Helping head-up the Royal revival is Brit film The King’s Speech, which leads the field at this year’s Academy Awards with an incredible 12 nominations. Among the key nominations are Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role (Colin Firth) and both Actor (Geoffrey Rush) and Actress (Helena Bonham Carter) in a Supporting Role.
The moving film (which we highly recommend if you haven’t seen it already) tells the real-life story of Queen
Elizabeth II’s father King George VI (“Bertie”), who suffers from a nervous stammer and is thrust to the throne after his brother Edward abdicates in pursuit of American divorcee Wallace Simpson. The film follows Bertie as he forms a relationship with Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue as they journey to find the King’s voice – just in time to lead his country into war.
As well as receiving critical acclaim and countless rave reviews the film has scooped 7 BAFTAs, a Golden Globe and a People’s Choice Award, all on a relatively limited budget of £10million. The ‘low’ budget meant that alternative locations were used in place of the royal residences featured in the film, from Buckingham Palace to Balmoral.
Luckily for us, members of the public are free to roam some of Britain’s Royal residences for a small entrance fee. With Buckingham Palace opening its gardens and doors to the public as well as guided tours of Royal residences available (Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Sandringham to name just a few), now could well be the perfect time to ride the Royal wave by choosing London Breaks or Royal Wedding packages.
With Royal fever taking hold, which Royal residency would you most like to visit?