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The Lost Prince: Screenplay
The screenplay of Poliakoff's award-winning BBC drama about the forgotten son of King George V and Queen Mary
The Lost Prince follows the life and times of Prince John, the forgotten youngest son of King George V and Queen Mary, who was born in 1905. Although remembered as a charming boy, he was diagnosed as epileptic and suffering from learning difficulties similar to autism and shut away at the age of twelve at the in Wood Farm near Sandringham to prevent the family from public embarrassment. He died there when he was just thirteen. Dramatising the historical facts, Poliakoff portrays with extraordinary sensitivity, a child's experience of the Royal Family in the late Edwardian period and during the First World War. Set against a backdrop of unprecedented upheaval in Britain, The Lost Prince tells the very human story of a unique family and an extraordinary boy.
Published to tie in with the BBC's production, broadcast in two feature-length instalments in January 2003, The Lost Prince stars Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Gina McKee, Tom Hollander, John Sessions, Billy Nighy and Bibi Andersson.
The Lost Prince follows the life and times of Prince John, the forgotten youngest son of King George V and Queen Mary, who was born in 1905. Although remembered as a charming boy, he was diagnosed as epileptic and suffering from learning difficulties similar to autism and shut away at the age of twelve at the in Wood Farm near Sandringham to prevent the family from public embarrassment. He died there when he was just thirteen. Dramatising the historical facts, Poliakoff portrays with extraordinary sensitivity, a child's experience of the Royal Family in the late Edwardian period and during the First World War. Set against a backdrop of unprecedented upheaval in Britain, The Lost Prince tells the very human story of a unique family and an extraordinary boy.
Published to tie in with the BBC's production, broadcast in two feature-length instalments in January 2003, The Lost Prince stars Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Gina McKee, Tom Hollander, John Sessions, Billy Nighy and Bibi Andersson.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 16, 2003
24 people want to read
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March 1, 2015Having just watched Bertie, Edward VII, I want to view this and Mr Projectionist is getting it for me...
Description: John suffered from epileptic seizures and an autism-like developmental disorder, and the Royal Family tried to shelter him from public view; the script shied away from presenting the Royal Family as unsympathetic, instead showing how much this cost them emotionally (particularly John's mother, Queen Mary). Poliakoff explores the story of John, his relationship with his family and brother Prince George, the political events going on at the time (such as the fall of the House of Romanov in 1917) and the love and devotion of his nanny, Charlotte Bill.
Description: John suffered from epileptic seizures and an autism-like developmental disorder, and the Royal Family tried to shelter him from public view; the script shied away from presenting the Royal Family as unsympathetic, instead showing how much this cost them emotionally (particularly John's mother, Queen Mary). Poliakoff explores the story of John, his relationship with his family and brother Prince George, the political events going on at the time (such as the fall of the House of Romanov in 1917) and the love and devotion of his nanny, Charlotte Bill.
March 30, 2013
This is a screenplay rather than a novel so it falls into my "plays are to be seen not read" category. The written version is often something less than the performance version.
This is an enlightening look behind the scenes at the Windsor's (during their first generation AS the Windsors) It portrays George V and Queen Mary in a harsh but probably realistic light and gives us an idea of the early home life of two of England's later kings, Edward VIII and George VI But, primarily it's about their younger brother John who very few people know much about.
Yes, their ideas about raising children feel almost as dated as medicine's earlier, misguided ideas about medicinal bleedings. Of course in our more modern viewpoint, it looks terribly unfeeling and wrongheaded but in more contemporary eyes, the family did care, despite the results.
I've always been a sucker for a sob story and this one has those elements in spades, but at other points, it's light-hearted and joyous as only a child's viewpoint can make it. It's worth the viewing time.
This is an enlightening look behind the scenes at the Windsor's (during their first generation AS the Windsors) It portrays George V and Queen Mary in a harsh but probably realistic light and gives us an idea of the early home life of two of England's later kings, Edward VIII and George VI But, primarily it's about their younger brother John who very few people know much about.
Yes, their ideas about raising children feel almost as dated as medicine's earlier, misguided ideas about medicinal bleedings. Of course in our more modern viewpoint, it looks terribly unfeeling and wrongheaded but in more contemporary eyes, the family did care, despite the results.
I've always been a sucker for a sob story and this one has those elements in spades, but at other points, it's light-hearted and joyous as only a child's viewpoint can make it. It's worth the viewing time.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews