"William & Kate: A Royal Love Story" (2011) - Hallmark Telemovie

[csw]

I thought it was okay but what ruined it for me was the portrayal of Carol Middleton. They used her for comic relief and made her look like a dolt. Very cruel, demeaning, untruthful, and unnecessary.

I kind of liked that they chose actors who could act rather than picking people who looked the part. There certainly wasn't as much detail as in the Lifetime movie but the acting was much better.

 

[EmpressRouge]

Haven't watched this movie yet, but judging from the comments, I'm anticipating it to be WORSE than the Lifetime movie, which is ironic because you'd think this one had more time to do research. Even before watching this, you can tell the low-quality of the production, even on the Hallmark Channel's website
http://hallmarkchannel.com/williamandcatherine/cast/Jean_Smart
Okay, I'll be lenient and ignore that it should say "HRH Prince William of Wales" (obviously, the storyline takes place before he became the Duke of Cambridge) and "HRH The Prince of Wales." Seriously, "HRH Princess Diana"? We've discussed many times on these forums about how Diana is incorrectly Princess Diana all the time...I will even let this one slide.
But seriously, "HRH Camilla Parker Bowles"????? I've ranted about how I hate when the media still calls the Duchess of Cornwall by her former married name. It's like she's still the evil mistress. She's MARRIED to Charles now, so she's got a title (and new name if you want to be republican about it, "Camilla Mountbatten-Windsor"). So not only did they incorrectly use her former name, they decided stick an "HRH" on something that's not even a title? It's like "Sorry, we decided to refer by your former name because we forgot you married Charles, but to make up for it, I'll still give you the HRH."

 

[Daria_S]

I think that these movies in general are geared towards people who know next to nothing about royalty, and go by what they hear in the media. The fact that the Duchess of Cornwall is labeled as 'Camila Parker Bowles' in the film shows that the creators used inaccurate newspaper/news articles that referred to the Duchess by her former name. The average Joe that's looking for some sensation that can allow him to say 'I know something about the British Royals because I saw this film' will not really care about the correctness of titles or names. Now, those of us who know at least a little bit are appalled by such inaccuracies, and are ready to tear the film to shreds (and rightfully so), because those inaccuracies tend to get on one's nerves rather fast, thanks to the press who starts them up in the first place.

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Well isn't Diana being called Princess Diana inaccurate as well? And people are still calling Kate, Kate Middleton. Clearly the people who write the stories and movies only care about the people being known, not addressing them the appropriate way. When people say Camilla Parker Bowles, they know who is being talked about; if you say the Duchess of Cornwall, there is no guarantee that the majority of the population will know who is being referenced.

 

[Daria_S]

Well isn't Diana being called Princess Diana inaccurate as well? And people are still calling Kate, Kate Middleton. Clearly the people who write the stories and movies only care about the people being known, not addressing them the appropriate way. When people say Camilla Parker Bowles, they know who is being talked about; if you say the Duchess of Cornwall, there is no guarantee that the majority of the population will know who is being referenced.

And the press is to blame (at least partially) for that. I've noticed when I read articles that deal with the Cambridges or the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, that Catherine is almost always 'Kate Middleton' and Duchess of Cornwall is 'Camila Parker-Bowles'. If this is what people see in the news time after time, they'll never know the correct information. I'm beginning to wonder if the press thinks the readers are ignorant and have no idea about the correctness of titles, etc.

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

To be honest, not most people outside of the England or perhaps the UK is going to take the time to learn all the titles and what is not right in what to call these women. I have been interested in the BRF since the late 90s and only this year have I ever heard that Diana's appropriate title was not Princess Diana, and that Princess Michael of Kent was not a woman who's parents wanted to give her a boys name.
I believe that even after Sarah Ferguson got married she was still called Sarah Ferguson or Fergie. It is not some form of discredit to the woman, it is just what the world has come to know them as and as a result they are still referred to that. I have always heard President Bush and President Obama constantly referred to as George Bush and Barack Obama, not giving them the appropriate title that they have in fact earned.
It is just habit that people have; especially with Kate and Camilla who have gone by their former names for so many years, it is hard to all of a sudden just change it in newspapers and confuse your readers. Same reason why female movie stars tend not to change their names if they get married.

 

[EmpressRouge]

To be honest, not most people outside of the England or perhaps the UK is going to take the time to learn all the titles and what is not right in what to call these women. I have been interested in the BRF since the late 90s and only this year have I ever heard that Diana's appropriate title was not Princess Diana, and that Princess Michael of Kent was not a woman who's parents wanted to give her a boys name.
I believe that even after Sarah Ferguson got married she was still called Sarah Ferguson or Fergie. It is not some form of discredit to the woman, it is just what the world has come to know them as and as a result they are still referred to that. I have always heard President Bush and President Obama constantly referred to as George Bush and Barack Obama, not giving them the appropriate title that they have in fact earned.
It is just habit that people have; especially with Kate and Camilla who have gone by their former names for so many years, it is hard to all of a sudden just change it in newspapers and confuse your readers. Same reason why female movie stars tend not to change their names if they get married.

By the same logic, the press should have called Diana, "(Lady) Diana Spencer" a lot more? Also the Countess of Wessex is rarely called Sophie Ryhs-Jones anymore, even though she continued using her maiden for her career early on in her marriage (correct me if I'm wrong). Maybe Diana and Charles' courtship was so short that everyone got used to calling her, incorrectly, Princess Diana? Maybe Sophie is a much less followed royal by the media? I get that this is a habit that people can't always break, but if they're going to mess up the names of female royals, I'd at least like to see it messed up equally and in the same way.

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

You already answered your question, Diana's courtship was short and Sophia is not a widely popular royal.
Plus I have already mentioned that Diana was addressed improperly in news reports as Princess Diana when that was not her title.

 

[Blog Real]

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