"Royal Cousins at War" (2014) - BBC Two Documentary about World War I


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The First World War saw millions of men separated from their families and sent to the front line but very few were pitted against their relations.
For the royal family, however, World War One truly was a family affair as these stunning portraits reveal.
What's more, as a new documentary makes plain, the roots of the war also lie partly in the tangled web of family relationships - in particular that of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and his cousins, George V and Tsar Nicholas of Russia.

Royal Cousins at War tells of family rift saw George V and Tsar Nicholas against German cousin | Mail Online
 
Caught the last bit of it. Looking forward to the rest tomorrow.
 
So looking forward to the second part tomorrow night.

The closeness of some of the cousins really brings it home just how hard it must have been for King George V to deny Nicholas II and his family sanctuary in England, it will be interesting to see how this is handled in part two.

Hope the BBC release this as a DVD as I'd love to add it to my collection.
 
I don't have this channel (rats!) so someone be sure to say how good the show is or isn't!

I've often thought about this situation...a whole family might of been saved or a royal family brought down depending on the decision made.


LaRae
 
I watched the first part of it and I found it very accurate.

Sent from my GT-S6312 using The Royals Community mobile app
 
I don't have this channel (rats!) so someone be sure to say how good the show is or isn't!

I've often thought about this situation...a whole family might of been saved or a royal family brought down depending on the decision made.


LaRae

You can try to watch the program tomorrow 9pm UK Time here: Outside UK Viewers-
tvpc.com - BBC 2
 
Highly interesting and very accurate.Loved all the old footage & photo's many of whom I'd never laid eyes on before!
 
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I find it interesting how some parts of the photos are in colour, whilst other parts are black and white. Was this common in late Victorian times? I wonder if colour had just been introduced and it was the photographer experimenting.

The programme was interesting too. Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch the whole thing as it clashed with Outnumbered (a favoured comedy of mine), but managed to catch the last half an hour. Liked the casual video of the Royal Families playing and relaxing at the Danish Palace. (Grasten?)
 
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I think it's a shame that the royals don't get together and take vacations like that anymore.
 
Imagine being a fly on the wall at one of their royal get togethers at Gråsten Palace!
 
I think it's a shame that the royals don't get together and take vacations like that anymore.

Two reasons I think contribute to this

1. The relationship is not so close - none of the families are 1st cousins; sisters and brothers aren't married to monarchs (only exception being Spain/Greece and Greece is no longer a monarchy). Like most families, 2nd 3rd 4th, 12th cousins etc aren't close.

2. The royals are busier with increased public duties so they don't have the free time they used to.

However, it does happen on a smaller scale - I read on these forums how the King and Queen of Norway visited Prince Charles. And the European CP couples meet up.
 
For Outside of UK Viewers: Royal Cousins at War- BBC2 9pm-
tvpc.com - BBC 2
 
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Second episode was just as interesting,some audio recordings & nice footage of Kaiser Wilhelm II!
 
Not going to spoil it for those that haven't seen it yet but the second episode felt to me at least, to be a bit rushed and simplified otherwise it was great.

Glad to see that when needed fingers where pointed at those ultimately responsible for certain events.
 
I find it interesting how some parts of the photos are in colour, whilst other parts are black and white. Was this common in late Victorian times? I wonder if colour had just been introduced and it was the photographer experimenting.


While it's possible that the colour is the result of experimentation on the part of the photographer (such experimentation having started as early as the 1840s), it's also likely that the colour is added on after the picture is taken. I'm not sure how it was done in the pre-computer age, but now people can add colour to black and white photos using photoshop. Some of the pictures that only have a few people in colour while others and the background remain in monochrome certainly have been touched up in such a manner.

It's actually a pretty cool technique and can lead to a really interesting look at historical photographs. I recommend googling colorized history for more pictures with that treatment.
 
Many of the pictures are hand-tinted.
 
I hope this series makes it to PBS or BBC America channel...maybe even to Netflix if I get lucky!


LaRae
 
Thank you Ish and cepe for your answers regarding the photographs. :flowers: I found it interesting as I'd never seen photos like that before. My mother and I were talking about this yesterday and she said that she had a few tinted photos of her from her childhood and also of her mother. She also said that the photographers noted down what colour to use, and didn't just tint them at random.
 
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