Customer Reviews

The Windsors/Bertie and Elizabeth

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I LOVED this beautiful DVD set and I urge anyone with the vaguest interest to buy it. It is a not-so-critical history of the Royal Family of Great Britain, and does a pretty thorough and fair job. I'm particularly interested in the transference of power between King Edward VI and King George V, to which this DVD set does good justice. It is also indispensable for understanding the abdication of King Edward VIII and the ascension of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth's father.

Included here is an Easter Egg of immense value: a well made and truly fun film about the life of Prince Albert, later to be King George VI, "the reluctant king", in the DVD of the film "Bertie and Elizabeth". The title of course refers to Prince Albert before he took the name George, and his wife, the lovely Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon...known to us all today as [the late] Queen Mum. I was as giddy as a schoolboy to see that film. My only regret with this is the documentaries are all too short, that annoying habit of British TV making terribly short documentaries that deserve 2 hours.

In this set the fortunate viewer receives two fine recent video productions on the British Royal Family. The Windsors is a four part series originally shown in the US in 1994. It examines the history of the House of Windsor from King George V through Elizabeth II. Its an excellent documentary which uses many original photos and newsreel film and includes interviews with historians, courtiers, and a few royal relations like Lady May Abel Smith, Lady Pamela Hicks, and the Countess Mountbatten of Burma. The last episode was extensively revised for The Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002, and includes material on the deaths of The Princess of Wales and The Queen Mother, the marriage problems of The Queen's children, and the growing up of Prince William of Wales.

Bertie and Elizabeth is a dramatization of the life of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother after her husband's death). It tends to be a little too romantic in places, but it does give a pretty good idea of the Royal Family's daily life in the 1930s and 1940s and of some the issues King George VI faced dealing with the aftermath of his brother's abdication, then World War II and the post-war period.

This is probably my favortie series in all my Royal DVD collection. Its has such a wealth of information about the British Royal family dating back generations. it also comes with a very sweet film depicting the life and romance of Birtie and Elizabeth. The acting is a bit cheezy but oh well its still a sweet story. I highly recommend this item if your a Royal watcher like me! :-)

I HAVE SEEN THIS ON TV AND ALSO TAPED IT AT LEAST TWICE ON VCR. NEEDLESS TO SAY THE QUALITY ON DVD WAS MUCH BETTER. I WATCH IT OVER AND OVER.

I was pleasantly surprised after viewing these DVDs. I purchased them for historical information, not entertainment. They gave me a better understanding of what happened when Bertie rose to the throne. The video clips are very informative. The acting portion is believable -- not excellent -- but certainly believable. I really enjoy watching all of these DVDs because I find the royals interesting.