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FromBritain’sMostUnlovedQueentotheFavourite?
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TheManWhoLaughs)asoutrightstupid,ugly,andweak.Thevisualmedia
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didnotofferamoresympatheticpictureandtherangewasquitelimited.
Still,notwithstandingMichaelKorda’sobjectionsthatAnne“doesnot
loomlargeasafigurearoundwhichtobuildatelevisionminiseries,”
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there
actuallywasaTVseriesbuiltaroundherlife.In1969,BBC2broadcasta12-
episodeserialTheFirstChurchills(dir.DavidGiles)aboutthelifeofthe
DukeofMarlboroughandhiswife,basedonSirWinstonChurchill’sbiography
ofhiseminentancestor.Anne(MargaretTyzack)featuresprominentlyas
acharacter,andtheseriesendswiththeMarlboroughs’fallfromroyalgrace.
Thereasonsforthenotoriousfalling-outbetweenAnneandSarahare
explainedwithnoallusiontosexualallegationsmadebytheDuchess,but
ratherasaquarrelconcerningpoliticalappointments.Infact,thesympathyof
thecreatorsoftheseriesseemstoliewiththeQueen.TheDuchess(Susan
Hampshire)isconsistentlypresentedasapushyandaggressivewomanwho
insistsonmeddlinginmattersthatarebestlefttomen.TheFirstChurchills
pavedthewayforthegoldenageofBritishtelevisioncostumedrama,which
includedseveralsuccessfulproductions,suchastheBAFTA-awardedseries
EdwardtheSeventh(1975,dir.JohnGorrie).
AgrotesquerepresentationofQueenAnnehadalreadyappearedinthe
HollywoodsilentadaptationofVictorHugo’sTheManWhoLaughsin1928.
Asimilarimageofaludicrousandoverblowncharactercanbefoundalsoin
somelatermovies.InYellowbeard(1984,dir.MelDamski),alight-hearted
comedyaboutpiratetreasure,QueenAnneisplayedbyamanindrag,Peter
Bull(inhislastrole),inamannerfollowingthefarcicalVictoriantraditionof
apantomimedame.IntheBBCdocudramaWren:TheManWhoBuiltBritain
(2004,dir.JulianBirkett)thearchitectChristopherWren(HughBonneville)
approachestheelderly,obeseQueenAnne(ElizabethSpriggs)toinquireabout
thefundingoftheconstructionofSt.Paul’scathedral.Despiteherageand
size,themonarchseemssurprisinglyimmatureandnarcissistic.“Youknow,
SirChristopher,acathedralshouldbelikeaqueen-athingofawfulbeauty.
IsmySt.Paul’salmostready?”shegiggles,andisplacatedonlybythepromise
ofaflatteringstatuetobeputonthesquareinfrontofthecathedral.Thus,the
portrayalofthemonarchhasuniformlybeenmockingandderogatory.
Inmy2015articleontheculturalafterlifeofQueenAnneIsuggestedthat
perhapsherlegacydeservesre-evaluationandrediscovery
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-andloand
behold-in2018cameTheFavouritebyGreekdirectorYorgosLanthimos.
14
DorotaBabilas,op.cit.,p.16.
15
MichaelKorda.“TheForgottenReignofEngland’sLesbianQueen”inTheDaily
Beast,11July2017.
16
DorotaBabilas,op.cit.,p.19.
