Biopics of the House of Windsor : Crisis and Rehabilitation

Explores biopics about moments of crisis for the House of Windsor and how these productions, along with Netflix’s long-running series The Crown, both represent and enact the Royal Family’s post-crises rehabilitation.

Biopics of the House of Windsor examines screen representations of the British reigning monarch and those in the direct line of succession. Focusing on high-profile 21st-century productions that intervene in and perpetuate cultural memories of the Windsors, Bethany Layne explores the royal biopic''s relation to historical truth – its generic truth contract, especially around its attraction to and depiction of moments of crises – and its connection to the genres of biography and biofiction.

Layne argues that the films in question depict the royal family’s negotiation of moments of crisis via the twinned strategies of exile and policing. While expulsions ensure the institution’s survival, policing safeguards its popularity by reconfiguring the audience’s envy and potential class resentment as pity.

Chapters discuss films, musicals, and TV productions, asking which representations of the British royal family are privileged, and how do these differ between a British drama (The King’s Speech), a work by a Chilean director (Spencer) and Netflix’s transnational The Crown. In doing so, Biopics of the House of Windsor questions how the genre functions to disseminate British national identity across the globe.