Winston Churchill, a giant of history,
famous for his inspiring leadership.
Advance, 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.
It 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 behaviour in old age
threatens to jeopardise his place in history...
Churchill, the British bulldog, is looking much more like a playboy.
...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.
It's been 17 years since Winston Churchill led the country to victory
in the Second World War.
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.
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. It was absolutely amazing.
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.
HEAVY THUD
The 87-year-old lies on the floor, unable to move.
He fears this could be the end.
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 Browne,
rush to his bedside.
CELIA SANDYS: Anthony said, "Celia, you must prepare yourself.
"He's not going to make it."
And I realised 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
there could possibly be in the hospital.
And he sort of rallied enough strength and dismissed them all,
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."
50 Anthony said, "I promise."
But, as we went back to the hotel, Anthony 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 is 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 jet
to get Churchill back to Britain alive.
The next morning, accompanied by his granddaughter,
Churchill starts the journey home.
I sat next to him and all I could do was 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...
...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 flashed 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 ailing 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 you the extent
that he was an international celebrity in this period.
NEWSREEL: In plaster from thigh to ankle and strapped onto a stretcher,
the old warrior was gently lifted out.
We alljoin Lady Churchill and his family
in praying for a complete recovery.
55 days later, Churchill is carried out of the hospital
to rounds of applause.
NEWSREEL: 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.
It's the cigar and the V-sign that become his trademarks.
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-sign.
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 of France.
The journey there is a performance.
He didn't travel light. He took huge quantities of luggage.
And 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.
Gambling and visiting the casinos gave him very genuine enjoyment,
even when he lost.
Churchill, having this love of luxury and gambling,
this is a 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 peacetime,
it means that he needs to fulfil that need in other ways
and gambling is something that gives him that.
Churchill's wife, Clementine, doesn't like him gambling.
He would lose money and he would promise never to do it again,
and then he would do it again.
So Churchill tries to indulge in his favourite 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.
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 secretary and said,
"Who the hell is that?"
Having had enough of his fans,
Churchill takes a break with his new best friend,
millionaire Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis.
For Onassis, Churchill is something of a trophy.
He does tend to collect famous individuals.
Churchill, he is the most recognisable man on the planet,
and so he's looking for retreats.
And, of course, Aristotle Onassis 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 travelling 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.
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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 fawns 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.
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.
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This is the man whostood up in the House of Commons in the late 19405
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.
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 one 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, 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 any more.
To preserve Churchill's legacy as Britain's great war leader,
many would prefer he stopped attending the House of Commons altogether.
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 plain 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.
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Turning up to the House of Commons only to prop up the bar
is damaging Churchill's political reputation.
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 19405 -
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 '60$.
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.
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He did not want decolonisation to jeopardise 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 colonisation 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.
He'd said in 1942 he'd 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".
Eventually, Churchill's wife, Clementine,
persuades the 89-year-old he must retire.
This photo was taken of him as he made his way
to the House of Commons for the final time.
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Churchill has served longer than any other MP in the 20th century,
yet there's no fanfare during his final visit.
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 House of Commons.
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 opened 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 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 Chartwell will reflect
the golden age of Chartwell,
which in her mind was the late '205 and 19305,
in those years in the lead-up to the Second World War.
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THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE
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.
LAUGHTER
My grandmother wasn't going to let it see the light of day.
She thought it was very unflattering.
She would've liked him to look as he looked in his finest hour,
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 he wouldn't come back again to the home that he loved.
But as this extraordinary life comes to a close,
Churchill's fighting spirit will go on to the very end.
It's Winston Churchill's 90th birthday.
He's celebrating with his family at his London home.
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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.
Now Churchill's finally retired,
Clementine hopes her husband can have a quiet and dignified end.
REPORTER: At Sir 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.
CHEERING
There are huge numbers of crowds there.
Plenty of umbrellas, showing
they were 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.
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.
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.
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There are lots of stories about Churchill's refusal
to conform with doctors' 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 ten 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.
There 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.
When the story gets out that Churchill is seriously ill,
his London home is surrounded by people.
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It becomes a media circus.
With Churchill's doctor, Lord Moran,
giving updates on his health from the doorstep.
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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.
Not everyone is speaking in hushed tones around the dying Churchill.
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 Soames 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",
is 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"
is such a human emotion, isn't it?
Ten days later, on January 24, 1965,
Churchill's family are gathered around his bedside.
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Exactly 70 years earlier, to the day,
his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, passed away.
But you've not just got that coincidence.
There is this incredible fact that for the last ten 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 under way,
many hope this historic send-off
will unite the nation as never before.
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.
Years of planning have gone into Churchill's funeral,
but some are concerned that all this pageantry
could strike the wrong note in 19605 Britain.
You've got to think that at this point,
you're in the height of the swinging '60$.
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 clock 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.
Eventually, the dockers agreed to take part in the funeral -
for a price.
Three days before Churchill's funeral,
the doors of Westminster Hall opened 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 eyes
are 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 yourself were witnessing history.
The public response is overwhelming.
Over the course of three days,
300,000 people queue in freezing conditions
to pay their respects.
Among them is Churchill's former secretary, Lady Williams.
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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 would've been in the Armed Forces, or civilians
who might've 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.
BIG BEN TOLLS
The day of Churchill's funeral arrives.
At 9:45, Big Ben tolls.
BIG BEN TOLLS
The coffin of the man who led Britain to victory
in the Second World War begins its procession.
REPORTER: Not since the last century has the honour 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?
BAND STRIKE UP
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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 tears in their eyes.
And it was terribly moving.
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.
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.
You've got the 19-gun salute.
You've got the fly-past.
You've got thousands of soldiers lining the route.
Cavalry officers in their plumed helmets and their red capes.
You've got the guards regiments in their bearskins,
you've got the sailors in blue who were pulling the gun carriages.
# Zadok the priest
# Ancl Nathan the prophet...#
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.
The funeral procession arrives at St 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 a politician, to have had it at Westminster Abbey,
but we know that symbolism played its part in the decision.
During the Blitz, St 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.
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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.
Having been paid off, it's time for the clock workers to play their part.
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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".
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
and much that he did afterwards.
And it makes it hard to pull his whole career,
good and bad, into perspective.
At 3:30, Churchill's coffin arrives at a small churchyard
in Bladon, Oxfordshire, for a private burial.
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Here, according to his wishes,
Churchill is interred alongside his father.
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It was a very simple service.
There were a few prayers
and the coffin was lowered into the grave.
As the coffin was lowered, Clementine muttered these words,
"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.
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