AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, PoolIf you're one of the Brit-loving Americans like me who's seen the miniseries Downton Abbey—it won an Emmy last night—you were probably pretty psyched. And shocked, too. Todd Haynes' Mildred Pierce was the odds-on favorite, but that one turned out to be more about Kate Winslet love, after all.
So, when Downton creator Julian Fellowes—who's made a career out of documenting the upstairs/downstairs lives of the UK rich (Gosford Park)—was standing backstage with his Emmy, I asked him why not go for Kate and William next?
After all, Americans are obsessed with titled Brits, I told Fellowes. So care to take on Buckingham Palace?
Standing in front of his producer and talented cast (including Elizabeth McGovern and Jessica Brown Findlay), the man who also created Gosford with late movie genius Robert Altman, looked at me like I'd just ask if he'd like to give his Emmy back to the TV Academy.
"I think [the Royals] can do well enough without me," he sniffed, adding that he would not be pursing any Windsor family projects about palace intrigue any time soon.
Are you sure?
"No," he said, emphatically, when I pressed.
This is a tragedy, and then some.
Because who else is going to nail what servant-and-royals life is really like inside Buckingham Palace, if not a seasoned pro like Fellowes? I mean, you all have any idea how much gin-soaked snogging goes down with that set?
Clearly, this country—if not the world—is eager for any kind of knowing insight they can get into the Royals, particularly Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge.
If Fellowes isn't going to take this one on, what filmmaker's got the cred to help celebrate this totally gossip-worthy monarchy?
Any ideas?