The First Gentleman

The behaviour of the British royals is a hot topic, and this historical drama depicts one of the House of Windsor’s most controversial forebears. Cecil Parker, best known as a character actor, was given the leading role he was born to play: the bloated, dissolute Prince Regent. He revels in the pomposity and lecherousness of the decadent ‘Prinny’, who attempts to marry off his daughter Charlotte. Her tragically brief but happy marriage to the handsome Belgian Prince Leopold is superbly portrayed through the sensitive performances of Hopkins and Aumont. Beautifully photographed against a lavish regency canvas, the fabulous costumes by top Gainsborough designer Elizabeth Haffenden are the icing on the cake.