On The Spot

Fame can break down barriers. It can transcend culture and race. Death is never the end, so long as there is money to be made. This episode explores famous dynasties who have brought political and social change. The Jacksons broke down racial barriers, but the pressure of success fractured the family. Francis Ford Coppola gambled as a filmmaker, with the payoff having flow-on effects on the whole family. The Kardashians have translated exposure into fame and fortune for the whole family.

Chateau de Fontainebleau began life as a medieval castle in the 12th century before being turned into a renaissance palace in the 1500s. Kings and Emperors of France resided at this grand, country retreat for 750 years. Lying 55 kilometres southeast of Paris. Fontainebleau has stood in the forests of rural France for nearly one thousand years. Among the artwork and frescoes of Italian renaissance painters, sits modern engineering in the form of a 19th century elevator. Part palace, part castle, Fontainebleau and its130 acres gardens are dazzling in so many ways. In his memoirs Napoleon Bonaparte called the imposing structure, 'The true home of Kings.'.

Part one presents Elizabeth's formative years - the importance of family and history and the enormous effect her uncle's abdication had on Elizabeth's future. This experience would see the young Elizabeth develop a level of maturity far beyond her years and come to understand the importance of duty and sacrifice in the life of a modern ruler. This is a story of the young princess, who never would have been queen were it not for several twists of history. The story of the killing of her beloved grandfather George V by his doctors; of her grandmother Queen Mary, who taught her strict tradition and protocol; and of the favourite uncle, King Edward VIII, who abdicated and flirted with fascism. And above all, the story of her mother and father - King George VI's bravery in the face of disability and the future Queen Mother, who sacrificed a close, private, near-normal family life to save the monarchy.