The best films about historical royalty

Elizabeth II was Queen of England for decades before her September 2022 death at 96. She witnessed a lot, including the death of her one-time daughter-in-law Diana Spencer. The Queen is one of writer Peter Morgan’s explorations of British royalty, but this one had Helen Mirren at the center. Mirren won Best Actress for playing Elizabeth.

Young Elizabeth II is in The King’s Speech as well. The film centers on her father. After George VI’s father died and his brother abdicated the throne, it was left to him to rule over the United Kingdom at the onset of World War II. However, George VI dealt with a stutter, and this film is about him overcoming that. The King’s Speech ended up a controversial Best Picture winner, with many feeling like The Social Network should have won.

Yorgos Lanthimos was never going to give us a normal movie about royalty. He’s the guy who directed Dogtooth and The Lobster, after all. However, this black comedy about Queen Anne and two of her royal consorts struck a chord with Oscar voters. Olivia Colman’s turn as Anne won her Best Actress.

Talk about a polarizing movie. People seem to either love Sofia Coppola’s take on Marie Antoinette or despise it. She used pop music and all manner of anachronisms in her film about France’s controversial queen. You have to at least credit Coppola for not taking a run-of-the-mill approach to the material.

Cate Blanchett is considered one of the best actors of her generation, and it all began with her breakout turn starring in Elizabeth. Now, this film is about Elizabeth I, not the monarch played by Helen Mirren roughly a decade later. This period piece earned Blanchett her first Oscar nomination but not her last.

About a decade after Elizabeth, director Shekhar Kapur reunited with his star for another film about Elizabeth I. This one covers the later period of her reign. Blanchett (and Geoffrey Rush) returned, and you’ll never guess what happened. Yes, Blanchett was nominated again for Best Actress, putting her in rare company among people who have been nominated more than once for playing the same character (or historical figure, in this case).

The vast majority of these films are about European royalty or, in this case, non-European royalty through the prism of a white person. The King of I is based on a popular musical. In this version, Yul Brynner (who is very much not Thai) plays the King of Siam, while Deborah Kerr plays Anna.

The British also have an affinity for royalty from other countries, apparently. This is a British film about Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra, the last ruling royals of Russia. Things did not turn out well for them, but Nicholas and Alexandra had a better go of it. The movie got a Best Picture nomination

Let’s not forget the Pharaohs, the royals of Ancient Egypt. Cleopatra is one of the most famous royals in history. She was played by Elizabeth Taylor in this film. The making of Cleopatra was infamous for its bloated budget and the personal lives of stars Taylor and Richard Burton. In the end, though, that all overshadowed the fact the movie turned out just fine.

Queen Victoria is one of England’s most famous monarchs, but she usually only pops up fleetingly in films, like various Sherlock Holmes tales. She got to be the star of The Young Victoria, though, with Emily Blunt in the role. Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey, wrote the screenplay.

Alexander the Great reigned over large swaths of land and became a hugely impactful historical figure. Alexander is a flawed film. It is, after all, written and directed by Oliver Stone. Colin Farrell is compelling as Alexander the Great, and this is the best film about a massively important historical person.

Richard Burton is back as Thomas Becket, who was Archibishop of Canterbury and a key person in the life of Henry II. This film is about the relationship between the two, which ended with Becket effectively martyred. Peter O’Toole played Henry II, and the movie won Best Adapted Screenplay.

Not only is O’Toole in this movie, but he played Henry II again. However, the focus is on his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine this time. Anthony Hopkins was given his first major role as Richard the Lionheart. Hepburn won Best Actress, her third in that category, further establishing herself as an all-time legendary actor.

William Shakespeare wrote a lot of historical plays about royalty. One of those is Richard III. It contributed to a not-so-great reputation for the king as the centuries went on. In this particular adaptation, the action is moved to the 1930s, with Ian McKellen playing Richard III as a fascist. Historically accurate? Not so much, but interesting nonetheless.

King George III is famous in America, as he was King of England at the time of the American Revolution. It was also thought, for many years, that he was mentally ill. The Madness of King George picks up that ball and runs with it. While it may not be entirely accurate, it was well-received in the United States and the United Kingdom. Even after that whole revolution thing, we can still find common ground.

The film that Kenneth Branagh built his career on. He starred, wrote, and directed this adaptation of a Shakespeare play. He had never directed before but was nominated for Best Director and Best Actor. This basically let Branagh adapt Shakespeare plays until the cows came home, which he happily did.

This Best Picture winner is more about Thomas More, but you can’t tell More’s story without Henry VIII. More is the man who refused to sign off on Henry VIII’s divorce, which did not sit well with the monarch. Robert Shaw plays Henry, but Paul Scofield won Best Actor for playing Moore.

Peter Morgan is back. This time, with a not-very-accurate retelling of the story of Anne and Mary Boleyn. Mary was Henry VIII’s mistress until he married her sister Anne, who became his second queen. That didn’t take either. Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson played the Boleyn sisters, while once again, Henry VIII plays second fiddle in a film.

The one animated film on this list. Don Bluth’s movie is about Anastasia, daughter of the aforementioned Tsar Nicholas II. There was a longstanding rumor that Anastasia had survived the Russian Revolution, which sets the table for this movie. Christopher Lloyd is also on hand as Rasputin. Oh, and it’s a musical, by the way.

We started with The Queen, and we end with The King. The movie is based on a few of Shakespeare’s historical plays and stars Timothee Chalamet as Henry V just as his star rose. He has a wild haircut in this movie and is not the only one. The Netflix movie is not entirely successful, but it has quite the cast and some pieces that really work.