2003 television film
The Lost Prince is a British television drama about the life of Prince John – youngest child of Britain's King George V and Queen Mary – who died at the age of 13 in 1919.[1] John had epileptic seizures and an autism-like developmental disorder, and the Royal Family tried to shelter him from public view; the script did not present 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 (Lalla).
A Talkback Thames production written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff, it was originally broadcast in January 2003. It won three Emmy Awards in 2005.[2][3][4]
Plot summary
Episode One
In December 1908, young Prince John watches his family attend a birthday party for his grandmother Queen Alexandra, at Sandringham in Norfolk.
Next summer, Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra and their children visit their relations, the British royals, on the Isle of Wight. The Russians entrance Prince John with their exoticism. It is clear that Johnnie, a charming boy, has an eccentric view of the world and is uninhibited in a way that is alien to his parents. His grandfather, King Edward VII, loves him for his frankness. His nanny, Lalla, is reluctant to reveal the seriousness of his medical condition.
While people gaze into the skies to catch a glimpse of an approaching comet, Johnnie's parents go to Buckingham Palace to be at the King's deathbed.
During the funeral Johnnie has an epileptic seizure. Queen Mary, Johnnie's mother, summons doctors to examine him; their diagnosis confirms the worst fears. Lalla volunteers to look after Johnnie, to prevent him being sent to an institution. They go to Sandringham, where Johnnie can be prevented from encountering anybody but the closest members of his family.
His brother, Prince George swears to protect him. Johnnie, now a few years older, is deprived of the company of other children and finds his lessons unfathomable, though he always takes an optimistic view of life. Then one day he embarrasses his parents by speaking his mind at a tea party held for Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George.
Johnnie is brought to London to be re-examined. During his stay he is taken by George up to the gallery looking down on the banqueting hall of Buckingham Palace, at a grand state occasion. The dignitaries are chattering about the poise with which the Queen has dealt with the intrusion of a suffragette, who confronted the Queen to demand support for women's suffrage. During the banquet Asquith and Lloyd George are called back to Downing Street to receive the news that is to prove to be the catalyst for the start of World War I.
The following morning Johnnie has a rare meeting with his father King George V, who shows him his treasured stamp collection. Johnnie is more interested in his father's pet parrot, Charlotte. They are interrupted by the King's Private Secretary, Lord Stamfordham, who relays news of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Realising this has been withheld from him, the King is furious. Unnoticed by the adults, Johnnie pursues Charlotte, as the terrified bird flies away into the building. The Queen, Lalla and George go searching for Johnnie and his mother is shocked when she sees one of Johnnie's fits for the first time. As officials gather for diplomatic meetings, Johnnie is taken back to the isolation of Sandringham.
Episode Two
Prince George witnesses the brinkmanship between the Allies and the Central Powers, led by Germany. Surprisingly, the vacillating Tsar Nicholas of Russia mobilises his troops and plunges Europe into war. Against his wishes, Prince George is sent to the Naval College where his rebellious nature leads him to question propaganda about the cruelty of the German armed forces.
Such propaganda, combined with the disastrous conflict on the battlefields of Flanders and France, turns the public's attention to the German ancestry of the British royal family. The trauma of war is even felt by Johnnie, Lalla and their household, who are forced to live in increased isolation in Wood Farm, on the fringes of the Sandringham estate. Prince George, determined to maintain contact with Lalla and his brother, arrives to relay the news that the family is to change its name to Windsor, and also that the Tsar of Russia has abdicated and is to be exiled to Britain by the Bolshevik revolutionaries.
George V is alarmed at the reaction of his subjects to this and gets Stamfordham to press Lloyd George, who is now Prime Minister, to rescind the invitation to the Tsar. Johnnie dreams innocently of his Russian cousins coming to live with him. King George and Queen Mary are traumatised by what follows – the execution of the Romanovs. Weighed down, they find consolation when Johnnie dies, in his unbounded optimism and unalloyed love of life.
Reception
The drama achieved a high viewing figure and much praise, was released on VHS and DVD, and was repeated on BBC One in January 2004.[5]
