So, for example, he is clear in the view that it doesn't really matter if his actors don't look exactly like the people they portray. The truth he is trying to capture is something different; something he feels and wants to convey about the essence of the person - though this does not make his work comfortable for an audience who know their royal faces. Of the two boys chosen to play Prince John, the second was an excellent likeness, though he was rather large. It has become one of the commonplaces about Prince John, that he was very big for his age and awkward. I had never questioned it, particularly, until the sight of a boy who can't have been a day under thirteen, and was possibly older, playing the Prince at nine years old made me think. I don't know what the evidence is for Prince John's size (if anyone does, please tell us). My feeling is that the best evidence for anyone's appearance has to be photographs and the photographs of Prince John, even those taken quite late in his life, show him to have been sized in proportion to the rest of his family. He certainly wasn't bigger than Prince George, as he appeared in the drama. But, to be fair, this seems to be an effect that Poliakoff didn't plan. In the published screenplay the elder John is specifically said to be smaller than George. Six hundred young actors were auditioned for these parts: in the end, I suppose, the director has to take the best that he can find and both Johns (and Georges) acted a testing part extremely well. There were some excellent adult performances as well, lead by Miranda Richardson's complex and, I thought, sympathetic portrayal of Queen Mary. Opinions may differ on this. There were moments when I longed to see her smile or relax a little, but Poliakoff was focussing on her reactions at a tense and difficult time in both her personal life and in the world around her.

John in his mother's arms with (l. to r.) George, Mary and Henry

From Stephen Poliakoff's written and recorded comments on the play it is apparent that many of the obvious factual errors - as, for example, including Emperor Franz Josef as one of John's fantasy exiles long after the old man's death - were not mistakes at all. That particular image was meant to be representative only and Franz Josef, with his bushy whiskers and distinctive red and white uniform, was a far more identifiable figure than Karl, whose reign would hardly have scratched the consciousness of most of the audience. The Lost Prince was a very carefully researched piece and, in its author's estimation at least, was faithful to the spirit if not to the letter of history. From a historical point of view the most interesting and valuable part of the drama is the introduction to the published sceenplay in which Poliakoff goes through his work scene by scene explaining and very often quoting his sources. So, for example, Queen Alexandra's lavish birthday party with the unforgettable cake, the multiple tiers separated by bowls of goldfish - and what child could fail to be entranced by that? - was described by Viscount Knutsford, a guest at the Queen's party in 1909 (not 1908, as shown in the drama, but Poliakoff explains his reasons for this as well). Most of the quotes are from secondary sources - and yes, there is even a source reference for the flashback of the Duchess of Teck arriving at her daughter's dancing class and requiring two chairs to support her ample frame, which many of us thought overdone.

But there were also documentary sources behind the drama. Poliakoff was allowed to see Queen Mary's diary and Prince John's letters to his parents, both preserved in the Royal Archives, and this gives his work a degree of authority and sympathy it might otherwise have missed. From this, and from other material that has come to light in recent years, it is becoming possible to build an accurate picture of John's life. Finally, I think, we can lay to rest the old journalist cliché of the poor neglected and brain-damaged child, cruelly shut away by his heartless family for fear lest he should embarrass them. Poliakoff quotes some of John's letters:
Dear Papa,
I'm sending you a box of snowdrops for you which I have picked… these two daisies I have picked out of my garden.

My dear papa,
I'm sending you in a box some lilies out of Wolferton Woods…The garden is very nice here… I am very busy here. Best love from your devoted son, Johnnie.8