Poliakoff explores the story of John, his relationship with his family and brother Prince George, the political events going on at the time (such as the fall of the House of Romanov in 1917) and the love and devotion of his nanny, Charlotte Bill (Lalla).

[1][2][3] Episode One In December 1908, young Prince John watches his family attend a birthday party for his grandmother Queen Alexandra, at Sandringham in Norfolk.

Then one day he embarrasses his parents by speaking his mind at a tea party held for Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George.

During the banquet Asquith and Lloyd George are called back to Downing Street to receive the news that is to prove to be the catalyst for the start of World War I.

Against his wishes, Prince George is sent to the Naval College where his rebellious nature leads him to question propaganda about the cruelty of the German armed forces.

Such propaganda, combined with the disastrous conflict on the battlefields of Flanders and France, turns the public's attention to the German ancestry of the British royal family.

The trauma of war is even felt by Johnnie, Lalla and their household, who are forced to live in increased isolation in Wood Farm, on the fringes of the Sandringham estate.

Prince George, determined to maintain contact with Lalla and his brother, arrives to relay the news that the family is to change its name to Windsor, and also that the Tsar of Russia has abdicated and is to be exiled to Britain by the Bolshevik revolutionaries.