{alltv} First Look at a Royal Redo

Monday, May 23, 2011

{alltv} First Look at a Royal Redo

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Didn't get enough of the royal wedding last month? Then check out this first look at Hallmark Channel's cheeky prequel, William & Catherine: A Royal Romance, set to air August 27. Stars Jane Alexander (Queen Elizabeth), Alias' Victor Garber (Prince Charles) and Hawaii Five-0's Jean Smart (Camilla) phoned me from Bucharest, Romania, on their third day of shooting to discuss the film, which climaxes with the couple's engagement in Africa. (No wedding reenactment because, says Jane, "We'd need a budget of $40 million!")

Among the glimpses we'll get of the Windsors' private life: the queen and Kate playing Wii tennis, Charles and Camilla in smocks painting landscapes of Stonehenge, an African costume party and a royal blow-up between Charles and his sons after William and Harry come home drunk. If you're thinking this docudrama may spark controversy along the lines of the ill-received The Kennedys, Victor isn't worried. "I think this is a very fair representation of what could have happened in some form," he says, noting the movies The Queen and The King's Speech. "When a movie is successful, it's all wonderful. But when people are trying to have a project stopped, then there's all this unfair speculation."

Jean's just glad to get to show a more positive side of Camilla. "She's gotten such bad press, bless her heart, that I like the fact, in this, she's very likable and in a happy relationship." (Good thing, since the real Prince Charles is planning to pop in for a set visit.) Jean's also grateful to be back at work after her Governor Jameson was killed in Hawaii Five-0's season finale. (Plans are afoot to reincarnate her for flashbacks.) "It's always fun to get shot, but I told them I'm there anytime they need me," she says, offering this advice to the actor who will play Five-0's new governor: "Don't forget, you can see Alaska from your office."