The reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest in the history of the United Kingdom, inspired dozens of cinematographic products and dramatizations over the years: from portraits of her reign, life within the Royal Family, to their strained relationship with Princess Diana.
Here are five films, documentaries and series about the life of Queen Elizabeth II and her relationship with events that marked history, ordered according to their release.
The Queen (2006)
The film revolves around one of the most difficult moments in the reign of Elizabeth II: the death of Princess Diana. The Princess of Wales lost her life in a car accident along with her Egyptian boyfriend Dodi Al-Fayed, leaving her children, Princes Harry and William, without a mother.
The queen (played by Helen Mirren) keeps her family away from the public at Balmoral Castle, Scotland; outside, the British express their mourning. Prime Minister Tony Blair, newly elected, mediates so that the monarchy appears before society. The film had a budget of US$15 million and grossed US$128 million globally.
Elizabeth at 90: A Family Tribute (2016)
Documentary for television produced by the BBC about the queen’s 90th birthday. It shows members of the Royal Family reacting and commenting on recordings of key moments, as well as home videos of her daily life, taken from the Queen’s private collection.
The Telegraph called it the “most charming, warmest and most humane portrait of the queen”; “The children of Windsor are just like any other child,” The Guardian wrote, referring to the childhood tapes of Princes Harry and William.
The Crown (2016-2020)
The series began airing in 2016 and each season has been increasing its ratings on the Rotten Tomatoes site. Drama, luxury, intrigue and politics intertwine in a story that has been running for four seasons and two more are coming up.
Actresses Claire Foy and Olivia Colman played the monarch in the first four seasons. The fifth and sixth will mark the end of the story, with Imelda Staunton in the lead role (Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter), and will address the 90’s, the period in which the separation between Princess Diana and Prince Charles occurred. , and the subsequent death of “Lady Di” in a traffic accident.
The series has received more than 90 awards, including Golden Globes and Emmys in 2021. In 2020, when the fourth season that revolves around the 1980s arrived, the Royal Family asked Netflix to include a warning to indicate that the series is a fiction.
Netflix revealed that some 73 million viewers watched The Crown between 2016 and January 2020; in costs, it is estimated that it spends US$130 million each season and the budget for the last ones would exceed US$200 million.
Elizabeth at 95: The Invincible Queen (2021)
How big is the Queen Elizabeth mark? This True Royalty documentary posits that the Royal Family as a brand exceeds US$100 billion in valuation, and Queen Elizabeth is the main star. The 49-minute production delves into the economic impact of the British monarchy; and scores 7.5 out of 10 on the IMDb platform (The Internet Movie Database).
Spencer (2021)
Film directed by Chilean Pablo Larraín and starring Kristen Stewart, focuses on the decisive days for Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, to venture to separate from her husband, then Prince Charles. The Royal Family plays a rather minor role in the plot, but Stewart’s performance earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in 2022; In addition, it takes place in the Christmas season of 1991 in Sandringham, one of the residences of the queen. The collection exceeded US$20 million.
Bonus: The queen on Youtube
Queen Elizabeth II also shocked popular culture by starring in videos on YouTube. In 2012, she jumped out of a helicopter with James Bond (Daniel Craig) to open the London Olympics, which cost more than US$14 billion. Some 56.7 million people have reproduced her moment as “Bond Girl”, which earned her a tribute from The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). In June of this year, Her Majesty received Paddington Bear at the Royal Palace, with whom she shared tea and a jam sandwich. Her fictional character visited her for the Platinum Jubilee celebration, which celebrated the queen’s 70 years on the throne, in June this year.
