The Firm: Blood, Lies and Royal Succession

Elizabeth II was not only Britain's longest ever-reigning monarch, she will also be remembered as one of the country's most beloved sovereigns. In this special tribute episode we celebrate the life and reign of a queen who devoted herself to the service of her people, and examine how the monarchy will adapt and evolve under the reign of her successor, Charles III. What will his promises to modernize the institution mean? And how will he handle the ongoing crises presented by younger brother Prince Andrew, and youngest son Prince Harry?

What next for The Firm? As the Queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee, heir Charles is 73 years old… meaning second-in-line to the throne William could be King within a decade or two himself. How will he take the monarchy into the post-Elizabeth II phase of its existence – and to what extent will his soured relationship with brother Harry color his reign? 

Do the Duke and Duchess of Sussex represent a woke, progressive marriage that signals the future of a royal family in touch with popular opinion and the modern world…or is their so-called “Megxit” a self-centered, self-obsessed, dangerous threat to the very institution Harry was born into?

After the divorce of Charles and Diana, much of the blame was placed on Charles’ affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles… and following Diana’s death, for many that blame became outright hatred. And yet in 2005 Charles and Camilla married with the blessing of the whole family, and in 2022 the Queen announced that following his coronation, Camilla will be known as Queen. Has Camilla been the focus of The Firm’s smartest PR campaign yet?

After losing his mother aged just 12, Prince Harry threatened to go off the rails, with his youth punctuated by a series of scandals involving drugs, underage drinking, clashes with the paparazzi, a Nazi-themed fancy dress party and photographs of him partying naked in Vegas. How did the “spare” to William’s “heir” rehabilitate his public image?

Prince Andrew’s wife was heralded as a breath of fresh air for the stuffy Royals, a fun, funny, gregarious good-time girl who would appeal to the masses. But after her split from the Prince, a series of toe-curling scandals horrified senior figures at the Palace… just what was to be done about Fergie?

The “People’s Princess” died in a horrific car crash in August 1997, following a bitter – and very public – split with heir to the throne, Prince Charles. The conspiracy theories abounded… but what really happened at the Pont de l’Alma? And why did the Royal Family handle the fallout so badly?

The loving sisters were nearly torn apart by the difference in their destinies… only one could ever be Queen. And when Elizabeth refused permission for Margaret to marry the man she loved, the rift nearly proved permanent – and sparked a near-permanent embarrassment for the Firm.

Britain’s shortest-reigning monarch, and the only king or queen to ever willingly abdicate, Edward VIII supposedly gave it all up for love. Or did he? As the specter of war loomed over Europe, senior figures in The Firm were gravely concerned about his associations with senior figures in the Nazi party…

She was the Queen who was “not amused” – a stern, fearsome figure who expanded the British empire to control a quarter of the globe, and who remained in mourning for late husband Albert for more than half her life. But away from the public eye Victoria was also a woman with a healthy love of physical contact…and whose close “friendships” with two of her servants threatened to become full-blown scandals.

Lampooned as the lunatic king who lost America…but who was also hugely popular with his subjects, who presided over a British intellectual Renaissance, and who defeated Napoleon…we take another look at the reign of the man who may just be the most misunderstood monarch in history.

For many, Elizabeth I was England’s greatest monarch – rising through the deadly intrigue and plots of court to ascend to the throne, and then defeating the Spanish Armada and saving the kingdom. All, supposedly, while spurning the advances of her many suitors. But how much of it is true, and how much glorious myth making?

Prince Andrew’s association with Jeffrey Epstein has gone beyond a royal embarrassment, and has threatened to become a genuine constitutional crisis. How did The Firm ever let it happen? And after his 2022 settlement with accuser Virginia Giuffre, what next for the Queen’s favorite son?

Behind the opulence and regal tradition lies an underbelly compromising generations of hundreds of  men and women who make up the royal household—from servants, consultants, advisers and protectors of the House of Windsor. Together, these disciples of the monarch have kept the institution humming, all under a reign of duty and destiny dating back to the ninth century.