👑 "The Crown" Ends - Part 2

The second half of the lively dialogue on the merits and shortcomings of the British Royals drama.

Jumping back into Part 2 of our conversation on The Crown,

Rebecca Cyr

and I talk more British history, prime ministers and evil Carol.

And yes, spoilers below.

But first, if you need a refresher on where we left off:

Prime Ministers, Bad Romance & Why “The Crown” Used to Be Better

Beth: It really is quite unique that Elizabeth got to hold court with all of these PMs and as a fan of historical fiction, it’s right up my alley. I’m especially drawn to Post WW2 accounts of the 50s and 60s with England rebuilding itself after the devastating effects of the war bombings and the very real threat of Communism in that era. (Case-in-point: Anthony Blunt, the soviet spy turned royal art curator in S3). There’s such a rawness to that time period that runs a nice parallel to Elizabeth’s own journey into the adolescence of her rule. Some of my fondest memories of this show are from the first few seasons where the younger Elizabeth played by Claire Foy and then in middle age, Olivia Colman are having to contend with the political and social challenges of the day. Those castings to me are from the show’s golden period which is probably why I also attribute positive feelings to Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies even if they are playing a rather loathsome character (Philip). 

I loved that the show did a tribute to all of the past Elizabeths in the finale. We got to see the current day Queen portrayed by Imelda Staunton be advised by all her former selves, played by the ghosts of the queen's past from Foy to Colman to Staunton. It was a nice full circle moment. I know we traded some texts on where the show ends (at Charles and Camilla’s wedding) and it felt right. I think it worked out. We got to see the queen still in her prime and owning her agency. It left out adult Harry and his estrangement from the royals and Wills growing into his “Crown” legacy whilst patching up things with “Pa,” but I was happy to be “spare-d” the accounts of Harry’s wedded life as seen on Netflix in Harry & Meghan or the why of his detachment from his royal upbringing as relayed in Spare.

The truth is today’s royals are just less interesting. There, I said it. Maybe it’s a generational thing. I’m not sure, but this whole season, save the Margaret episode 8 (“Ritz”) which I know we both adored, and the one with a lot of Queen and William interactions in episode 9 (“Hope Street”) missed the mark and the allure of its formative years.

Romance takes a back seat on this show. All love/lust matches are infinitely less compelling than the sibling and parent-child or parent-grandchild relationships.

Rebecca: Yes, to me the show was really at its best in the first seasons, but I think this is in huge part because it was chronicling historical details that I either didn’t know about, or wasn’t alive for, or was just interested in revisiting through this lens. The amount of times I would pause the show to Google some detail - remember the episode with the huge factory explosion? That was a really memorable one for me both because of how Elizabeth performed (or underperformed based on the criticism) and because I simply wasn’t aware of its happening. So once you get to the happenings of the last 20 years now you’re in areas that I experienced, and am frankly less interested in revisiting. I read Spare, I saw the doc, I just don’t think there’s new territory to mine there and I’m fully saturated. Enough already!

A moment for Margaret, because as you say, we LOVED that episode - it takes the cake for best episode of this group by a long shot. She’s a character we have loved, we have rooted for, and we have cried with. She was portrayed by a variety of talented actors and she delivered right until the bitter end! I loved the fight in her, even when it came to an illness that was clearly destined to take her out. It was sad to learn that her end was quite painful and drawn out, it seems more fitting for her to have gone out with a bang. It wasn’t lost on me how alone this left Elizabeth too.

That Ending

Ok I’ll address the ending, and then give you the last word here Beth. I did like the idea that they dedicated time to the consideration of death arrangements - it feels very certainly something that would happen and the scene of her viewing the full scale of her funeral (which we now all know was accurate) was quite moving. It’s a surreal moment. The bagpipes scene, though somewhat contrived, definitely had me in tears. I also loved the ending you described with the various versions of Elizabeth. I guess what bugs me is that she lived 17 more years! That’s a lot of life to skip over with a “bla bla bla and then she died”. I would have liked to spend more time with her, feel her loss of Philip, see how she continued to adapt and change. I would have loved to hear her take on Obama and He-who-must-not-be-named. I’m not ready!

I’m all set with the scandal of the grandkids. Give me her memories, give me the choices of a simultaneously powerful and powerless woman. Help me see why the monarchy exists through her eyes, and how she felt about it as she neared death. <sigh>

All good things must come to an end I suppose.

Beth: Your last few sentences really resonate with me and pretty much sum up why I think a continued push to the end of her years would have made for less compelling material. Apart from the Trump commentary (of course) and COVID! But the stuff that interested most viewers, and I’m gonna go out on a limb here to say this based on our focus group of 2, is most likely the fodder of the Queen’s early years. Like you, I devoured every article ever written on the 1966 factory fire in an impoverished area in Wales that I might never have otherwise known about. Similarly, Charles’ decision to go to school in Wales and study the local history was of interest to me. The show was saying something a bit meatier and more meaningful in its early days, especially about the effects of a colonial power and its responsibility to its territories, particularly the Queen’s losing her power in Africa as the countries there became independent. So much good stuff this show brought us throughout that the past 2 seasons felt a bit of a letdown in comparison. But as it is, I’m really betting Peter Morgan gets another Emmy, another Golden Globe here and by the way, a quick Google search and I uncovered that he was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 2016 for his services to drama.

Carol & Kate: The Scheming Sirens & Fitness as Foreplay

Before we sign off here and officially close out the conversation, let’s talk about the Middletons and Kate and Wills’ relationship because this was front and center in the back half of season 6. In the same way you commented that this show “did Diana dirty,” I’m going to call it for how Carol, Kate Middleton’s mother is depicted in this telling of events because it’s downright unflattering. Social climber, schemer, and heartless come to mind and those are the positives. Also to put to rest whether Kate ever met Diana and William at an event when they were both much younger, this did not happen so the whole “Kate became obsessed with William” after meeting him and cutting out magazine pictures of him was a figment of an overzealous imagination.

Rebecca: “The Carol and Kate are scheming sirens” was a storyline that really pushed me over the edge, and again just showed a real distaste for women and their motives that Peter Morgan seems to think are always problematic. I honestly don’t believe a word of it. I mean listen, did they potentially meet Wills & Diana on the street as depicted and geek out over them, I bet they did! {Editorial Note: But they really didn’t!} Given the timing this was an absolutely normal reaction. Did Carol probably entertain fantasies of her child, same age as Will, theoretically being a potential suitor? I bet she did. I bet she even talked about it with a few friends. That kind of chatter that is meaningless and fun. I’m reminded of Monica Padman (of the Armchair Expert pod) talking about how she upped the age of men she was matched with on a dating app so it wouldn’t exclude Brad Pitt. My guess is also that a huge percent of the women matriculating at their university were hoping for a date with Will, I just don’t buy that this was a five years in the making scheme of any sort, and I resent that implication. It’s a gross thing to put in people’s heads! Rather, they were in the same major at a small university, they seemed to enjoy the same fitness hobbies, both are attractive people and they just matched, simple as that!

Beth: Yeah, the sinister machinations of Carol’s mind narrative really seemed a result of “faulty programming” on Morgan’s part. Some things are just coincidental, but even I grew a bit skeptical as more evidence built up on this show which led me to believe that maybe there was a deliberate planning in motion on the part of Carol. For one, I don’t know how common it is for the British elite to take a gap year in Chile. Anyone? Secondly, Kate did tell her mother that she had wanted to go to another school and be in the same class as her friends but her mother insisted on St. Andrews and the gap year which put her and Will in the same year. Either way, it’s history. Kate is now Princess of Wales with 3 kids and an heir and some spares so that’s that, I suppose. 

To the point of Kate and William’s shared interest in fitness hobbies, I never want to see another physically fit young person run along the coast (with or without a bodyguard) or swim in a pool again as part of foreplay or courting in a TV show or film. Let’s just put that out there.

So Rebecca, I think that’s about all the fuel I have for these Brits.

May they live their lives unhindered by too much paparazzi.

May we hear less about their sordid exploits (or maybe not). I mean we got a post out of it.

And let’s find a new British obsession.

Oh wait, we’re already there.  Slow Horses on Apple TV+