The day has finally arrived. Charles is at last king and without the restrictions of his mother. Almost immediately he finds himself at odds with his prime minister and refuses assent to a bill passed by Parliament.In typical Shakespearean style Charles then finds himself tangled in political intrigue and family betrayal. The politicians seek his abdication. William is portrayed as a rather weak character entirely under the ambitious thumb of his ruthless wife who lusts for power. Harry seems more obsessed with finding love somewhere in an East End council flat than the duties of his birth whilst Camilla does her best to keep everything together.So far so good. All the characters are entirely believable and extremely well cast although perhaps Prince Harry is somewhat better looking than his stage counterpart.But sadly there is major flaw in the script. The bill in question would restrict press freedom and the plot suggests that public outrage at the King's refusal to allow this is sufficient to cause 'bloodletting' in a virtual civil war. Such is more than unlikely. Moreover both William and Harry turn against their father as the crown is wrestled from him by force with their support. Such is even more absurd. Eventually Charles accepts the betrayal and crowns his own son with bitter sentiment. Never can one imagine that the ancient rites of kingship would be so trampled simply because the king would protect free speech. And were that to transpire I am certain that Charles would invoke the Plantagenate curse that saw the Tudor usurpers extinct in three generations after their treachery at Bosworth. Now that would have been a far better ending as Charles crowns the son that stole his throne. What a pity the writer did not compose with greater imagination and less absurdity.

They have no idea of the matters of the monarchy and insist the everyone talks as if they are in a Shakespearean play. Totally dis-honourable to the Queen and her family. I did manage to watch about 40 minutes of it before I was lucky enough to find the off switch. Don't bother.

the movie had potential... then it turned into a nonsense... disguised as a Shakespearean novel... but completely lacking any kind of intelligence...like written by a 12yo school girl.... it was a pain to see...my Heart Broke when the shallow low IQ sons in this "Play" did not received any kind of justice at the end... the 12yo writer did not went all the way...the monarchy at that point in the play should have been abolish and the traitors should have been betrayed. but not even the end makes sense... Don't bother with this guys...I'm saving you the time.

Although this play had an excellent cast I found it predictable; mainly because it draws extensively, if not totally, on two British dramas from the 1990s.To Play The King was the second part of the original House of Cards trilogy, broadcast in 1993 and featured a future king, played by Michael Kitchen doing an impeccable Prince Charles impersonation, at odds with the Prime Minister and lead character of the series.The Student Prince was broadcast around 1997/8 and told the story of the bodyguard assigned to protect the prince/ future king who had gone to study at university, (clearly based on William). In the end the prince ends the succession and becomes a 'commoner' in the new republic, (similar to Harry's story line in this play).The BBC's decision to film this play, which in my opinion is better suited to the stage, suggests to me a desire to attract an American audience and boost viewing figures on their BBC America channel.