Channel 4 - Edward VIII The Lion King (2013)

The inspiring true story of how England's future King Edward VIII became a conservationist, shooting Africa's wild game with cameras instead of guns. He is known as the king who gave up his throne for love, but now a new and unexpected side of Edward VIII has emerged the pioneering conservationist who fought to save the wildlife of Africa. Film footage — some of it shot by Edward and which has never been seen in public — has been unearthed in the royal archives and shows the then Prince of Wales on his first safari in 1928. When he returned to London he became the first of a long line of royals to become patron of an animal rights charity and made a rousing public speech against large-scale killing. Recently released home movies shot by the controversial Edward VIII reveal the untold story of his extravagant safaris with the real life cast of “Out of Africa” in the late 1920s, complete with adultery, champagne and specially built airstrips. At the height of the Great White Hunter era, Edward turned his back on big game hunting and championed conservation instead. Inspired by his safari guide, Denys Finch-Hatton - played by Robert Redford in the Oscar winning film - he put down his rifle and picked up a movie camera, becoming a wildlife film maker and conservationist and pioneering the photographic safaris we all know today.

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