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My Five Favorite Films About Kings and Queens
Admit it; you’ve been watching more of them this week, too.
Like many other people, I have been watching more films about kings and queens since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II last week. It’s not a new thing for me, though; as an American who gets a new leader every four or eight years, the monarchy is something that has always fascinated and intrigued me. George Washington had the chance to be a king and passed it up; I wonder if he could have seen into the 21st century if he would have made the same choice. Heck, he might have decided to just stay British.
In any case, I’ve been watching more of them this week and thought I’d give you my five favorites. Let me stress the word favorites; these types of articles always spark debate over which films are best, which is not always the same thing; you can’t debate someone’s personal preference. Well, you can, but you’d be kind of a jerk.
I would actually make the case that several of these are among the best films ever made, and not just about kings, queens, monarchies, or history. Some even have Academy Awards to back that view up, though invoking the Oscars to defend my point feels odd, given how often they’ve gotten it so terribly wrong. Strange bedfellows, and all that.
