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Royal Cousins At War BBC 2

anyonefortennisanyonefortennis Posts: 111,858
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in UK TV Shows #1
The three cousins look so alike. Especially George and Nicholas.
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Comments

  • Sal*UKSal*UK Posts: 335
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    #2
    Quite interesting - I watched another thing recently which was mostly the same - about the young prince being obsessed by his mother/her hands. Quite sad really and look at the outcome of her 'coldness' towards him.
  • LenitiveLenitive Posts: 4,263
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    #3
    So interesting. Scary to think WWI was basically a giant family argument.
  • allie4allie4 Posts: 11,994
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    #4
    anyonefortennis wrote: »
    The three cousins look so alike. Especially George and Nicholas.

    They were once mistaken for each other at an official function in England!
  • cavallicavalli Posts: 18,738
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    #5
    Lenitive wrote: »
    So interesting. Scary to think WWI was basically a giant family argument.

    Christmas day on steroids :o
  • ennui 57ennui 57 Posts: 1,176
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    #6
    Lenitive wrote: »
    So interesting. Scary to think WWI was basically a giant family argument.


    Yep Giant family in every sense. I need a family tree to follow!
    (Will google)


    The old photos and film clips are rather poignant.
  • anyonefortennisanyonefortennis Posts: 111,858
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    #7
    Wilhem was a complete idiot. He looked like Hitler when he got older.
  • anyonefortennisanyonefortennis Posts: 111,858
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    #8
    I can never understand why the Romanovs didn't escape from Russia when the revolution happened considering they had so many family members to help throughout Europe.
  • anyonefortennisanyonefortennis Posts: 111,858
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    #9
    Amazing how the whole history of Germany could have been so much different is Wilhems father had lived.
  • CMK29CMK29 Posts: 361
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    #10
    anyonefortennis wrote: »
    I can never understand why the Romanovs didn't escape from Russia when the revolution happened considering they had so many family members to help throughout Europe.

    That was what was so heartbreaking - they could have gotten to safety. George V was terrified about revolution spreading, and losing his own crown, he refused them asylum.
  • anyonefortennisanyonefortennis Posts: 111,858
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    #11
    CMK29 wrote: »
    That was what was so heartbreaking - they could have gotten to safety. George V was terrified about revolution spreading, and losing his own crown, he refused them asylum.

    Shameful. This is a very interesting programme. Looking forward to part 2 tomorrow when it all kicks off. The BBC really knows how to do these types of programmes very well.
  • sheepiefarmsheepiefarm Posts: 27,582
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    #12
    Queen Victoria really was a scheming old matriarch. :D
  • Jenny_SawyerJenny_Sawyer Posts: 12,858
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    #13
    CMK29 wrote: »
    That was what was so heartbreaking - they could have gotten to safety. George V was terrified about revolution spreading, and losing his own crown, he refused them asylum.

    They got what they deserved at the hands of the Bolsheviks.
  • Jenny_SawyerJenny_Sawyer Posts: 12,858
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    #14
    anyonefortennis wrote: »
    Wilhem was a complete idiot. He looked like Hitler when he got older.

    Well that's what often happens to children who are badly treated by their parents - they become not very nice adults.
  • Jenny_SawyerJenny_Sawyer Posts: 12,858
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    #15
    sheepiefarm wrote: »
    Queen Victoria really was a scheming old matriarch. :D

    And you or I would be expected to treat her descendants like demi-gods in the year 2014.:(
  • mrbernaymrbernay Posts: 146,041
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    #16
    anyonefortennis wrote: »
    I can never understand why the Romanovs didn't escape from Russia when the revolution happened considering they had so many family members to help throughout Europe.

    The Windsors (by then) decided it was not politically advisable >:(
  • Shady_Pines1Shady_Pines1 Posts: 1,608
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    #17
    I was a bit "eh?" when the narrator said it was a story that historians "often overlooked", er, no they don't and it's a big part of the school history curriculum. Loads of similar programmes have been made. This one is a classic case of something thinking it's better and more important than it actually is.
  • AndrewPdAndrewPd Posts: 6,718
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    #18
    It is annoying that one family wielded so much power.
  • Jenny_SawyerJenny_Sawyer Posts: 12,858
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    #19
    No wonder so many of them were sickly - they indulged in incest.
  • Blackadder VBlackadder V Posts: 2,283
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    #20
    CMK29 wrote: »
    That was what was so heartbreaking - they could have gotten to safety. George V was terrified about revolution spreading, and losing his own crown, he refused them asylum.

    You're kidding! What a betrayal.
  • Jenny_SawyerJenny_Sawyer Posts: 12,858
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    #21
    mrbernay wrote: »
    The Windsors (by then) decided it was not politically advisable >:(

    Let's all just change our surname to the name of one of our homes.
  • Shady_Pines1Shady_Pines1 Posts: 1,608
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    #22
    CMK29 wrote: »
    That was what was so heartbreaking - they could have gotten to safety. George V was terrified about revolution spreading, and losing his own crown, he refused them asylum.

    Harsh as it may sound, I think he did the right thing. Duty before self as it were.

    Nicholas and Alexandra were a deluded, autocratic, self obsessed couple who never really understood the plight of the Russian people and the reasons for the violence of the uprising and ultimate revolution.

    Granting them asylum could well have led to a revolution in Great Britain.
  • Jenny_SawyerJenny_Sawyer Posts: 12,858
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    #23
    Blackadder V wrote: »
    You're kidding! What a betrayal.

    They're selfish people - then & now.
  • radiogaga80radiogaga80 Posts: 59
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    #24
    Really enjoyed this documentary - bizarre to learn how things would have been so different if family relations had been better. Will definitely watch tomorrow's episode as well.
  • CMK29CMK29 Posts: 361
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    #25
    Jenny_Sawyer wrote: »
    They got what they deserved at the hands of the Bolsheviks.

    Five children executed by a firing squad? Whatever you think of an autocratic monarchy, you can't possibly think that was justifiable? :o
  • CressidaCressida Posts: 3,218
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    #26
    anyonefortennis wrote: »
    I can never understand why the Romanovs didn't escape from Russia when the revolution happened considering they had so many family members to help throughout Europe.

    Despite the later claims of Lord Mountbatten of Burma that David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister, was opposed to the rescue of the Russian imperial family, records of the King’s private secretary, Lord Stamfordham, suggest that George V opposed the rescue against the advice of Lloyd George. Advanced planning for a rescue was undertaken by MI1, a branch of the British secret service, but because of the strengthening position of the Bolshevik revolutionaries and wider difficulties with the conduct of the war, the plan was never put into operation.
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