Edward The 7th

Edward VII changed the British monarchy forever. Derided by his mother, Queen Victoria, as frivolous and untrustworthy, Edward was in fact a skilful, determined diplomat who longed to be useful to his country. This classic 13-part British miniseries dramatizes his life from frustrated prince and inveterate philanderer to loving father and respected statesman and covers seventy of the most tumultuous years of Britain at the height of her power and shows how this king, who rued for one brief decade, made a huge impact on his world. Beginning with the rebellion of a boy pampered beyond measure, the story progresses through his endurance of the distrust and jealousy of an overbearing mother, to his marriage and his scandalous affairs. We are by his side through this most delicate international negotiations and outrageous behind-the-throne carousing and through it all we discover Edward the man: his strengths, his weaknesses and ultimately his nobility. Firmly grounded in history, it intimately depicts the palace dynamics that reverberated in Parliament and beyond during the years preceding World War I. A sweeping saga of scandalous affairs, marriage and the kingdom of Edward the Seventh (Timothy West, Ever After) who waited nearly sixty years to become King. Bertie to his parents, Teddy to his nation, he won the devotion of his people, the hearts of beautiful women and the fierce enmity of his mother, Queen Victoria (Annette Crosbie, Calendar Girls).