The Queen’s son appears in the series, which has been running for almost forty years. Just for Queen Elizabeth’s jubilee.
In “East Enders” Prince Charles is approachable – here with actress Letitia Dean.
For what feels like an eternity, the endless series “East Enders” has been telling stories about everyday life in Britain. To be precise: since 1985 and more than 6000 episodes. The streets where the “East Enders” live, the shops and the pub that has seen a lot are fictitious, as are the characters. But the series has been running for so long and is so close to reality that at times it feels like reality TV.
It got even more lifelike, just in time for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. At a street party in the episode celebrating the very anniversary that is turning England upside down, the future King of England and his wife stop by the East Enders to shake hands and engage in small talk. People go wild with excitement: when they bend their knees, they look like they’ll faint in an instant. It really is Charles and Camilla!
Only the royals are real
The series characters overturn themselves with gestures of surprise (“I’m shaking!” “I can’t believe it!”). Unlike the television viewers, who were able to mentally prepare for the prince’s appearance weeks ago through newspapers and television. The fact that there are two people appearing as themselves, albeit in royal roles, is emphasized by the presence of impersonators of famous British pop musicians at the street party. Shirley Bassey, David Bowie, Amy Winehouse and others are fake, but Charles and Camilla are “the real thing”.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall on set with producers Kate Oates and Chris Clenshaw.
In doing so, the series does what England is particularly good at: celebrating themselves and their idols. And claim that Charles and Camilla also have icon potential. At the same time, Charles is remembered for his highly acclaimed appearance as the successor to his elderly mother, who was so gloriously celebrated on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on the morning of the episode’s broadcast date.
In the past, reality has occasionally wandered into the wings of “East Enders”. Great Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London but already very public, had a guest appearance in 2009, in which he portrayed himself. In the series, Johnson ends up drinking a pint of beer at the fictional Queen Victoria Pub after his bike breaks down. The pub owner who gossiped about Johnson earlier in the episode falls for his charm instantly – as does the whole country later (for a few years).
The not-so-poor neighborhood
The appeal of the series, whose equivalent in German-speaking countries is «Lindenstrasse», is its apparent authenticity. The characters come, go, and some stay and grow old before the eyes of the viewer. Only the setting remains the same: a fictional district in London’s East End, a classic immigrant and working-class area that has been dreaming of a better future for well over a hundred years. In reality, gentrification is already eating away at the myth of poverty, but there’s not much urban chic to be seen in the series. Although otherwise much is copied from life. The central square, Albert Square, follows the outline of a real London square.
The royals mingle with the crowd: group photo with the cast of “East Enders”.
Stories that appear in the news are bundled here, social issues are dealt with here, to which the creators of the series attribute the interest of the audience. Basically, however, it is always about one thing, about interpersonal relationships. People lie and cheat, love and suffer, but mostly the latter. “East Enders” is not a feel-good series in the strictest sense; unless you count the relieved feeling that can set in after watching one or more episodes: to have it much better in your own life.
The visit is part of a tradition
Despite this – or perhaps because of it – the royals chose the “East Enders” for their acting debut. The British daily newspaper “The Independent” pointedly noted that Charles’ life is in a way similar to a soap opera, with affairs, a much-discussed divorce, dramatic deaths and fighting children.
In reality, the Queen’s visit to the filming location of the series may have occurred to the king’s son a few years ago. Or the most famous royal appointment in the real East End, attended by Charles’ beloved grandmother, the Queen Mum, during World War II. At the time, she refused to leave bombed London and instead toured the badly damaged working-class district with her husband, King George VI. The visit earned the royal couple great sympathy.
Even if today’s East End is no longer a heap of rubble, the appearance of the royal couple is a reminder of this event, and probably not coincidental, since the royal family understands symbols. Here, as there, people demonstrated closeness to the people. Of course, the appearance of the royals also has something fairytale-like about it. At the same time, it documents a highly undemocratic social fall from the prince and his adoring poor subjects.
But the episode, which celebrated the kingdom with flags and the Union Jack on every conceivable surface, wanted nothing to do with that. Anyway, for the blissful closing credits, the show’s theme song mingled with the English national anthem, and everyone raised their glasses to toast the Queen’s platinum anniversary. Like people across the country at that hour in real life.