Regal

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2006)

This film effectively describes some aspects of the history of the British royal family in the narrow period between the accession of Tony Blair as prime minister and the funeral of Princess Diana. Queen Elizabeth II, evidently, considers her subjects in a personal and familial manner. As any mature woman, she is offended by harsh criticism but undergoes a transformation as she reacts to the upstart Blair's attentions toward her, in response to the huge outpouring of raw emotion after the death of Princess Diana.
So, Elizabeth II combines the best features of an ideal modern-day monarch: proper devotion to the traditions and prerogatives of her position, a motherly devotion to her subjects, and a willingness to bend in a dignified manner as she encounters spirited opposition from those she loves and admires. It is a balancing act on a tight-wire that Elizabeth II manages to pull off with the grace that is expected and required, for the sake of her grandchildren and her nation.
Meanwhile, the film is full of superb cinematography and charming glimpses at her family's interest in Scotland, hunting, pet dogs, palaces, relations with her mother and husband and son and grandsons, four-wheel automobile driving, and gorgeous gardens. This leads to empathy for what can be described as a basically happy, if grief-stricken, family faced with the death of a loved family member.
Elizabeth II shows her inner strength by upholding the best traditions of her serene and royal family with charm and grace. In the end, the deep layer of affection among her subjects is strengthened yet again by her majesty, as a result of Diana's tragic death.