Queen of the World: A poignant echo of Empire as the Queen and her Commonwealth look to the future

One is amused: Her Majesty laughs when asked to re-record her Christmas message due to background birdsong in the palace garden
Oxford Films
Alastair McKay25 September 2018

This is a film about the Queen that is not really about the Queen.

Her Majesty is in it, obviously, often in previously unseen home movie footage, still looking like herself, but with less focus and more uncertain colours.

There she is, launching the Royal Yacht, looking forlorn, having just lost her father, her emotions now stitched into the essence of the occasion, so many aspects of which are unimaginable now. (The ship launching on the River Clyde, the other boats on the river tooting their horns, the crowd roaring with approval as the yacht’s name is revealed as Britannia).

Pictured: Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh joins Governor General of Canada, His Excellency Mr David Johnston and Ms. Janice Cahrette.July 19th 2017
Oxford Films

Actually, irritation isn’t right, there is a hint of amusement in Her Majesty’s demeanour, and it should never be said that she attacks any of her appointed tasks with anything less than a sense of duty, if not playfulness.

Shall we speculate some more about what the Queen was thinking? We may have to, because in this intimate portrait she doesn’t face anything as uncouth as a direct question, or even an indirect one.

Pictured: Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall join the Governor General of Canada, His Excellency Mr David Johnston and his wife Sharon Johnston at the door way to Rideau Hall as part of the Canada 150 Celebrations. Ottawa July, 2017
Oxford Films

The nearest the film gets to a candid moment is a spool of home movie in which she makes a joke about having to rush home from foreign parts on Concorde in order to meet the demands of her schedule. Thank heavens for Concorde!

There are no accidents with royal films. The agenda of this one is straightforward. It’s the handover manifesto to be employed in the unthinkable event of Her Majesty not being immortal. It’s about the Commonwealth. People don’t talk about the Commonwealth much, which is odd in these Brexity times, but it’s clearly important to The Firm.

The Duchess of Sussex (the artist previously known as Meghan Markle) had the flowers of the Commonwealth stitched into her wedding dress. Meghan makes a rather appealing appearance, smiling all the time as she inspects the magic fabric. “Few will have been more touched to see it than the Queen,” the Sarah Lancashire voiceover suggests in the manner of a more deferential Great British Bake Off, “for this was a poignant echo of the gown she wore herself on her Coronation day.”

But, yes, the Commonwealth, that poignant echo of Empire. It’s great. For instance, here is a group of Caribbean interns cooking in the royal kitchens. These “fabulous young people” are having the work placement of a lifetime, according to Vice-Admiral (ret’d) Tony Johnstone-Burt, who runs the royal household. They do seem to be having a good time, lining up to meet Prince Harry, the cheerful royal, and eventually The Boss herself. “You’re not all bunked in one room together?” asks Harry, clearly sceptical of the hospitality in Buckingham Palace.

Cracks in the fabric? There are a couple, mostly supplied by Anne, Princess Royal, who is interviewed directly, and who can’t quite restrain herself. There is a bit of talk about the walkabout, which was invented by the Queen, because it was better than doing a drive-by in the Rolls-Royce. But these days, the walkabouts aren’t the same. Some of the royals shake hands (Anne disapproves) and now everyone wants a photograph. “Phones are bad enough,” she says, “but the iPads… you can’t even see their heads.”

Pick of the day

Get Shorty - Sky Box Sets

Season two of this expansion of the Elmore Leonard story is due in October, so it’s a good time to catch up with the first series.

Just as the TV adaptation of Fargo sidestepped comparisons with the Coen Brothers’ film by borrowing its themes and characters, so Get Shorty put the 1995 movie starring John Travolta to one side. The story claims only to be “based in part” on Leonard’s novel, but it borrows the mood and shuffles the characters to produce something that is recognisably from the same milieu. The show’s creator Davey Holmes worked on the US version of Shameless, and also signed up to develop Fear &Loathing, a series about the gonzo​ writer Hunter S Thompson.

Mobster: Chris O’Dowd plays Miles Daly
MGM

In Get Shorty, Chris O’Dowd​ (Bridesmaids, The IT Crowd) plays Miles Daly, a minor mobster who gets sent on a collection job to Los Angeles and starts to imagine a new life in Hollywood.

Ray Romano stars as the washed-up film producer Rick who acts as his spirit guide to the film business, while Lidia Porto also appears, as Amara, the fearsome mobster whose money Miles is trying to launder.

Screen time

Later Live — with Jools Holland - BBC2, 10pm

Jools Holland’s Later has his critics but remains the only significant live music show on British television. As a “flagship” in the BBC schedules, its production is being put out to tender. Hopefully the winning bid will include a promise to limit Holland’s interviews with guests to 30 seconds, and a series of trigger warnings whenever he threatens an outbreak of boogie-woogie piano.

The highlight of the first show of the 53rd series is an appearance by Soft Cell, performing in the week of their farewell bow at the O2. Also on are north Londoner Jess Glynne (the first British female solo artist to have seven UK number one singles), Bristol’s punky Idles, south London R&B singer Ella Mai and veteran folkie Ralph McTell.

Spooks - London Live, 11pm

In the first of a two-part storyline, MI5 has predicted a fairly routine day, an average threat of attacks while the Saudi government is in town to hear a glorified sales pitch for nuclear power. While Ros heads undercover with the delegation, Adam manages to find time for an affair, the team so blasé that they don’t recognise there’s a mole at Thames House…

Blue Steel - London Live, 12.15am

Patrick Bateman is the quintessential New York yuppie psychopath, the obsession with outward appearances a compensation for his emptiness within, as if Bateman were invisible once all the layers are removed. It’s some coincidence that the yuppie villain in this thriller pre-dates Bateman by a year and exhibits the same blood lust.

Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver) is urbane, unassuming and as soft as his fabrics cradling his well-fed frame; what lurks underneath crawls out when he steals the gun of police officer Megan Hunt (Jamie Lee Curtis), using her service revolver to commit several murders. Director Kathryn Bigelow would make Point Break next, where Keanu Reeves does his best to hide how handsome he is from criminals.

Deep dish

Toast of London - Netflix

It’s hard to explain Steven Toast, the character created by Matt Berry and Arthur Matthews, but Berry plays him as a deluded actor at the centre of an absurd world. Toast is mostly reduced to doing voiceovers for Clem Fandango, harbours a grudge against acting rival Ray Purchase, and consoles himself athletically with Ray’s wife, Mrs Purchase (a game Tracy Ann Oberman). Bonkers and very funny.

The Wire series 1-5 - Sky Box Sets/Now TV

It’s a decade since The Wire concluded its five series but David Simon’s Baltimore drama remains a highpoint of TV history. Each series examines a different institution: the cops, the port workers, the council, the schools and the media. Simon is a master of the serial form. The show made the reputations of Idris Elba (as drug-pusher Stringer Bell) and Dominic West (as Detective Jimmy McNulty).

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