Belfast-based DoubleBand Films’ new documentary ‘Queen Victoria & the Crippled Kaiser’ - which examines the forgotten history of a disability covered up by the royal family and the long lasting effects of child cruelty - airs this Sunday 17th November on Channel 4.
Directed by Brian Henry Martin and produced by Dermot Lavery, the production investigates the childhood of Kaiser Wilhelm II, future leader of Germany, who suffered greatly as a boy due to medical attempts to ‘cure’ him of a paralysed arm.
Mr Martin told IFTN this week: ‘Kaiser Wilhelm II to me is one of the most interesting characters. He is the man often blamed for World War I. If you look at the propaganda images from the time, he’s portrayed as this monster. But when you dig a bit deeper you discover he was actually Queen Victoria’s favourite grandson; that his mother Vicky married the German Crown Prince; and that Britain and Germany should never have gone to war.’
The documentary questions whether 19th century Victorian attitudes towards disability played a part in souring relations between Wilhelm and his maternal home country of England, or may have been a contributing factor.
‘To be what the royal family deemed to be a ‘cripple’ was frowned upon because they believed that it meant the nation state itself may be crippled in some way. His mother felt that if her baby was somehow damaged it was a reflection on her, as though it was some kind of Divine judgment. Medical science at the time didn’t understand the injury or the fact that the damage was done to the nervous system. They believed that it could be fixed, which his mother and doctors believed must be done at all costs. So they put the child through a whole series of treatments to try and fix something that was unfixable. That had a big impact upon his character,’ Mr Martin continued.
Among the bizarre and inhumane attempts to cure Wilhelm of his disability were regular ‘animal baths’ in which the dead body of a hare was wrapped around his arm - in the belief that its blood would bring life to his limb - and gruesome contraptions into which the young boy was tied and strapped.
‘We’re not saying that this caused WWI, because some kind of European conflict would have happened anyway. But Britain and Germany should never have gone to war. So we explore if this was in some way a contributing factor.’
Along with 2013 being the centenary of WWI, Mr Martin felt that now was an appropriate time to contrast contemporary and Victorian attitudes towards disability.
‘With the Paralympics being such a success in London this year, you can see the huge seismic shift in the public attitude towards disability compared to just a century before,’ he added.
‘Queen Victoria & the Crippled Kaiser’ airs on Channel 4 this Sunday 17th Nov at 8pm as part of its Secret History series.