What time is The Royal House of Windsor on Channel 4 tonight and what’s the show about?
MONARCHIES across the world have crumbled over the centuries, but the House of Windsor endures — despite crisis upon crisis.
A six-part series from Channel 4 has been taking an in-depth look at the history of the famous family, exploring the secrets to their survival and how Prince Charles resolved to avoid repeating the mistakes of his great uncle, King Edward VIII.
Here's what we know about The Royal House of Windsor.
When is The Royal House of Windsor on?
The sixth and final episode of the series airs tonight, March 29, at 9pm on Channel 4.
What's the show about?
The Royal House of Windsor has charted the epic saga of the Windsor Dynasty over the last 100 years, drawing on historians, relatives, private correspondence and the personal archive of the Queen.
It started back to 1917, when Britain was at war with Germany and King George V decided to ditch the Royal Family's German roots, rebranding the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha dynasty as the very English-sounding Windsors.
Among names that landed in the reject pile: Fitzroy, Stuart and Tudor. Windsor, however, conjured images of "green rolling landscapes, tea and cakes", according to historian Miranda Carter.
We also learned about George V's betrayal of his cousin, the Russian emperor Tsar Nicholas II, of the famous Romanovs.
The tsar, his wife and their five children were executed by the Bolsheviks after their request for asylum in Britain was refused.
It was long believed the prime minister, Lloyd George, had turned them away — when in fact it was George V.
We've met the tsar's great-niece, Princess Olga Romanoff, who broke down in tears as she describes what happened.
The show also examined the abdication of George V's son Edward VIII in 1936, when he proposed to American socialite and divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Then to 1947, when we saw Britain suffering crippling post-war austerity and the worst winter on record.
We've also witnessed a lovesick Princess Elizabeth and her ailing father, George VI, visiting South Africa on a fraught royal tour.
It was revealed how Prince Philip adapted to life as the husband of the young Queen Elizabeth II and the opposition she faced in her early years on the throne.
And then there's the drama of Prince Charles' love life and the advice he sought on marriage from Lord Mountbatten.
What do the Royal Family think of the show?
Producer Denys Blakeway the royals "are a brilliant PR operation and control their image closely, but this series has been made outside of their PR machine.
"Maybe they'll dislike it because they don't like being questioned, but I don't think they'd be right to.
"It's not hostile. You have to understand institutions to appreciate them."
