The British Royal Family in Film: Heavy is the Head That Wears the Crown

This course examines royal succession through acclaimed British films that explore power not as ceremony, but as moral and political crisis. We will trace the monarchy's evolution from personal rule to institutional authority, beginning with the Plantagenet struggles in Becket (1964) and The Lion in Winter (1968). We will then examine the moral costs of kingship and the performance of national leadership through two Shakespeare adaptations: Chimes at Midnight (1965) and Henry V (1989). The course will conclud with the Tudor rupture: A Man for All Seasons (1966) and the consolidation of legitimacy Elizabeth (1998).