Much as I enjoy The Crown, I have to be honest with myself and accept that I just won’t have time to recap season 2. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have thoughts about it, both good and bad. And they are… Royal Yacht Britannia looks pretty awesome. I can see why the royal family was sad to give it up. It now resides outside … Continue reading Thoughts on The Crown, Season 2
Albert goes all Christmas-crazy, Victoria is gifted an actual child and tries her best to make her feel welcome, Cumberland’s a jerk, and Ernest is sad Continue reading Victoria Christmas Special: Comfort and Joy
Peel decides to pursue repeal of the corn laws, even though it means the end of his political career. Albert & Lehzen clash and put Victoria in the middle. Continue reading Victoria: The Luxury of Conscience
With security high in London, Victoria and Albert escape to Scotland for a little holiday, where everyone gets to let their hair down a bit Continue reading Victoria: The King Over the Water
Why is it that so many biopics of famous queens end essentially the same way? With that queen, having struggled so long with the duty/personal life balance, fully embracing her own iconic image? Setting aside the personal stuff, putting the duty first and foremost, even to her own unhappiness and that of those closest to her, and becoming The Symbol? Watching the end of this last episode of The Crown, I was strongly reminded of the last scenes of Elizabeth.
You know what a biopic about Queen Elizabeth totally needs? An episode that’s almost entirely about Winston Churchill getting his portrait painted.
Seriously.
Elizabeth’s whole story here was relegated to the minutae of racehorse breeding and more Prince Philip being a douchebag fratboy asshole while we spent ages with Churchill, watching him give painting advice to a professional artist (dilletante-splaining?), and then throw a tantrum when he doesn’t like how the painting turns out. Because–OMG!–it actually portrays what he really looks like.
Heavens, people. You have ONE job to do! Why is Elizabeth the only one who really seems to get it?
It’s sister vs sister again. And it’s duty vs family, Philip vs. being a likable human being, and the Queen Mum vs ennui.
We start off with the three women King George left behind, preparing to unveil a statue of him. QM realises she can’t bring herself to do it, because the grief is still too raw for her, so she turns to her daughters. Margaret immediately offers her services, because she likes public speaking, while Elizabeth hates it, and anyway, she was their dad’s favourite. This is clearly a sore spot with Elizabeth, who pulls rank, reminds everyone who the head of the family is, and gives the speech. Her mother barely holds it together, and as soon as it’s over, she rushes into her car for a good cry.
You guys, Elizabeth is kind of awesome here.
It turns out, her loving but perhaps not-so-smart parents didn’t think the future Queen of England needed to know anything beyond table manners, French, and the constitution. As a consequence, Elizabeth was never given anything like a basic education: she knows nothing of maths, literature, science, philosophy–and that’s starting to become a problem. She’s dealing with statesmen, and finding herself embarrassingly in the dark about just about everything. It’s time she did something about that, so after getting cross with mummy, who’s all, ‘Why would a girl need to know maths?’ (the Queen Mum was pretty poorly educated herself and didn’t value education at all. She was very much a woman of her class and time.) Elizabeth hires a tutor.
Previously on The Crown: Elizabeth ascended the throne and started negotiating some tricky waters, both personally and politically. Meanwhile, her sister, Margaret, started secretly seeing Peter Townsend, a divorced man.
We’ve seen Elizabeth the Daughter and Elizabeth the Wife struggling with her role, and now we get Elizabeth the Sister. Because it’s time for Margaret’s life to get a little crappy.
Poor Margaret. She’s so happy for most of this episode! She’s deliriously in love with Peter, and totally looking forward to this trip to Rhodesia she’s bringing him along on. She’s young! She’s pretty! She’s a princess! She has a handsome war hero devoted to her! Who wouldn’t be happy, under those circumstances?
Previously on The Crown: Elizabeth came to the throne, and the changes that came with it made her husband feel very emasculated.
It’s time to get this queen crowned! But first! Complications and religion!
We head back to 1937 to watch a really sweet moment between father and daughter. George wants to practice for his coronation and asks little Elizabeth to pretend to be the Archbishop. During their practice, he explains that the anointing part of the ceremony is the most sacred part, the bit where the monarch becomes something holy and divine. Elizabeth clearly soaks up the lesson. And, when she practices wearing the crown, she’s got her own children there with her. Traditions.
