tap!
-How dare she? -You don't know that it was her.
-Of course it was her. -And don't call her that.
Why not? She's fat, common, and looks like a cook.
Did they offer any justification?
Oh, that it would appear insensitive for a member of the extended Royal family
to be seen to be rewarded and live in luxury.
Extended Royal family!
I was the most senior member of that family. The King!
Now, we barely make ends meet! Every day is a struggle.
You live in great style from what I've heard.
Perhaps you should take a leaf out of your late brother's book.
-He was frugal, you know. -He was born frugal. In every department.
And that frugality earned him great favour.
And he passed it on to the women in his family.
Who just spent 70,000 renovating Clarence House,
so no lectures, please, about the frugality of the new Queen.
-That was her husband. -What, the foundling?
-Don't call him that. -Why not?
I'd call him by his name, if he had one.
His Royal Highness, Prince Ernst August of Hanover, Your Majesty.
-He's here. -What?
He apologizes for the lack of warning, but said it was important.
All right. You'd better show him in.
Ah...
Dear Aunt, forgive the intrusion.
I come directly from Broadlands.
What were you doing there?
Please tell me you weren't shooting, one day after the funeral.
-Oh, meine liebe Ernst. -I assure you the sport was very limited.
And your late son was in our thoughts the whole time.
Anyway, in the evening, we gathered for dinner.
The food is normally quite good at Broadlands.
-Outstanding! -Especially the duck, from memory.
-With oranges. -Rum-soaked raisins.
Oh! A Prussian recipe.
Spaetzle, too. Remarkable! Crispy, with cheese and breadcrumbs.
- Mmm. Delicious! - Go on.
Yes. So, after dinner, our host started to brag
about how the Royal house would soon be in his name.
Nonsense.
The Royal Warrant of 1917 established the House of Windsor.
-Ah. -My late husband presided over it himself.
But the name Windsor would only be carried by the male descendants.
It did not take into account the female descendants.
They would take the name from their husbands
-which, in this case, would mean-- -Mountbatten!
Well...
-He had us raising glasses to it. -Glasses containing what?
-Champagne. -You were drinking champagne
the day after my son's funeral?
Come in.
I had to see you.
Come in.
I got home last night to find this on the kitchen table.
She's gone.
All her belongings have gone.
I'm so sorry.
No, you're not.
No.
I'm not.
-So, will you sue her for divorce? -No, I'd lose my job.
Well, you'll keep your job. I'll make sure of that.
It would make me a divorcee.
But not the guilty party.
Still, I'd be soiled goods. I'd be tainted with scandal.
You'd also be free.
To remarry.
One day.
Yes.
Down there, please.
Christ. Hide. There, there. There. Go.
-Is it this one? -Yeah, I think so.
-No, no, it's not. It's this one. -Right.
Come in.
Sorry to barge in. Have you got a second?
-Of course, sir. -May I?
Please.
That's what I want to talk to you about.
-Flying. -Yes, sir.
You're an experienced air jockey and I've an idea.
And, look, please disavow me of it if I'm wrong
but, to be up there in a plane, it's the biggest thrill of them all.
-It is, sir. -I mean, really. The biggest.
It is, sir.
Once you break through the clouds to the clear blue beyond, the space, the...
the silence, the transcendent beauty,
it's church for the irreligious man.
That's what I'd hoped you'd say. Where could I learn?
Uh... White Waltham Airfield, they've a good school there.
-Would you take me? -Of course, sir.
Good man.
You know, my sister, my favourite sister actually,
Cecile, died in a plane.
It went down over Ostend in a storm.
Eight months pregnant.
She went into labour mid-flight and they found the child,
next to her in the wreckage.
A boy.
Mm.
New part of the uniform, Peter?
Anyone we know?
I... no.
No, quite right. None of my business.
Thank you, sir.
You're enjoying this, aren't you?
Yes.
Mr. Colville, Your Majesty.
Your Majesties. Tommy.
Come in, Jock. Take a seat.
We have a significant concern which we'd like to convey
to the Prime Minister.
It concerns the Duke of Edinburgh.
Ma'am, word has reached me that it is your desire
that you and your children should keep your husband's name, Mountbatten.
It is.
Ma'am, you must not. It would be a grave mistake.
Mountbatten was the adoptive name
your husband took when he became a British citizen.
His real name... you'll not need reminding,
was Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderberg-Glucksberg
of the Royal houses of Denmark and Norway and, latterly, of Greece!
I am an old man.
Many have questioned my relevance, whether I still have something to offer.
In public life, the answer is, I have.
Which is to leave in place a Sovereign prepared for office.
Equipped, armed for her duty.
Great things have happened to this country under the sceptres of her queens
and you should be no exception.
Yes, I am Queen, but I am also a woman.
And a wife.
To a man whose pride and whose strength were, in part, what attracted me to him.
I want to be in a successful marriage.
I would argue, stability under this roof might even be in the national interest.
Had you considered that?
Very well. I will discuss it with Cabinet.
No.
You will inform the Cabinet, Prime Minister.
That is the favour you will do me,
in return for one I'm already doing you.
I know your party wants you to resign to make way for a younger man.
Mr. Eden.
I also know that no one will bring up your resignation
while you are actively engaged in planning the Coronation.
So, by delaying my investiture, you are, in fact, holding onto power...
in which case, I would suggest you are, somewhat, in my debt.
So, if... I agree to the delay,
perhaps you will consider supporting me in the matter regarding my husband's name.
And perhaps you could also inform Cabinet
that my husband and I intend to stay here at Clarence House.
-Why? -It is our home.
It has just been refurbished at great expense.
Buckingham Palace can still be where official business is done
but our home, our private family home, will be Clarence House.
Very well.
He was a little surprised, I think.
- Really? - I dare express any view at all.
Papa was always putty in his hands.
But I think one should start as one means to continue.
-Absolutely. Put a marker down. -Quite. Draw a line in the sand.
He said he'd put it to Cabinet and I said there was nothing to discuss.
-Good for you. -No, good for you.
-That's why I did it. -Thank you.
Your Royal Highness, thank you for coming.
Not at all, dear Winston. How can I help?
I took it to Cabinet and, as expected, the answer was unanimous,
"No" to both matters.
Well, she won't like it, neither the snub over the name
nor the move to Buckingham Palace.
It really is a most dreadful place, cold, uninviting,
but it's the right thing, for the young family and the children to live there.
It's the focal point, it's the monarch's home.
-Do you want me to break it to her? -That would be very kind.
It's the least I can do.
I've never forgotten the way in which you defended me,
fought for me during that terrible time.
I still think no man should be punished for love.
And I also believe I spoke for many in the country when I defended you.
You're very kind.
If I were to help you in this matter with her,
perhaps I could ask a favour in return?
Name it.
Put in a word with the young Queen for my allowance to be reinstated.
She holds the purse strings now.
The family expect me to turn down commercial opportunities,
yet cuts off my allowance at the same time.
Ten thousand pounds,
it's quite impossible to make ends meet without it.
That a former King should come to me begging...
Consider it done.
There is also a brief moment before the Coronation
where you might also mobilize Cabinet support
for the one other thing that has eluded me and gnaws away at my heart.
What?
The appropriate title for the woman I married.
-No, sir. -Her Royal Highness.
She is, after all, the wife of a former King.
She's also a woman who has three husbands that still live and breathe.
It is her right, Winston.
I'm determined she shall have it. I'm determined she is shown respect.
Will you fight for it?
One more time?
I have defended you so many times. Each time to my cost and in vain.
This love for her has destroyed everything.
It is love, Winston.
Love.
The greatest thing on Earth.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Windsor, Your Majesty.
Your Majesty.
Thank you for seeing me.
Thank you for coming.
Well, most of the time we're in Paris. We've been given a house there.
Wallis likes to entertain. She's so good at it.
So the place is always full. And we have dogs.
Oh, really? What kind?
Pugs. Davy Crockett, Trooper and Disraeli.
-Why pugs? What's the attraction? -Well, they're... childlike.
-Need a lot of loving. -They have a strange bark.
-Yes. -More of a yap.
And they're lazy. Spend all day sleeping.
-Yes. -They're awfully gassy.
Yes.
I suppose one can always open the windows.
-Don't you miss it? -What?
The country of your birth. The people here.
Your own flesh and blood.
Well, I would've done if they'd accepted the woman I love.
But they didn't, so I don't.
So the former King keeps himself at a distance.
A distance that was imposed upon me. They wanted me out.
And reduces us all to cruel nicknames.
Shirley Temple.
Uh... Yes.
On account of the curls?
And precociousness.
-And stardom. -You flatterer.
Not at all.
Generally, we're better at queens than kings.
In this country I have a feeling you'll be no exception.
-I certainly intend to do it well. -I did, too.
Obviously, not hard enough.
No.
You never apologized.
To your papa, I most certainly did.
Your mother too. I can show you the letters.
I didn't mean to them. I meant to me.
You?
You don't think I'm deserving of one.
You don't think I would have preferred to grow up out of the spotlight?
Away from Court?
Away from the scrutiny and the visibility.
A simpler life.
Happier life.
As a wife, a mother.
An ordinary English countrywoman.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
You might extend the same apology to my husband the next time you see him.
-Oh, is he struggling? -A little.
Well, it'd be odd if he weren't.
Anyway, if I am to succeed,
then he and I are going to need all the help we can get.
Well, I'm sure you're surrounded by good people offering it.
Not if they're always off in Paris or New York,
or wherever it is you spend your time.
Y-You would take my advice?
I would.
Particularly now my father isn't here to give his.
I'd know it came from the heart.
Since I know, deep down, despite everything,
that you care very deeply.
I do.
As it happens, there are two issues
on which I would like to offer some advice.
The first is your husband's surname and the name of the Royal house.
And the second?
There you are. There's something I'd like to discuss with you.
Now, please don't react.
I'd like to take flying lessons.
I know.
But, trust me, becoming a pilot has been a lifelong ambition of mine
and I think I've found a teacher mad enough to take me on as a pupil.
Peter, no less, Peter Townsend.
-What's the matter? -I need to talk to you.
About what?
They'd rather we didn't keep the name.
Mountbatten.
Who's "they?"
-Cabinet. -It's none of their business.
I think you'll find it's very much their business.
You're my wife, taking my name is the law.
It's the custom. Not the law.
A custom practiced so universally it might as well be the law.
You can't do this. Am I to be the only man in the country
whose wife and children don't take his name?
You can't do this to Dickie. It will devastate him.
You know that. You know how important it is to him.
I've told him the Royal house Mountbatten is in the bag.
Well, that was a mistake. It's not.
The name has to be Windsor. For stability.
There's more.
-Clarence House... -Our home. What about it?
We have to give it up.
The home of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom
is Buckingham Palace.
Says who?
Me.
I thought you hated that place.
I do. We all do.
Then why go along with it?
Because that's the overwhelming advice.
But that's the point, Elizabeth, it's just advice.
It doesn't mean that you have to act on it.
When it comes from the government, you do.
What kind of marriage is this?
What kind of family?
You've taken my career from me, you've taken my home.
You've taken my name.
I thought we were in this together.
See? Daddy's here.
Welcome home, ma'am.
My Lords...
I hereby declare my will and pleasure
that I and my children shall be styled and known
as the House and Family of Windsor.
And that my descendants,
other than female descendants who marry, and their descendants,
shall bear the name of Windsor.