The Crown Season 1 to Season 5 Review

A Royal Dressing Down

The Crown has a duty to ensure that the government which is formed in its name is functioning in the nation’s interest. This statement explains the reason why the Sovereign and the PM have private audiences once a week. Although the sovereign is considered a figurehead, he or she has the right to consult and guide the government in circumstances which affect national interests or even overthrow Parliament in extreme circumstances. In The Crown Season 1, when Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne at the mere age of 25, she had a daunting time having to deal with a PM like Winston Churchill who was elected for a second time after winning accolades post World War II. However, being elected at a senior age and not being in the pink of health had its side effects as power hungry ministers were desperate for him to resign. I admired how Queen Elizabeth handled herself in a dignified manner at such a dainty age to ensure she earned her place among such senior ministers despite being a mere figurehead. There were times in her reign which required her intervention because of her direct responsibilities towards national security and at times towards Commonwealth nations. The most riveting episode where she gave Winston Churchill and Lord Bobetty Salisbury her debut “dressing down” was when Churchill suffered from a stroke and lied to her about it. In constitutional education that Elizabeth underwent, the elements of the constitution are defined as the efficient and the dignified with the government representing the efficient and the crown representing the dignified. The government is made to create and fulfill policies and is answerable to the electorate, while the Crown is supposed to provide significance and legitimacy to the government policies by being answerable to God. Therefore, ensuring that both work in tandem is of utmost importance as they need to support and trust one another. Churchill lying about his stroke was a serious breach of trust which made the Queen’s intervention necessary.

Act of God

Another episode which almost led to The Queen’s intervention at the start of her reign was in December 1952 when dense fog hit London city due to anti – cyclone winds which trapped smoke being released from factories. This act of God wreaked havoc over London because visibility was low, and people were breathing poisonous Sulphur Dioxide and having respiratory problems, resulting in thousands of deaths. When Churchill was elected for a 2^nd time, complacency had set in considering the precedence of having won Britain the war. Several episodes in The Crown Season 1 highlight how Churchill spent his time focusing on international affairs compared to domestic issues which created high level grievances within his own political and opposition parties. As a new Queen, Elizabeth constantly found herself at odd’s because she felt the need to do something about it. In 1952, Churchill’s lack of attention to the crisis was brought to her attention from Lord Mountbatten who was Prince Phillip’s godfather and her uncle, making him a close member of the royal family. Eventually, Churchill responded remarkably to the crisis in the nick of time by personally visiting several hospitals when a member of his staff, Venetia Scott passed away as she was hit by a bus that could not see her due to the fog. Churchill was a spectacular orator and was able to use the press to his advantage especially in this crisis thus making him the star of British politics until he chose to step down once he realized that Elizabeth was set in her role thus having duly discharged his responsibility to her father.

The Almost Coup of 1967

In The Crown Season 3, several episodes were dedicated to political turmoil in an ever-changing UK. The British economy under the government of PM Harold Wilson had inherited a deficit of GBP 107 million. The government had to take harsh steps amid ill public sentiment to minimize the deficit and realized that the maximum budget was being allocated to Defense spending at a time when the only war that was being fought was the Cold War. The government found that Lord Mountbatten who was the Chief of Defense Staff was the biggest roadblock as he was not approving the necessary cuts to defense which the PM had promised the public before being elected. They decided to Lord Mountbatten go despite his years of service to the British Defense Force as senior ministers felt he had become obsolete. The news was widely circulated, and the Daily Mirror and Bank of England decided to take advantage of the situation by planning a Coup where they requested Lord Mountbatten to be the head of the puppet government. They stressed the importance of the coup to a dubious Lord Mountbatten who generally supported the Laize Faire attitude of the Royal Family and explained the extraordinary circumstances of taking such extreme actions as they had insider information about how the government planned to strip the Bank of England of their regulatory powers. The main point of appointing Lord Mountbatten as the head was due to the special relationship he shared with the Royal Family and the powers the Royal Family possessed. The Crown has unique constitutional powers to declare a state of emergency by appointing a new PM, dissolving parliament, and activating the armed forces because the monarch is the Commander-in-Chief of the army. This explains why the stagers requested Lord Mountbatten to intervene given that he had just been let go. However, the news got back to the PM and Queen Elizabeth had to give Lord Mountbatten a “dressing down” to stop this catastrophic and unconstitutional Coup. Such were the sensitivities of British politics that took up most of The Queen’s time.

Adapt or Go

The necessity for the monarchy to evolve and deviate from historical teachings were constantly tested throughout Queen Elizabeth’s reign. The incidents which forced these changes were peculiar, nerve wrecking and at times sad especially when it concerned the personal lives of her family. The first incident which prompted the need to change was in 1957. In The Crown Season 2, The Queen made a visit to the Jaguar factory where she made a speech designed by her shrouded courtiers which drew critical responses from the public. The person with the loudest voice turned out to be Lord Altrincham who published his opinion about the speech and the problems with the monarchy in his magazine National and English Review. His writing caused a stir in the country due to the proliferation of television which allowed him to cement his views through a riveting face-to-face interview. The public was harboring ill sentiments towards the government given that Britain had lost control over the Suez Canal at that time. Lord Altrincham’s article about how the monarchy was losing relevance in Britain post World War II created a stir for the right reasons. The article was in quite brutal because it not just called the Queen a priggish schoolgirl but downright criticized her courtiers who wrote the dreaded Jaguar speech but had always been quite loyal to the monarchy, nevertheless. Unfortunately, his comments were true given the monarchy seemed so distant from the public. Further support was garnered after he gave an interview on a controversial show which had high viewership numbers by advising that his intention was to help the monarchy. This resulted in the palace giving him a private audience as The Queen understood that it is best to understand what the public expects from their Queen from them itself. This resulted in several changes being introduced such as televising the Christmas speech which allowed the public to feel more connected to their monarch. It also gave rise to face-to-face meet ups in Buckingham Palace with members of the public, which was unheard of in that era. However, serving the Crown was a duty thrust upon Elizabeth due to her uncle’s abdication of the throne and such public appearances was certainly not her true nature. Witnessing such scenes which are away from the public eye are a true definition of how dutifully she performed her responsibilities.

The Foreigner

The unfortunate life of an outsider being married within the Royal Family is a crippling reality that the family is dealing with even today. The outsiders who chose to marry within the family were subject to many kinds of acrimonious situations until they began to fight for their right or even chose to move out of the inner circle. The wedding of Elizabeth and Phillip went through varied kinds of highs and lows. Phillip who was a Price of Greek and Danish origin had to give up his previous titles because he was marrying the next in line to the throne. He was made Duke of Edinburgh before marrying Elizabeth and had to bow to her at her coronation as he took an oath of allegiance to The Crown at her coronation. He officially became Prince Phillip – Duke of Edinburgh after having fought for his rights being The Queen’s husband.

Battered and Badgered Charles

The current King Charles was not meant to have such an infamous love life. Based on what I watched in The Crown Season 3, I feel his foundation was unfortunately orchestrated by his grand uncle Lord Mountbatten and the Queen Mother. Growing up, Prince Charles has always been a sensitive and an indoor person who was the sacrificial lamb having to do was best for The Crown from childhood. He was sent by Prince Phillip to his alma mater Gordonstoun in Scotland which emphasized on high level physical education to ensure he became physically tough. As a young adult, Prince Charles was majorly into drama as it allowed him to freely express himself in his unique manner but was discouraged from doing so as joining the navy was more prestigious for the Royal family and was pushed into it by Lord Mountbatten. Matters became worse when it came to his heartstrings. Being a future king meant that he needed to marry someone who was not strongly opinionated and physically pure.

The Windsors vs Parker Bowles

Prince Charles’ affair with Camilla Shand was seen as a bit of harmless fun which was not ideal for a Prince given the responsibilities of his role. Most of the Royal inner circle were aware that she had never gotten over Andrew Parker Bowles who was her 1^st love and could not be faithful to anyone else who she decided to date henceforth. The Royal Family was aware of this because Princess Anne had dated Andrew Parker Bowles for a while and was quick to notice a lack of dedication from him considering he was addicted to Camilla. Many times, though there is much more that meets the eye and close observers in the Royal Family did not realize that Charles and Camilla had fallen for one another and despite physical distances understood one another at the back of their hands. Lord Mountbatten and Queen Mother decided to intervene as Charles advised his grand uncle how he had fallen for Camilla. However, he had no idea that Camilla had been seeing Andrew Parker Bowles secretly because he was in the navy at that time and did not spend much time in London. This resulted in an intervention from Lord Mountbatten and Queen Mother where the Shand and Parker Bowles family was gathered and requested to get their children married before Charles could propose to Camilla. The intervention left Charles heartbroken as he was posted to The Caribbean to ensure he moved on.

Practicality Prevails

His decision to marry Lady Diana Spencer who was 10 years younger than him was mostly done because she was an ideal partner as far as Royal Duties were concerned. He was closely guided by Lord Mountbatten before he suddenly passed on, to be practical and marry someone fit for the throne in The Crown Season 4. Diana “The Foreigner” had a difficult life because Charles was constantly in touch with Camilla on an emotional note throughout the time of their courtship. She developed Bulimia shortly after her engagement to Prince Charles because she felt constantly neglected by her fiancé and his family who did not make much of an effort to make her feel wanted in the transition period from their engagement to their marriage. Furthermore, right after their engagement Prince Charles went on a solo tour to Australia and left Diana alone with only Camilla for company who constantly spoke about Charles’ habits and likings which Diana was not aware of. It reflected how seriously Charles took their relationship and how he chose to share intimate aspects of his life with Camilla rather than his fiancé.

The Crown Season 4 – Life after Marriage

Prince Charles had set up his primary residence in Highgrove which was minutes away from the Parker Bowles residence. Highgrove was known to be an offbeat and an outdoor area which Charles believed would also be suitable for Diana as she enjoyed country living. However, she was pregnant with William when they moved in and noticed that Charles spent most of his time at the Parker Bowles which created further distances between them.  Soon after William was born, the crucial tour of Australia and New Zealand came up which was assigned for Charles and Diana to undertake in 1983. Commonwealth tours were generally conducted with only the Royal couple without their children, but Diana refused to let go of William and insisted on taking him on tour. This gave them a chance to work on their differences which they managed to place aside for a little while through a bit of encouragement and appreciation. However sensitive and insecure Charles realized that Diana had become a star on this tour because the Australian public resonated with her as they noticed what a hands-on mother she was. This insecurity made him develop an inferiority complex towards Diana which was a significant reason for the end of this fairy tale union. At the end of that tour, the political mission was well achieved but it signaled that it was time for a change by ensuring that the monarchy behaves like a real institution by dropping formality and a staunch attitude as Australia’s exit from the Commonwealth was stopped in the nick of time clearly due to their love for Lady Diana not Prince Charles.

The Crown Season 5 – End of the Fairy Tale

Princess Diana’s attitude to being approachable and real was the necessity of the future and despite all the trials and tribulations that have engulfed the monarchy, this is the main philosophy that has kept the monarchy going. The Crown Season 5 is rather depressing concerning the Royal divorce and the bitter aftermath on the individuals concerned and their respective family members. It unfortunately presented a sinister and obstinate side of the monarchy where The Queen who was in her 60’s was disheartened by Charles and Diana’s divorce and how she refused to adapt to the vast changes taking place around her by choosing to cling to the principles highlighted by her grandmother when she ascended the throne. The Season began on a depressing note with the decommissioning of the Royal Yacht – Britannia because The Queen was unwilling to charter the vessel to retain it within the fleet. The episode based on Martin Bashir was an eye opener on how the Royal Family was spying on Diana during her separation from Charles. It was one of the major instigators of the divorce and the scandal which ensued.

Conclusion On a closing note, The Crown is an intriguing watch for all fans of the monarchy. It pays special tribute to the events which shaped the Royal Family with such extensive information that one would never recover from other sources. The trials and tribulations Queen Elizabeth II goes through, reflects on the pledge for life that she undertook at her coronation and stayed loyal to throughout her reign. As an ardent fan, I grant this series a 4/5 rating.