The Windsors


The Windsors is a British sitcom and parody of the British royal family, the House of Windsor. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 in April 2016 and stars Harry Enfield, Haydn Gwynne, Hugh Skinner, Louise Ford, Richard Goulding, Tom Durant-Pritchard, Kathryn Drysdale, Morgana Robinson, Ellie White, and Celeste Dring.
Written by the co-creators of Star Stories, Bert Tyler-Moore and George Jeffrie, The Windsors is a satirical portrayal of the British royal family. Following the death of Jeffrie from a heart attack in September 2020, Tyler-Moore became sole writer of the series.
A fourth series was scheduled to film in late 2023, following the broadcast of a Coronation special episode earlier in the year. Following the death of Haydn Gwynne, production was suspended in early 2024.

Synopsis

The Windsors tells the story of the British royal family but re-imagined as a soap opera. Although the stories are completely fictional, they are inspired by real events.

Cast

Main

Series overview

Series 1 (2016)

Christmas special (2016)

Series 2 (2017)

Royal Wedding special (2018)

Series 3 (2020)

Coronation special (2023)

Prospective fourth series

A fourth series was unofficially confirmed in spring 2023, prior to the Coronation Special. Plots were revealed to include Charles prolonging his half-hour, weekly meeting with the Prime Minister into "an all-afternoon brainstorming session" and demanding a place in the Cabinet, Wills ending up in a "bromance" with a Welsh nationalist, Harry and Meghan rescuing New Zealand from the brink of leaving the Commonwealth, and Beatrice and Eugenie time-travelling and accidentally altering the order of succession.
Filming for the fourth series was stated as taking place in late 2023 or early 2024. Haydn Gwynne, who portrayed Camilla, died in October 2023.
In April 2024, it was announced that production had been indefinitely postponed on the fourth series, owing to real-life health scares affecting senior members of the Royal Family. It was also reported that plans had been arranged to recast the role of Camilla following Gwynne's death, or to write out the characters of Charles and Camilla completely to concentrate the series "on the younger generations, with Their Majesties 'away on tour'".

Reception

The Guardian was favourable when it said "High-brow humour this is not. But, despite a number of cast and crew comparing the show to Spitting Image, The Windsors doesn't feel like satire: more a comic drama that makes the odd comment about monarchy."
Channel 4 described the show, in a statement: "The series is a wry take on what the soap opera of their lives might just be like. Delving behind the headlines and gossip columns, The Windsors lets our imaginations run riot in this ludicrous parody. Imagine, who really controls the sceptre in Charles and Camilla's marriage? What do the Royals really think of Kate? Does Wills really want to be king? Will Harry ever take Pippa up the aisle or will they end on a bum note? And what do Beatrice and Eugenie actually do for a living?" C4's head of comedy Phil Clarke added: "In The Windsors, our much-loved Royal family is re-imagined through the lens of a soap opera, and although the stories are completely fictional, some are inspired by real events. As a result, writers Bert and George have outdone even the funniest, most ludicrous issue of Hello! magazine ever."
The Daily Telegraph wrote: "The Windsors was low-budget, crude and rude. But it was all done with such cacophonous relish that resistance was useless. There's not much of this kind of punk comedy around on television at the moment, where deep, mordant, The Office-style irony has long been the dominant mode. But who doesn't like a little mischief? You can be a fan of Beethoven and the Buzzcocks too."
In his review for The List, Brian Donaldson wrote: "A pitiful 'parody' of life down Buck House way... If you were writing a sitcom about the Royal Family, would you have Harry coming over as a bit thick, Fergie being rather attention-seeking and Camilla as a cartoon villain? Of course you wouldn't, as that would be way too obvious; though maybe you could go down that road and put a spin on it somehow? Not Jeffrie and Tyler-Moore as they do the obvious and a whole lot less, such as making Edward out to be a lost soul with an empty diary, having William as a square-jawed helicopter hero and Pippa enjoying people constantly gazing at her 'fantastic arse'. And most incredibly of all, the Duke of Edinburgh is, wait for it, a little bit racist. It's certainly gratifying to see some upcoming Fringe comedy acts landing parts, such as Ellie White and Celeste Dring as the all-too predictably shallow Beatrice and Eugenie while Katy Wix has a blast as their tragically pitiable mum. But, sadly, all the talent on show are let down by a woefully predictable and utterly laugh-free script. Off with their heads!"
Season 2 of The Windsors was described by The Guardian as 'riotous hilarity', while The Telegraph called it a "right royal romp".
Sam Wollaston, writing for The Guardian, said of the Royal Wedding Special, "I worried an hour might be a stretch, but I needn't have", and suggested that the characters of Beatrice and Eugenie should have their own spin-off series.