In December 1936, England was upended when the newly crowned King Edward abdicated to marry the American divorcée Wallis Warfield Simpson. Prior to that, the aging, ailing King George had regarded the relationship with alarm, feeling that the then-Prince of Wales had acquired the "worst American habits" of consuming cocktails and going to nightclubs. When the prince went on a spending spree, buying jewels and furs, the king—convinced the prince had a "schoolboy crush gone mad"—ordered an investigation. Drawing on recently opened files, filmmaker Paul Elston’s PBS-aired documentary examines this unique probe. Detectives believed that Simpson’s husband was an ambitious "bounder" who was using Edward, and that his wife was a gold digger. When the king died in early 1936, the stakes increased. Initially, the prince and his lover were fairly discreet, but gradually authorities feared that a royal scandal was in the making, as the couple met others with a "hedonistic lifestyle." When Edward later abdicated and turned his throne over to his deeply reluctant brother, the whole matter became a security concern, especially when the couple displayed Nazi sympathies: visiting Germany, meeting propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, and sharing tea with Hitler. To get rid of the ex-king, Churchill pressured him to accept the position of Governor of the Bahamas, a lonely outpost of empire. Edward resented this comedown, and he even lobbied against America's entry into WWII, although British authorities eventually concluded the couple were merely a pair of "arch beachcombers" and "frivolous chancers." The documentary, which features dramatic re-enactments, spins a fascinating tale of phone taps, spies, secrets, and coded messages, unearthed after three quarters of a century. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)
Spying on the Royals
(2016) 100 min. DVD: $24.99 ($54.99 w/PPR). PBS Video. SDH captioned. ISBN: 978-1-5317-0474-2. Volume 33, Issue 5
Spying on the Royals
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: