Winston Churchill: The Unknown Story 6/6 - Curtain Call

[Music] winston churchill a giant of history famous for his inspiring leadership advanced britannia long live the cause of freedom but behind the legend lies a complicated character people tend to see churchill the icon churchill the bulldog warrior and of course that's not the whole story he was an aristocrat and a man of the people it says a lot for his charisma and his humility that he was accepted and liked a trailblazer who also had questionable beliefs he is an old-school imperialist he calls indian people the dusky nation this is the story of the man behind the myth using rarely seen footage personal photographs and told by those who knew him well when my grandfather was at home everything revolved around him seemed to be a natural way of life this is the real churchill this time we'll discover churchill's final years this great hero kept fighting until the very end churchill's reckless behavior in old age threatens to jeopardize his place in history churchill the british bulldog is looking much more like a playboy [Music] before one of the most elaborate funerals britain has ever seen seals his legacy for generations to come you would have been struck by a sense that you yourself were witnessing history [Music] [Music] it's been 17 years since winston churchill led the country to victory in the second world war [Music] the two-time prime minister and celebrated war hero is seeing out his days in style in monte carlo churchill loved going to monte carlo he loved the glamour of the place he was someone who always enjoyed mixing with the rich and famous and he enjoyed sailing and cruising [Music] he's staying at the hotel de paris with his 19 year old granddaughter celia the hotel de paris was very luxurious 20 steps from the casino and beautiful views overlooking the sea and overlooking the harbour with all the wonderful yachts and it was absolutely amazing [Music] churchill and celia have been in monte carlo for a few days while churchill is frail he's enjoying himself hugely then early one morning churchill falls out of bed the 87 year old lies on the floor unable to move he fears this could be the end [Music] after nearly an hour of agony churchill's discovered he's rushed to the nearest hospital churchill's granddaughter celia and his private secretary anthony montague brown rushed to his bedside anthony said celia you must prepare yourself he's not going to make it and i realized that this was serious at the hospital the doctors discover churchill's broken his hip and needs emergency surgery he was lying in bed looking incredibly frail surrounded by more medical staff than you imagine it could possibly be in the hospital and he sort of ratted enough strength and dismissed them all and turned to anthony and said i want to die in england you'll make sure that happens won't you and he didn't get an instant reply so he said promise me anthony so anthony said i promise but so we went back to the hotel and he said you know celia that's a promise i don't think i'm going to be able to keep to carry out churchill's dying wish his private secretary acts quickly he calls prime minister harold macmillan he's absolutely adamant as his churchill that he should not die in france churchill's reputation churchill's whole claim to greatness is that he was the man who rescued britain during the second world war so for this british hero to die while in a luxury penthouse in a hotel in the south of france this is not appropriate macmillan immediately sends an raf gem to get churchill back to britain alive the next morning accompanied by his granddaughter churchill starts the journey home [Music] i sat next to him and all i could do is to hold his hand and hope and pray that he would make it by the time we got to heathrow he didn't seem to be any better but he caught sight of a little group of airport workers and they were absolutely silent and looking distraught and he seemed to get a dose of adrenaline [Music] and he smiled and he gave them a v sign and they clapped and i knew that he was going to be all right i love that churchill flash the v for victory sign as he was on a stretcher and i think that really dramatically shows his awareness of his public image by the time he arrives at a central london hospital crowds have gathered to catch a glimpse of the ayling churchill churchill does appear like a rock star in this footage huge crowds gathering around him as he's wheeled out waiting to get a view of their hero i think it brings home to the extent that he was an international celebrity in this period in plaster from thigh to ankle and strapped onto a stretcher the old warrior was gently lifted out we all joined lady churchill and his family in praying for a complete recovery [Music] 55 days later churchill is carried out of the hospital to rounds of applause when has there been a man to compare with winston churchill and what a crush there was to be among the first to see him because the cigar and the v sign that comes trademarks you know everyone imagines that he was constantly smoking a cigar but the fact is that the cigar was lit as he went out of the house he knew he must keep the public happy and give them a cigar and a v-side [Music] less than a year later churchill is recovered and on his way back to monte carlo churchill the british bulldog you'd have expected him to spend his time watching cricket drinking warm beer very english things but he can't wait to get out of england and live the life of a sort of luxurious lizard in the south france the journey there is a performance he didn't travel light he took a huge quantities of luggage we'd arrive at nice airport we'd go with a motorcycle escort from nice to monte carlo and then we'd go to the hotel de paris where we would arrive and that's where we'd be staying my grandfather he'd have the whole suite on the top floor which was very nice once he's checked in to his usual penthouse suite churchill can indulge in one of his lifelong passions gambling [Music] gambling and visiting the casinos gave him very genuine enjoyment even when he lost churchill having this love of luxury and gambling this is the side of churchill which we perhaps gloss over but it's a very important part of his character churchill needed an adrenaline rush in his life he likes taking risks that's one of the things that you can argue makes him such an effective war leader but in peace time it means that he needs to fulfill that need in other ways and gambling is something that gives him that churchill's wife clementine doesn't like him gambling he could lose money and he would promise them to do it again and then he would do it again so churchill tries to indulge in his favorite pastime discreetly he could go down through a door in the lobby and down into a secret passage which led him under the square and up into the casino so no one knew where he'd gone but his celebrity follows churchill wherever he goes when churchill goes to the casinos he is greeted with applause and people treat him as a hero [Music] on one occasion frank sinatra came up and shook his hand and said i've always wanted to do that and my grandfather turned to his private sector he said who the hell is that [Music] having had enough of his fans churchill takes a break with his new best friend millionaire greek shipping magnet aristotle onassis for a nasus churchill is something of a trophy he does tend to collect famous individuals churchill he is the most recognizable man on the planet and so he's looking for retreats and of course aristotle nasus can give churchill the sort of luxury escape that he needs the two men set sail cruising the mediterranean on the christina the mega yacht of aristotle onassis my grandfather loved traveling on the christina he said i'm a man of simple tastes easily satisfied by the best it was an extraordinary luxurious wonderful boat this is a photograph of the 88 year old churchill and onassis when they came ashore on their cruise churchill certainly is entering into the spirit of monte carlo he looks dapper churchill here certainly doesn't look like a white hall warrior he is looking much more like a playboy if he wasn't giving that famous v sign it could be any elderly gentleman in the south of france [Music] churchill's wife clementine isn't happy with his antics in the south of france she's worried about how they might affect his legacy clementine never liked the south of france she thought it was a sunny place for shady people she didn't really like the way that everyone formed over churchill she wanted him to enjoy himself to have great holidays but this was actually rather vulgar it's not consistent with the popular view of churchill as being the man who won the war here is somebody who is completely comfortable and totally self-indulgent [Music] churchill doesn't care if his lifestyle is threatening to tarnish his reputation he thinks he's already set his image for generations to come in print churchill was a prolific writer and historian throughout his career and it was by writing history that he sought to control his legacy this is the man who had stood up in the house of commons in the late 1940s and said that he thought it was best for all parties to leave the past to history especially as he was going to write that history himself in 1953 churchill published the sixth and final volume of his history of the second world war it's no surprise that churchill's history of the second world war places him at the heart of events and in particular dunkirk the moment where the island nation stood alone against nazi tyranny and was roused by his rhetoric so by writing a history he was able to weave the way that the memory of the second world war was constructed in britain churchill's confident that if he dies tomorrow his legacy is sealed so he goes on living his playboy lifestyle but what he does next threatens to destroy everything [Music] [Music] winston churchill is on his way to the houses of parliament he's just got back from his latest jaunt to the french riviera but despite being 88 years old he's still a serving mp it's hard to think how i could possibly have a longer political career he first stood in a by-election in 1899 he achieved the unique feat of switching parties twice he lost seats and had to change constituencies a number of times but in spite of that he ended up as the father of the house of commons the longest serving mp today is a rare visit churchill doesn't attend the house of commons very often anymore to preserve churchill's legacy as britain's great war leader many would prefer he stopped attending the house of commons altogether [Applause] one of the big debates for churchill's inner circle and for the party is how do you persuade someone like winston churchill to stand down and finally retire there was talk about the possibility of him becoming a duke but he is not at all interested in going to the lords he enjoyed being playing mr winston churchill and of course as mr winston churchill he knew that he was already on a plane of celebrity that was far above any member of the house of lords on arrival churchill heads to the bar going to the house of commons that was what he liked doing but he couldn't go to the house of commons unless he remained a member of parliament i can quite understand why he wanted to go there it's like a club turning up to the house of commons only to prop up the bar is damaging churchill's political reputation [Music] and it's costing him votes at the last general election the conservatives won by a landslide but churchill's majority went down for a new generation of voters born in the 1940s people who hadn't lived through the second world war and hadn't seen churchill's performance during the second world war churchill was the last of the victorians this bumbling figure in victorian clothes walking with a stick he had very little relevance to the bright new world of the swinging 60s in this modern world even churchill's own party consider him out of date of course there's lots of respect for him and admiration for his achievement but the conservative party to survive and win elections can't just rely on older voters it has to appeal to this new electorate as well and wheeling out winston churchill isn't going to help them do that churchill is out of step with mainstream opinion on one of the biggest issues of the day the end of the british empire kenya is about to gain its independence for churchill the great imperialist this is a change he just can't get his head around [Music] churchill was a lifelong believer in britain and her empire churchill was desperate to hold on to that vision of britain as a great power he did not want decolonization to jeopardize white supremacy there's a temptation to fall back on the tired narrative that these historical figures are products of their time as if to imply that their racism was more acceptable back then but british attitudes towards colonization were starting to turn churchill was in this sense out of touch with the british public unable to stop the end of his beloved empire churchill becomes increasingly downbeat about his political legacy [Music] he said in 1942 he had not become the king's first minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the british empire nonetheless the empire which he wanted to preserve is clearly on its way out he says on at least one occasion i have achieved everything only to achieve nothing [Music] eventually churchill's wife clementine persuades the 89 year old he must retire [Music] this photo was taken of him as he made his way to the house of commons for the final time it's a really interesting image he is considerably more frail i love the fact that he's still got his navy polka dot bow tie on though that's something he's worn throughout his career it's almost like his sort of political uniform [Music] churchill has served longer than any other mp in the 20th century yet there's no fanfare during his final visit [Music] proceedings went on as usual nobody noticed when churchill entered the chamber he sat down in his usual seat and listened a bit to the debate and then he left the chamber churchill walked past the speaker's chair on his way out of the chamber he turned very awkwardly because he was very stiff and bowed to the speaker and walked on and that was his final goodbye to the hustle commons [Music] out of politics for the first time in 65 years churchill retreats to kent and his much-loved country home chartwell what you see is a gradual withdrawing into himself he's clearly no longer capable of the sustained repartee and conversation that he'd been famous for in the past the things that he takes pleasure from become simpler and simpler to the extent where he enjoys sitting and watching the butterflies in the garden at chartwell it's already been decided that this home of the great man is so important it should be preserved when churchill dies it will be given to the national trust and open to the public of course all of our homes change in terms of decor and use of spaces over time so they have to pick a particular point to represent churchill's wife clementine spots an opportunity she starts thinking about how chartwell could help to shape his legacy clementine orders it to be restored to how it had been in its heyday so it's no longer reconfigured as it was to accommodate an elderly man the grab rails will have to go clementine doesn't want people to remember her husband as a doddering old man i think it's particularly interesting to think about lady churchill curating her husband's legacy it's lady churchill's wish that chart will reflect the golden age of chartwell which in her mind was the late 20s and 1930s in those years in the lead up to the second world war clementine sees herself as one of the key guardians for churchill's legacy and she certainly wasn't afraid to play an active role in shaping that legacy and also removing parts of it that she didn't feel were appropriate [Music] ten years ago she took against a portrait given to churchill by the house of commons on his 80th birthday she had it burned the portrait is a remarkable example of modern art [Music] my grandmother wasn't going to let it see the light of day she thought it was very unflattering she would like him to look as he looked in his finest arm not as he looked as a very old 80 year old with his fly buttons looking as though they were about to come undone it was a very unattractive picture churchill's 90th birthday is approaching fast he and clementine leave chartwell and make their way to their london home to celebrate when he left chartwell in the autumn of 1964 he didn't know that he wouldn't come back again to the home that he loved [Music] but as this extraordinary life comes to a close churchill's fighting spirit will go on to the very end [Music] it's winston churchill's 90th birthday he's celebrating with his family at his london home we were all round the table and it wasn't a very jolly affair he was sitting there and he wasn't really part of the situation he wasn't aware of what was going on he was very very very old those who were around churchill in those final years were incredibly protective and discreet churchill's mental health is something that was not discussed at the time but it is clear that it was declining it would be surprising given his age if there hadn't been signs of dementia [Music] now churchill's finally retired clementine hopes her husband can have a quiet and dignified end at the winston's house in hyde park gate crowds of well-wishers braved the wintry weather during the birthday celebration of the greatest living englishman among the throng are dozens of television cameras and reporters churchill goes to the window to greet the crowds he's wearing one of his velvet one-piece siren suits that he wore during the second world war he's clearly very frail but you can see that even now he still wants to play this role there are huge numbers of crowds plenty of umbrellas showing they're withstanding the elements in order to be there and lady churchill there on hand to help her husband and then she very purposefully closes the window she's prepared to allow the crowd a glimpse of him but no more [Music] for lady churchill winston came first second and third she poured so much of her time and energy into not only supporting her husband but advising and being an absolute rock for him throughout their entire marriage she wants to make sure that his legacy is secured and is keen to do whatever she can to support the continuation of his legacy [Music] less than a month after his 90th birthday churchill has a major stroke and needs round-the-clock care but there's still plenty of life in him patience was a virtue with which he was totally unacquainted there are lots of stories about churchill's refusal to conform with doctor's orders there's no doubt that he was stubborn and that if he wanted to do something then he would make it happen he would still smoke cigars in bed and occasionally set light to the sheets he wasn't an easy patient behind the scenes top secret plans for what should happen when churchill finally dies swing into action these plans codenamed operation hope not were first drawn up over 10 years ago and come from the very top queen elizabeth ii decides that winston churchill will have a state funeral it is at the monarch's discretion it's an incredibly rare event in history only a handful of individuals have ever been given state funerals the queen has known winston churchill all of her life they met first when she was just two years old having witnessed his role as prime minister in the second world war queen elizabeth ii made arrangements that winston churchill should be given a funeral to use her words on a scale befitting his position in history and so from that point onwards the scale of proceedings grew and grew as time went on it was a growing sense that he should at the end of his life have an occasion which could be witnessed by as many people as possible it's very clear that this is going to be an enormous public occasion [Music] when the story gets out the churchill is seriously ill his london home is surrounded by people i arrived at the flat in hyde park gate and it was crowds of journalists and people and it was just jam-packed it becomes a media circus with churchill's doctor lord morin giving updates on his health from the doorstep and there has been a cerebral thrombosis each day the crowds grow larger eventually clementine asks people to move away from the house from a distance the vigil continues as churchill's health dominates the news the headline of that newspaper is very significant this is the story of winston battling death the story gets told as another example of this great hero struggling in adversity he kept fighting until the very end [Music] not everyone is speaking in hushed tones around the dying churches churchill's a symbol of the old order he becomes a target for the satirists private eye is founded in 1963 and they start referring to churchill as the greatest dying englishman the legacy churchill and clementine have worked so hard to shape is under threat after several days churchill is showing no signs of recovery his son-in-law christopher soames arrives to sit at churchill's bedside he turns to psalms and says i am so bored of it all and then slips into a coma churchill's last words i'm so bored with it all it's very surprising really given churchill's concern with his reputation you might have expected that churchill would come up with some witty one-liner but there was nothing like that these words i'm so bored with it all are such a human emotion isn't it [Music] ten days later on the 24th of january 1965 churchill's family are gathered around his bedside he had his marmalade cat curled up by his side it was quite clear what was happening and he was breathing and breathing and then suddenly he took three long breaths and that was it the silence exactly 70 years earlier to the day his father lord randolph churchill passed away [Music] but you've not just got that coincidence there is this incredible fact that for the last 10 years of his life he has been telling people that he's convinced he is going to pass away on the same day that his father did churchill was holding out to die on the same day of his father a man who had such an influence and impact on his life churchill was arguably always trying to prove himself to the memory of his father and i think what you're seeing here may be the last example of that churchillian spirit and will in holding out to die on that day churchill has died but his story isn't over when his long-awaited funeral finally gets underway many hope this historic send-off will unite the nation as never before [Music] it's three days since winston churchill died in central london they're holding a full-scale rehearsal for his state funeral an event it's hoped will define his legacy as the greatest englishman for generations to come the solemnity of the procession is very very carefully choreographed nothing was being left to chance [Music] years of planning have gone into churchill's funeral but some are concerned that all this pageantry could strike the wrong note in 1960s britain you've got to think that at this point you're in the height of the swinging 60s you are in one of the most exciting cities in the world we have the satire boom we have the beatles but churchill's funeral points to an older traditional model of british greatness in the east end there's already a problem after the funeral service churchill's coffin is to be carried down the thames and it's been decided that the cranes of the docklands should lower their jibs out of respect for the great man but the dock workers are refusing to do it we shouldn't assume that everyone admired churchill as a great man because we're usually so preoccupied with the second world war when we talk about churchill we can forget what an incredibly contentious figure he was [Music] eventually the doctors agreed to take part in the funeral for a price three days before churchill's funeral the doors of westminster hall open for the public to pay their respects as churchill lies in state when winston churchill dies he has been the longest serving politician of the 20th century and so it is fitting that the lying in state take place in westminster the scene has been carefully composed the way that it has been laid out is that your eye is drawn completely to the coffin in the middle draped in the union flag beautifully lit by these candles around the edge you would have been struck by a sense that you yourselves were witnessing history the public response is overwhelming over the course of three days three hundred thousand people queue in freezing conditions to pay their respects among them is churchill's former secretary lady williams i remember taking my son to walk past so it gets me very upset i found it too overwhelming you know we all worked for him we lost him deep [Music] even those who have never met churchill are moved people felt that they knew him personally many of them would have heard churchill's voice over the airwaves during world war ii many of them had been in the armed forces or they'd been civilians who might have been subjected to bombing raids this is a kind of elegy for the profound experience of world war ii some of the memories of which may have become rose tinted with time [Music] the day of churchill's funeral arrives at 9 45 big ben tolls the coffin of the man who led britain to victory in the second world war begins its procession [Music] not since the last century has the honor of a state funeral being accorded to a commoner but who more worthy of it than this man who provided us with an image of ourselves as we would wish to be for those who were lining the streets of london on the day of winston churchill state funeral it would have felt almost like they've been transported back in time you're in the height of the swinging 60s and yet for one gray day in january in london it was taken over by this pageantry that seems of an age long gone [Music] over half a million people are lining the streets to watch churchill's funeral procession the crowd was silent and my sister and i were in the same carriage but it was an extraordinary journey the crowds were so close you could see the tears in their eyes and it was terribly moving [Music] along with the mourners there are 36 cameras along the route broadcasting the event live to a global audience of 350 million people britain may have lost its empire but it can still put on a show [Music] churchill's funeral is a spectacular epic event very very carefully designed to be covered by the media and in particular by television every single thing along the way is designed to celebrate his role as a wartime hero we've got the 19 gun salute [Applause] you've got a fly past [Music] you've got thousands of soldiers lining the route cavalry officers and they're plumed helmets and their red capes you've got the guard regiments in their bear skins you've got sailors in blue who are pulling the gun carriages [Applause] churchill's funeral allows britons watching on the streets and at home to feel great again because he connects them with the country's finest hour with britain's empire at an end britain returned to its glory days and its glory days was its victory in the second world war and churchill personified that victory [Music] the funeral procession arrives at saint paul's cathedral for churchill's memorial service st paul's cathedral is a really interesting choice it's arguably more intuitive given his role as politician to have had it at westminster abbey but we know that symbolism played its part in the decision during the blitz saint paul's miraculous survival became a symbol of british endurance so it is perhaps fitting then that this building associated with british wartime resilience should host the funeral of the figurehead of the nation's spirit of resilience at that time [Music] we are assembled here on the occasion of the burial of a great man [Music] during the service despite her grief churchill's widow clementine is the model of composure she summons every ounce of her own strength that she will not show her own emotions that day she's incredibly dignified that's how she wanted it all to be after the service churchill's coffin is taken by barge down the thames to waterloo station [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] having been paid off it's time for the dock workers to play their part as the barge with his coffin in it went down the thames the cranes were made to bow in reverence and it was very moving with that final flourish this extraordinary event designed to seal churchill's place in history is over at the end of her husband's funeral clementine turns to her daughter mary and says it wasn't a funeral it was a triumph [Music] churchill is now the embodiment of britain's victory in the second world war and it is this that will be his legacy that image of churchill leading his country to victory in the second world war is so powerful that it eclipses much that he did before the war [Music] and much that he did afterwards and it makes it hard to pull his whole career good and bad into perspective [Music] at 3 30 churchill's coffin arrives at a small churchyard in bladen oxfordshire for a private burial churchill is buried within sight of his birthplace at blenheim palace also the place where he proposed to clementine [Music] here according to his wishes churchill is interred alongside his father one of the things that had driven churchill all the way through his life was to prove himself to the memory of his father and to prove himself worthy of his lineage it was a very simple service there were a few prayers and the coffin was lured into the grave as the coffin was lowered clementine muttered these words you know i will be with you again and it was a very private and a very tender moment away from the crowds and the cameras churchill the man not the legend is put to rest [Music] [Applause] you