After hundreds of hours of research into the life of King Charles for his new documentary Charles: In His Own Words, filmmaker Tom Jennings learned quite a lot about the United Kingdom’s new monarch. Jennings understands how deeply thoughtful Charles is regarding certain aspects of his life, including life and love. Most of all, he now understands the importance of the king playing “a long game.”
‘Charles: In his Own Words’ documents the king’s life from boyhood through present day
The documentary Charles: In His Own Words is created by the filmmaker responsible for the documentary Diana: In Her Own Words, Tom Jennings. It begins at the start of Charles’ life, revealing the events that have influenced and shaped him into the ruler he is today.
The documentary shares rare, unheard, and never-before-seen archival material to tell Charles’ story through his very own words. “We have a lot of material that has never been digitized before,” Jennings shared exclusively to Showbiz Cheat Sheet.
“So when you see events that may be familiar to someone that follows the royal story a lot. They’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, I know that event, but I’ve never seen that before.’”
However, using archival material and no new interviews, Jennings said the goal is to make viewers feel like they are “watching a movie, except that it’s all real.” He continued, “It should feel seamless, effortless for the viewer. Finding new ways to present what may be familiar faces or places or events draws people in.”
In digging deeper into Charles’ personal story, Jennings found one thread that appeared to run through Charles’ life. He had always played a long game in both life and love.
King Charles III has always looked ahead in ‘Charles: In His Own Words’
Jennings found throughout his research for Charles: In His Own Words that the king of the United Kingdom has historically played a long game. This method offered a considerable advantage to Charles both personally and professionally.
Charles’ new slimmed-down version of the monarchy is one of those changes that was carefully thought out. It allows the institution to move forward into the future in a more organized manner with fewer working royals on the payroll in contrast to his mother’s 70-year reign.
“I think Charles recognizes things need to change. But that being said, Charles plays a very long game with everything,” Jennings explained.
He continued, “After doing all this research and going through all the footage, I recognized that he is looking very far over the horizon when the rest of us are looking at the pretty blue sea.”
Read Related Also: Kate Middleton, Prince William’s Star Power May Present Problems for King Charles: ‘He’s Been Through This Before’ Says Royal Commentator
“I think he is setting things up in his mind. He believes the monarchy needs to change, and he’s going to do that,” he concluded.
Charles has, historically, also played a long game when it comes to love. Jennings learned via his research that Charles and his current wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, were very much young and in love but couldn’t marry because they reportedly had a physical relationship before marriage.
“That disqualified her from marrying him,” he explained. “Which, in more modern times, sounds bizarre.”
Jennings continued of Charles playing a long game in love, “Obviously, she’s the love of his life. Because here we are. Fifty-three years later, they’re still together and married.”
Jennings believes the king will help modernize the monarchy in this surprising manner
Throughout her reign, Queen Elizabeth kept mum on hot-button political topics. Historically, rulers do not voice their opinions on political issues.
However, as Prince of Wales, Charles’ passion for the environment allowed him to speak his mind. Jennings believes that even under the constraints of royal rule, Charles will find a way to modernize the monarchy by speaking out on issues he feels deeply about.
“There’s this unwritten rule that the royals should not be involved in matters of politics,” Jennings explained. “However, Charles has a love of the environment. He loves to talk about global warming.”
Jennings continued, “Every year, he gave speeches as Prince of Wales regarding climate change. I think his long game then becomes, ‘We’re going to slim it down, but we’re going to be much more actively involved in matters like global warming.’”
He believes that as Charles’ reign evolves, he “wouldn’t be surprised that you may see him giving speeches to Parliament about something.”
Charles: In His Own Words premieres Friday, Apr. 28, 2023, on the National Geographic Channel. It streams on Apr. 29 on Hulu and May 5 on Disney+.
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