King Edward VII of the United Kingdom by William Edward Downey, 1901, via Wikimedia Commons
I’m still working my way through the British kings, and since I’ve been watching and recapping Edward the King (1975), it’s very fitting that we’ve now arrived at Edward VII!
Edward was born as Albert aka Bertie in 1841, the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. In part because he wasn’t an intellectual and in part because his parents had overly high expectations for him, he was mostly excluded from any political role while the heir, which enabled/pushed him into the role of (frustrated) dilettante. He was known for his interest in fashion, gaming and other leisurely elite pursuits, and the ladies, with a STRING of (very interesting!) mistresses including Lily Langtry and maybe Jennie Churchill.
He married then Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863. The couple had several children, including the future George V.
Edward came to throne on the death of his mother in 1901, ushering in the “Edwardian” era. As king, he helped to modernize the army, and he reigned over a period that saw increasing industrialization and a widening gap between the rich and poor until his death in 1910.
There are, as always, several productions for which I can’t find pictures of the actor playing Edward:
- Ian Murray in The First Traveling Saleslady (1956)
- Sebastian Cabot in Telephone Time: “Recipe for Success” (1958)
- Kevin Brennan in On Trial: “The Baccarat Scandal” (1960)
- Robert Downing in Victoria Regina (1961)
- David Brierly in On the Game (1974)
- Lockwood West in The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (1981)
- Wensley Pithey in Number 10: “The Asquiths” (1983)
- Ian McNeice in 1871 (1990)
- Geoffrey Bateman in Buffalo Girls (1995)
- Peter Whittington in Seven Wonders of the Industrial World: “The Sewer King” (2003)
Here’s the rest!
Aubrey Dexter in Sixty Glorious Years (1938)
A biopic about Queen Victoria covering her reign.
Alfred Bernau in Uncle Krüger (1941)
A Nazi film that purports to be a biopic of South African politician Paul Kruger, in which Queen Victoria is depicted as an alcoholic.
Edwin Maxwell in Holy Matrimony (1943)
A comedy in which “An artist returning from years abroad takes the identity of his dead valet to escape the attentions of the press” (IMDB); Edward shows up at the funeral to pay his respects.
Stuart Holmes in The Lodger (1944)
A horror film about Jack the Ripper.
Cecil Kellaway in Mrs. Parkington (1944)
Greer Garson as a family matriarch. Apparently she meets the king at some point?
Leslie Denison in The Great John L. (1945)
A biopic about famed 19th-century boxer John L. Sullivan. He travels the world, meeting King Edward at some point.
Laurence Naismith in The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960)
A biopic about the famed author/poet/playwright’s libel trial and aftermath.
James Robertson Justice in Mayerling (1968)
A film about the suicide of the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne. According to Wikipedia, “The Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VII of Britain, visits Vienna and provides comic relief.”
Reginald Marsh in Young Winston (1972)
A biopic about future prime minister Winston Churchill’s early life.
Terry Jones in Monty Python‘s Flying Circus: “Oscar Wilde” (1972)
Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and James Whistler have repartee at a party:
Lockwood West in Upstairs, Downstairs: “Guest of Honour” (1972)
Of course the KING has to show up in an episode of this long-running Edwardian-set TV series about an upper-class Edwardian family!
Thorley Walters in The Edwardians (1972-)
A BBC anthology series, with each episode focusing on an important person from the era.
Thorley Walters in Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (1974)
A bio-series about the American heiress who married into the British elite, was the mother of Winston Churchill, and may have had an affair with Bertie.
Edward Hardwicke in The Pallisers (1974)
A miniseries adaptation of a series of Trollope novels set between 1864-79 and focused in an a fictional aristocratic family.
Derek Francis in Fall of Eagles (1974)
A BBC miniseries about the ruling dynasties of Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia from 1848 to 1919.
Simon Gipps-Kent, Charles Sturridge, & Timothy West in Edward the Seventh aka Edward the King (1975)
We’re currently recapping this bio-miniseries that starts with Edward’s conception and goes through his death.
Ronnie Barker in The Two Ronnies: “The Phantom Raspberry Blower” (1976)
A British comedy sketch series, with this episode being about a Jack the Ripper-type criminal.
Roger Hammond in The Duchess of Duke Street (1976)
A TV miniseries about a fictional servant who rises into the British elite.
Denis Lill in Lillie (1978)
A bio-series about the famous actress, socialite, and “professional beauty” who was one of Edward’s mistresses.
Victor Langley in Murder by Decree (1979)
A feature film Sherlock Holmes adaptation.
Peter Ustinov in Strumpet City (1980)
An “ambitious and expensive” (Wikipedia) Irish TV series, about interconnecting lives in Dublin from 1907-14.
Richard Huggett in Nancy Astor (1982)
A bio-series about the American heiress who became the first woman elected to the British parliament.
Joss Ackland in Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls (1991)
A TV movie adaptation of another Holmes story.
David Westhead in Mrs. Brown (1997)
A feature film biopic about an older Queen Victoria and her relationship with her servant.
Christopher Pulford & Simon Quarterman in Victoria & Albert (2001)
A TV miniseries about Edward’s parents.
Michael Gambon in The Lost Prince (2003)
A TV miniseries about Prince John, youngest child of King George V and Queen Mary, who died at the age of 13 in 1919.
Simon Russell Beale in The Young Visiters (2003)
A FABULOUS adaptation of a FABULOUS novel written in 1919 by a nine-year-old girl.
David Calder in Mr. Selfridge (2013)
The TV series about the American businessman who created a department store empire in Edwardian London.
Eddie Izzard in Victoria & Abdul (2017)
A biopic about Queen Victoria and her relationship with another of her servants.
Mac Jackson & Laurie Shepherd (series 3, 2019) in Victoria (2016-19)
The TV bio-series about the queen.
What’s your favorite depiction of King Edward VII on screen?
Oh my goodness, that poor actor playing young adult Bertie in ‘Edward the King’ is wearing the wiggiest wig that ever was wigged!
Terry Jones, then Timothy West
In your still from Sixty Glorious Years, that’s not Aubrey Dexter, it’s Anton Walbrook as Prince Albert. None of the children are Dexter, since he was about 40 when the film was made. Big fan of Anton Walbrook. Have you ever done a post about him?
The first pic of Fall of Eagles is Charles Kay as Tsar Nicholas and Gayle Hunnicutt as Alexandra. The second pic has the tsar greeting Kaiser Wilhelm, so no Edward VII.
I’d like to see more of Alexandra, who was charming, and quite unaffected for a royal (being Danish might have helped).
And hopelessly stupid and very spoiled. She was more pleasant to meet than to live with.
Good grief, in a long and fairly distinguished list the artist formerly known as Eddie Izzard takes the prize for having the most perfect ‘Dirty Bertie’ look for KE VII (Definitely looks like a prince with improprieties lurking in the boudoir).
Denis Lill has Edward in Lillie. He had that Germanic R that Edward was supposed to have had.
The Duchess of Duke Street was not a fictional character. The series was based on the life of Rosa Lewis, who rose through the kitchen ranks to become a master cook and own the Cavendish Hotel. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Lewis
The TV show IS fictional (the character’s name is Louisa after all!), & it’s only loosely inspired by Rosa Lewis.
The dream sequence in “My Fair Lady” when Eliza sings “Just You Wait” has a king who looks more Edward VII than George V. He is on the rotund side, but the role is uncredited.
Edward had an awful childhood thanks to Albert and his ideals. Dangerous thing ideals.
Thank you for the “history” lessons. I watched so many of these series on Masterpiece Theater and the spoof was hilarious. I always envied the lives of royalty until I learned how confining their lives were and Edward VII could have achieved so much but fir THAT mother of his.