Secrets of the Royal Traditions


7:25 pm - 8:30 pm, Today on 5 (5)

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About this Broadcast

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A look at the Birthday and New Year Honours lists, revealing how they came about, taking in everything from the savagery of medieval warfare to the horrors of the First World War. The programme reveals how the knighthood is steeped in ceremonial ritual and harks back to a time of chivalry that never actually existed. The tradition of the servant is also explored, a role that stretches back as long as royalty itself, including the long gone and much-missed post of jester


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Cast & Crew

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Simon Newton (Producer)
Oliver Wright (Executive producer)
Michael Douglas (Series director)
Michael Douglas (Series producer)

More Information

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Did You Know..

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Simon Newton (Producer)
Oliver Wright (Executive producer)
Michael Douglas (Series director)
Michael Douglas (Series producer)
Born: September 25, 1944 in New Brunswick, New Jersey
Best Known For: A string of sexy movies.
Early-life: Michael Kirk Douglas was born on September 25, 1944, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He's the eldest son of Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas and his first wife, actress Diana Douglas. He has a brother, Joel and a half-brother, Peter. His youngest half-brother, Eric, died in 2004. Michael's parents divorced when he was six, and he lived with his mother and stepfather before attending school in Massachusetts. He decided to become an actor while in his teens, despite his father trying to put him off the idea.
Career: Douglas appeared in numerous projects before landing a lead role in TV series The Streets of San Francisco in 1972. Three years later he won an Oscar for co-producing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He continued his acting career with roles in such hits as Romancing the Stone and its sequel, The Jewel of the Nile, Fatal Attraction, Wall Street (for which he won the Best Actor Oscar), Black Rain, The War of the Roses, Basic Instinct, Falling Down, Disclosure, The Game, A Perfect Murder, Wonder Boys, Traffic and You, Me and Dupree. He reprised his Gordon Gekko character in Oliver Stone's 2010 Wall Street sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Douglas was forced to take a break from acting in 2010 when he underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment for throat cancer. The illness and aggressive treatment caused him to lose more than two stone in weight. In January 2011, he revealed in an interview that the tumour had gone, but he needs to attend regular screenings as there is a very high likelihood that the cancer could return. He has returned to movie-making however, with a subsequent appearance in Haywire.
Quote: "Actresses have more fear of being disliked. I, on the other hand, revel in it."
Trivia: Douglas shared a flat in New York with Danny DeVito when first starting out.