Prince Charles' accession to the throne following the Queen's death. When he refuses to sign a controversial bill into law, political chaos ensues: a constitutional crisis, rioting on the streets and a tank in front of Buckingham Palace.
By turns bouncy, melancholy, arrogant and sore betrayed, the face little resembles that of Charles but, somehow, within its planes, there is conveyed the selfsame sense of insane privilege, niggling grievance and open, misunderstood humanity.
The late, brilliant Tim Pigott-Smith is mesmerising as Charles. It's not an impression, thankfully, nor was the actor made up to look like him (that would have been tiresome), but an interpretation of character.
The movie, like the Broadway show, is performed as a Shakespearean history play. The dialogue is spoken in verse, the scenes are rapid and punchy, and the actors are top-notch.
Perhaps this majestic, unmissable drama will send new audiences back to the source for meaningful encounters with Lear, Lady M, Brutus, Prince Hal and other forebears.
Bartlett's use of blank verse, with the occasional exquisitely composed soliloquy, is also a masterstroke, injecting the drama with depth and humour through tantalising nods to Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth and Henry IV.
