Royalty •
Annette Crosbie as
Queen Victoria (episodes 1–10) •
Timothy West as Albert Edward ("Bertie"), Prince of Wales, later
King Edward VII (episodes 5–13) •
Helen Ryan as Princess Alexandra, later
Queen Alexandra (episodes 6–13) •
Robert Hardy as
Prince Albert (episodes 1–4) •
Felicity Kendal as Bertie's older sister
Princess Vicky, later Empress Frederick of Germany (episodes 2–5, 8, 10 and 11) •
Michael Byrne as Fritz, later
Frederick III, German Emperor (episodes 2–5, 8) •
Charles Sturridge as Young Bertie (episodes 2–4) •
Simon Gipps-Kent as Younger Bertie (episode 2) •
Deborah Grant as Young Alexandra (episodes 4–5) •
Christopher Neame as Bertie's nephew
Kaiser Wilhelm II (episodes 8 and 10–13) •
Gwyneth Strong as
Minny (young Dagmar) (episodes 4–5) •
Jane Lapotaire as
Empress Marie of Russia (older Dagmar; Dagmar was the sister of Bertie's wife Alexandra and later wife of Tsar Alexander III) (episodes 6–8, 10, 12–13) •
Alison Leggatt as the
Duchess of Kent (episodes 1–3) •
Charles Dance as Bertie's eldest son
Prince Eddy (episodes 8–9) •
Michael Osborne as Bertie's second son Prince George, Duke of York, later
King George V (episodes 8–13) •
Ian Gelder as Bertie's brother
Prince Alfred (episodes 2–6) • Julian Sherrier as
Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (episode 2) •
Chloe Ashcroft as
Eugénie, Empress of the French (episode 2) • Patricia O'Brian as Bertie's younger sister
Princess Helena (episode 2) •
Deborah Makepeace as older Princess Helena (episodes 3–6) •
Shirley Steedman as Bertie's younger sister
Princess Alice (episodes 3–6) •
Judy Loe as
Princess Mary of Teck, later Queen Mary (episodes 9–13) •
Cheryl Campbell as Bertie's youngest sister
Princess Beatrice (episodes 8 and 10) • Anthony Douse as
Christian IX of Denmark (episodes 4, 5 and 12) •
Kathleen Byron as
Princess Christian, later Queen Louise of Denmark (episodes 4–6) • Vanessa Miles as Bertie's eldest daughter
Princess Louise (episode 10) • Madeleine Cannon as Bertie's middle daughter
Princess Toria (episode 10) • Rosalyn Elvin as Bertie's youngest daughter
Princess Maud, Queen Maude of Norway (episode 10) •
Bruce Purchase as
Alexander III of Russia (episodes 6–8) •
Michael Billington as Tsar
Nicholas II of Russia (episodes 10, 12 and 13) • Meriel Brooke as
Tsarina Alexandra (episodes 10 and 13) • Paul Greenhalgh as King
George I of Greece (episodes 5, 8, 10) • Geoffrey Wincott as King
William I of Prussia (episode 6) • Mel Churcher as
Princess Hélène of Orléans (episode 9)
Prime ministers and politicians •
Joseph O'Conor as
Lord Melbourne (episode 1) •
Michael Barrington as Sir
Robert Peel (episode 1) •
John Welsh as the
Duke of Wellington (episode 1) •
Arthur Hewlett as the
Earl of Aberdeen (episode 2) •
André Morell as
Lord Palmerston (episodes 2–5) •
Peter Collingwood as
Lord John Russell (episode 4–5) •
Michael Hordern as
William Ewart Gladstone (episodes 5–6 and 8–10) •
Bryan Coleman as the
Earl of Derby (episode 6) •
John Gielgud as
Benjamin Disraeli (episodes 6–7) •
Derek Fowlds as
Lord Randolph Churchill (episode 7) •
Richard Vernon as
Lord Salisbury (episodes 9–11) •
Edward Hardwicke as
Lord Rosebery (episodes 9–10) •
Lyndon Brook as
A. J. Balfour (episode 10–12) •
Geoffrey Bayldon as Sir
Henry Campbell-Bannerman (episode 12–13) •
Angus MacKay as
Lord Lansdowne (episodes 11 and 12) •
Basil Dignam as
H. H. Asquith (episode 13) •
Geoffrey Beevers as
David Lloyd George (episode 13) •
Christopher Strauli as
Winston Churchill (episode 13)
British Army and Royal Navy •
Harry Andrews as
Colonel Bruce (episodes 2–4) •
Gareth Thomas as Admiral
Lord Charles Beresford (episodes 7 and 9) •
John Normington as Colonel Hon. Oliver Montagu (episodes 7–9) •
Clive Morton as Lieut. Gen.
Owen Williams (episode 9) • James Berwick as Admiral
Sir John Fisher (episodes 12–13)
Edward's mistresses •
Francesca Annis as
Lillie Langtry (episodes 7–8) • Teresa White as
Edith Finch, Countess of Aylesford (episode 8) •
Carolyn Seymour as
Lady Brooke (episodes 9–10) • Sally Home as
Agnes Keyser (episodes 10 and 13) •
Moira Redmond as
Alice Keppel (episodes 10–13)
Others •
Edward de Souza as
Luis de Soveral, Portuguese ambassador (episodes 11–13) •
Patience Collier as
Baroness Lehzen (episode 1) •
Noel Willman as
Baron Stockmar (episodes 1–2) • Peter Carlisle as
James Buchanan (episode 3) •
Kathryn Leigh Scott as
Harriet Lane (episode 3) • Guy Slater as
Lord Carrington (episodes 3–4, 6–8 and 11–12) • Martin Skinner as
Jean-Baptiste Sipido (episode 10) •
Peter Howell as
Francis Knollys (episodes 8–10 and 12–13) •
Brewster Mason as
Otto von Bismarck (episode 8) (Mason later reprised his role as Bismarck in
Disraeli) •
Denis Lill as
Frederick Ponsonby (episodes 11–13) • Barbara Laurenson as
Charlotte Knollys (episodes 9–13) •
Basil Hoskins as
Lord Esher (episodes 11–13) •
William Dysart as
John Brown (episodes 6–8) • Robert Robinson as
Ernest Cassel (episodes 10, 12, 13) •
Adrienne Posta as
Marie Lloyd (episode 10) ==Episodes==