History Series / EdwardTheSeventh

** And Alix's sister Dagmar is called Minnie, and mentioned by others as this, and then exaggerates this by becoming officially known in Russia as Maria Feodorovna.

The series is about Albert Edward (Timothy West), known as Bertie to family and friends, the Prince of Wales (for practically sixty years) and then King Edward VII of the British Empire (for nine years). This focus spans his entire life: from his mother UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria's (Creator/AnnetteCrosbie) realization of his conception in early 1841, his subsequent birth, his childhood under the stern upbringing by Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Creator/RobertHardy), to his scandalous adult lifestyle, to his ascension to the throne, to his death in 1910.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness:
** May of Teck is mentioned by onlookers to be both pretty and homely, but while the real May was probably best described as "nice-looking" and stately, even when young, here she's played by a very pretty Judy Loe.
*** Keep in mind that until fairly recently, the British definition of "homely" was "appealingly simple; not glamorous". While that may be so, the man using "homely" doesn't do it in anything like a admiring tone of voice and Judy Loe is still a bit too fine-featured to be playing May, whom her first biographer went into a bit of back-and-forth about "whether anyone could agree whether she was a pretty girl or not".
** Averted with Alix. She really was praised by everyone and considered to be one of the most beautiful princesses of Europe and a fashion icon.

** Breast cancer. When Vicky is dying, Bertie mentions that she has cancer of the spine. She actually had breast cancer that had spread throughout her body.

The series is about Albert Edward, known as Bertie to family and friends, the Prince of Wales (for practically sixty years) and then King Edward VII of the British Empire (for nine years). This focus spans his entire life: from his mother UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria's realization of his conception in early 1841, his subsequent birth, his childhood under the stern upbringing by Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, to his scandalous adult lifestyle, to his ascension to the throne, to his death in 1910.

*** Keep in mind that until fairly recently, the British definition of "homely" was "appealingly simple; not glamorous".

* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: Hemophilia. It's never so much as mentioned in connection with Bertie's brother Leopold, although he dealt with it his entire life and finally died from it. When Bertie meets Alice's grandson and Alix's young great-nephew Tsarevich Alexei ('Alexis' here), he innocently asks if the boy is all right... and certainly doesn't get the truth.

* BlackSheep: First Bertie, and then his nephew and {{Foil}} Willy. However, the sheep don't get along or bond over this at all.

** Bertie's sister Louise is mentioned by name, but his daughter Louise [[SubvertedTrope almost]] never is.
** Likewise his younger daughter is pretty much OnlyKnownByHerNickname as "Toria", even though nobody calls the Queen "Victoria" during her lifetime.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria, Albert the Prince Consort, Edward VII, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Palmerston, UsefulNotes/BenjaminDisraeli, UsefulNotes/WilliamGladstone, Otto Von Bismarck, Wilhelm II, UsefulNotes/NicholasII, UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill... it's a historical drama involving many famous people of the age, so more of the cast than not, really.

** Averted with Albert. Creator/RobertHardy goes into great detail in an interview about how he prepared with people from Germany to ensure Albert's accent was not only accurate, but Coburg.

** Known to public knowledge as an old man, Edward VII is depicted as a baby, a child, a teenager, a young man, etc. Likewise, UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria (at the beginning) and UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill (near the end) are portrayed as young people.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria, Albert the Prince Consort, Edward VII, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Palmerston, UsefulNotes/BenjaminDisraeli, UsefulNotes/WilliamGladstone, Otto Von Bismarck, Wilhelm II, Nicholas II, UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill... it's a historical drama involving many famous people of the age, so more of the cast than not, really.

* UniversallyBelovedLeader: Alix. Many are seen singing her praises and no one has a bad word to say about her. TruthInTelevision; when her mother-in-law and husband were varying degrees of popular or not, Alexandra was consistently the most popular member of the British royal family for decades.

* OneHundredPercentAdorationRating: Alix. Many are seen singing her praises and no one has a bad word to say about her. TruthInTelevision; when her mother-in-law and husband were varying degrees of popular or not, Alexandra was consistently the most popular member of the British royal family for decades.

* {{Foil}}: Both Bertie and Willy have extremely difficult relationships as eldest sons with their mothers called Victoria, partly due to too many expectations and not simply accepting their children. However, where Willy's father's premature death makes him Kaiser and gives a position of power over his mother, Bertie's mother remains in her position of power over him for another forty years. Willy also has to deal with a genuine "defect" and disability in his useless arm, whereas everything Bertie was berated for was a character issue... however Willy is also portrayed as a {{Jerkass}} or worse, whereas loads of people actually like Bertie.

* AntagonisticOffspring: Kaiser Wilhelm II had [[FreudianExcuse a difficult childhood and relationship with his mother Vicky due to his very traumatic birth and subsequent disability]], Willy proceeds to do a lot of making her life very difficult, from being rude, joining forces as Bismarck's willing puppet for years, forcing her and his sisters to move when his father dies, and causing her to have papers smuggled away from his ability to destroy them.

* AntagonisticOffspring: Having had [[FreudianExcuse a difficult childhood and relationship with his mother Vicky due to his very traumatic birth and subsequent disability]], Willy proceeds to do a lot of making her life very difficult, from being rude, joining forces as Bismarck's willing puppet for years, forcing her and his sisters to move when his father dies, and causing her to have papers smuggled away from his ability to destroy them.

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* LockedOutOfTheLoop: This is done to Bertie when he's the Prince of Wales.

** Played straighter with Alix and Minnie, although the relative rarity of Scandinavian accents and the quality of the performances makes it easier to overlook why sisters raised in the same situation have fairly different ones right from the start.

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Averted with Albert. Creator/RobertHardy goes into great detail in an interview about how he prepared with people from Germany to ensure Albert's accent was not only accurate, but Coburg.