The Windsors

 ( 2016 British Television Series Debuts ) 

The Windsors is a British British sitcom and parody of the British royal family, the House of Windsor. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 in April 2016 and stars Harry Enfield, Haydn Gwynne, Hugh Skinner, Louise Ford, Richard Goulding, Tom Durant-Pritchard, Kathryn Drysdale, Morgana Robinson, Ellie White, and Celeste Dring.

Written by the co-creators of Star Stories, Bert Tyler-Moore and George Jeffrie, The Windsors is a satirical portrayal of the British royal family. Following the death of Jeffrie from a heart attack in September 2020, Tyler-Moore became sole writer of the series.

A fourth series was scheduled to film in late 2023, following the broadcast of a Coronation special episode earlier in the year. Production was suspended in early 2024.

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Synopsis The Windsors tells the story of the British royal family but re-imagined as a soap opera. Although the stories are completely fictional, they are inspired by real events.

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Cast

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Main

• Harry Enfield as Charles III, the oldest son of and heir apparent to Elizabeth II, who spends the first three series impatiently waiting for his mother to die so he can finally be King of the United Kingdom. He is portrayed as self-absorbed, naive, overconfident in his abilities, and prone to believe in comically absurd theories, having little knowledge of the world outside the monarchy. He also enjoys inventing whimsical ideas for which he feels under-appreciated. A running gag is his fondness for wearing kilts without any undergarments. He ascends to the throne in the Coronation special.
• Enfield also portrays Charles' two-minutes-older identical twin brother Chuck in Series 2, Episode 3.
• Haydn Gwynne as Queen Camilla, Charles' second wife, depicted as a stereotypical conniving villain determined to become Queen and replace Charles' lineage with her own while also redeeming herself in the eyes of the public as a result of usurping Diana's position. She fixates on various ways in which she might achieve this but never fulfills any of the schemes she imagines.
• Hugh Skinner as Prince William "Wills", Charles' first son and heir apparent, and the most well-meaning of the royals, whose manner of speech exaggerates parts of received pronunciation. He often attempts to leave the monarchy, to get it abolished, or to simply grow out of his family's shadow by pursuing interests and career opportunities outside of royal duties. He also receives advice and counsel from spirits of previous monarchs of England and of the whole UK, as do his wife and brother.
• Louise Ford as Duchess (later Princess) Catherine "Kate" (née Middleton), Wills' wife, depicted as a former "gypsy" who wants to better fit in with the royals.
• Richard Goulding (Series 1–2, and Coronation special) and Tom Durant-Pritchard (Series 3) as Prince Harry, Wills' immature, naive younger brother, who is often taken advantage of by women and is illiterate until the end of Series 1.
• Kathryn Drysdale as Meghan Markle (Series 2–3), Harry's second girlfriend and later his wife, portrayed as a shallow narcissist who is still obsessed with her time acting on the American legal drama TV series Suits and presenting herself as a "strong independent woman" despite her desire to marry Harry.
• Morgana Robinson as Pippa Middleton, Kate's sister, depicted as a passive-aggressive, greedy, promiscuous, and envious social climber. She pursues a relationship with Harry and continues trying to win him back after he begins dating Meghan.
• Ellie White as Princess Beatrice and Celeste Dring as Princess Eugenie, Wills and Harry's cousins, depicted as two useless, rich Sloane Ranger searching for a purpose in life.

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Recurring

• Matthew Cottle as Prince Edward, Charles' youngest brother, who fails at many things.
• Katy Wix as Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson, Beatrice and Eugenie's mother, who is desperate to be let back into the Royal Family's inner circle.
• Tim Wallers as Prince Andrew, Charles' younger brother and Fergie's former husband, portrayed as a sleazy and manipulative businessman.
• Vicki Pepperdine as Princess Anne, Charles' younger sister, depicted as austere, menacing, and almost ghostlike. Her sudden appearances are preceded by a drop in temperature that freezes people's breath. Her only passion is horses.
• Gordon Kennedy as Alec and Tony Jayawardena as Sandy (Series 1), two Scottish bystanders who comment on events.
• Donovan Blackwood as Baxter (Series 1), a military recruiter and drill instructor with whom Wills trains to become an air ambulance pilot.
• Anna Morris as Duchess Sophie (Coronation special), Edward's wife.

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Guests

• Gillian Bevan as Theresa May, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• Corey Johnson as Donald Trump (Series 2-3), the President of the United States
• Joseph May as Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada
• Phillip Law as Malcolm Turnbull, the Prime Minister of Australia
• Tom Basden as Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Labour Party
• Jeremy Nicholas as David Dimbleby (Series 1), a celebrated political journalist who covers the public's vote on whether to abolish the monarchy.
• Amy Booth-Steel as Nicola Sturgeon (Series 2), the First Minister of Scotland, who doubles as a villager nicknamed "Flame".
• Julia Deakin as Carole Middleton, Kate's mother
• Simon Day as Mike Middleton, Kate's father
• Tom Stourton as Jack Brooksbank, Eugenie's husband
• Mateo Oxley as Edo Mapelli Mozzi, Beatrice's husband
• Suzette Llewellyn as Doria Ragland, Meghan's mother
• Trevor Cooper as Thomas Markle, Meghan's father and Doria's former husband

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Historical figures

• Tim FitzHigham as King Arthur
• Howard Lee as Alfred the Great
• David Newman as Richard the Lionheart
• Jolyon Coy as Henry V
• Al Roberts as Richard III
• James Doherty as Henry VIII
• Lucy Montgomery as Elizabeth I
• Gareth Tunley as Oliver Cromwell
• Dickie Beau as James VI and I
• Paul Whitehouse as George III
• Peter Davison as William IV
• Miriam Margolyes as Queen Victoria
• Michael Rouse as Prince Albert
• Clive Hayward as George VI, described by Wills in-universe as how he appears in the film The King's Speech.

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Episodes

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Series overview

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Series 1 (2016)

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Christmas special (2016)

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Series 2 (2017)

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Royal Wedding special (2018)

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Series 3 (2020)

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Coronation special (2023)

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Prospective fourth series A fourth series was unofficially confirmed in spring 2023, prior to the Coronation Special. Plots were revealed to include Charles prolonging his half-hour, weekly meeting with the Prime Minister into "an all-afternoon brainstorming session" and demanding a place in the Cabinet, Wills ending up in a "bromance" with a Welsh nationalist, Harry and Meghan rescuing New Zealand from the brink of leaving the Commonwealth, and Beatrice and Eugenie time-travelling and accidentally altering the order of succession.

Filming for the fourth series was stated as taking place in late 2023 or early 2024. Haydn Gwynne, who portrayed Camilla, died in October 2023.

In April 2024, it was announced that production had been indefinitely postponed on the fourth series, owing to real-life health scares affecting senior members of the Royal Family. It was also reported that plans had been arranged to recast the role of Camilla following Gwynne's death, or to write out the characters of Charles and Camilla completely to concentrate the series "on the younger generations, with their majesties 'away on tour'".

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Reception

The Guardian was favourable when it said "High-brow humour this is not. But, despite a number of cast member and Television crew comparing the show to Spitting Image, The Windsors doesn't feel like satire: more a comedy-drama that makes the odd comment about monarchy."

Channel 4 described the show, in a statement: "The series is a wry take on what the soap opera of their lives (and loves) might just be like. Delving behind the headlines and Gossip columnist, The Windsors lets our imaginations run riot in this ludicrous parody. Imagine, who really controls the sceptre in Charles and Camilla's marriage? What do the Royals really think of Kate? Does Wills really want to be king? Will Harry ever Double entendre or will they end on a pun? And what do Beatrice and Eugenie actually do for a living?" C4's head of comedy Phil Clarke added: "In The Windsors, our much-loved Royal family is re-imagined through the lens of a soap opera, and although the stories are completely fictional, some are inspired by real events. As a result, writers Bert and George have outdone even the funniest, most ludicrous issue of Hello! magazine ever."

The Daily Telegraph wrote: " The Windsors was low-budget, crude and rude. But it was all done with such cacophonous relish that resistance was useless. There's not much of this kind of punk comedy around on television at the moment, where deep, mordant, The Office-style irony has long been the dominant mode. But who doesn't like a little mischief? You can be a fan of Beethoven and the Buzzcocks too."

In his review for The List, Brian Donaldson wrote: "A pitiful 'parody' of life down Buck House way . . . If you were writing a sitcom about the Royal Family, would you have Harry coming over as a bit thick, Fergie being rather attention-seeking and Camilla as a cartoon villain? Of course you wouldn't, as that would be way too obvious; though maybe you could go down that road and put a spin on it somehow? Not Jeffrie and Tyler-Moore as they do the obvious and a whole lot less, such as making Edward out to be a lost soul with an empty diary, having William as a square-jawed helicopter hero and Pippa enjoying people constantly gazing at her 'fantastic Buttocks'. And most incredibly of all, the Duke of Edinburgh is, wait for it, a little bit racist. It's certainly gratifying to see some upcoming Fringe comedy acts landing parts, such as Ellie White and Celeste Dring as the all-too predictably shallow Beatrice and Eugenie while Katy Wix has a blast as their tragically pitiable mum. But, sadly, all the talent on show are let down by a woefully predictable and utterly laugh-free script. Off with their heads!"

Season 2 of The Windsors was described by The Guardian as 'riotous hilarity', while The Telegraph called it a "right royal romp".

Sam Wollaston, writing for The Guardian, said of the Royal Wedding Special, "I worried an hour might be a stretch, but I needn't have", and suggested that the characters of Beatrice and Eugenie should have their own spin-off series.

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Endgame stage play

On 9 June 2021, it was announced that a stage play called The Windsors: Endgame would open at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London's West End from 2 August to 9 October 2021. It was written by Jeffrie and Tyler-Moore, directed by Michael Fentiman and featured members of the cast from the TV show including Harry Enfield as Charles, Matthew Cottle as Edward, Tom Durant-Pritchard as Harry and Tim Wallers as Andrew.

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External links

• Official site
• ComedyUK

Categories: 2016 British Television Series Debuts, 2010s British Satirical Television Series, 2010s British Sitcoms, 2020s British Satirical Television Series, 2020s British Sitcoms, British Parody Television Series, Channel 4 Comedy, Cultural Depictions Of Charles Iii, Cultural Depictions Of Queen Camilla, Cultural Depictions Of William, Prince Of Wales, Cultural Depictions Of Catherine, Princess Of Wales, Cultural Depictions Of Prince Harry, Duke Of Sussex, Cultural Depictions Of Meghan, Duchess Of Sussex, British English-language Television Shows, Television Series About Cousins, Television Series About Dysfunctional Families, Television Series About Marriage, Television Series About Siblings

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