Written by contributor Lisa D
“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” said Leo Tolstoy in his Anna Karenina more than a century ago. However, this statement more than fits the newly released season of Netflix’s The Crown, so let’s take a look at the fourth season!
The first episode begins with Thatcher’s interview right before the election, which she won subsequently. The Duke of Edinburgh seems quite sceptical about the fact of two women running the country whereas the Queen has nothing against it, instead supporting Thatcher in her first steps as a Prime Minister. Prince Charles spends time with his friends in Iceland while Lord Mountbatten, better known as Dickie, tries to advise him on the issue of marriage but meets strong rejection. On the same day, Dickie dies during the IRA attack on his boat where he was fishing with his grandsons. Naturally, Charles is grieving because he feels he did not get a chance to say his grand-uncle something he felt was important. At the same time, Philip envies Charles as he was loved and appreciated by Dickie more that Philip himself, although Lord Mountbatten, in essence, replaced the father for the latter.
This is also the episode where the meeting of the century takes place – Prince Charles meets Diana while visiting her sister, Sarah, with 16-year-old future princess dressed up as a nymph, rehearsing A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The majority of sources, including Screenrant, state the scene is entirely made up, nonetheless the Shakespearean theme drives the couple throughout the whole season, making this storyline extremely symbolised. The episode also features bits of princess Anne’s story, her sporting ambitions, and participation in Badminton Horse Trials.
The second episode features Charles and Diana’s charming date as well as Di’s visit to the Queen’s Scottish residence, Balmoral. There, being Miss Spontaneity, she wins the hearts of the whole royal family. At the same time, the newly appointed Prime Minister does not pass the so-called Balmoral Test, causing only laughter at her appearances.
The episode also pays a lot of attention to Margaret Thatcher’s work in the Cabinet and her pretty harsh political strategy. Standing her ground, she claims herself to be both conservative and modern simultaneously. Wishing complete and utter loyalty from the members of her Cabinet, The Iron Lady fires the old ministers and hires the new ones.
In the third episode, viewers encounter the proposal and Diana picking out an engagement ring: the legendary 12-carat blue Ceylon sapphire engagement ring which Diana continued to wear even after the divorce, which then was inherited by Kate Middleton in 2015. Here we also see the famous engagement interview and Diana moving to Buckingham Palace before the wedding. A marvellous scene of Di roller-skating through the wide corridors of the Palace may seem funnily surreal, however, The Crown‘s Instagram account confirmed in its Q&A: “According to two biographers, Diana roller-skated for hours through the corridors of the Palace, listening to her Walkman.”
Diana’s dinner with Camilla Parker-Bowles at a restaurant called “Ménage à Trois” is also a quite ambiguous and even to some extent poetic issue, giving the name of the place translates as “a threesome”. As well, this is the first episode showing Diana’s eating disorder.
Princess Margaret, as always, contradicts her family on the matter of the arranged marriage, stating it will never be a happy union. Obviously, at this point, she references her own experience of romantic issues with Captain Peter Townsend.
It is also worth mentioning that this episode was dedicated to the memory of Karen Smith. One may ask, who is she? Indeed, Karen Smith played a huge role in The Crown production as a location manager. In fact, she was the one who was picking all the picturesque landscapes and locations for the filming. Unfortunately, Karen Smith sadly passed this year, aged 52.
The fourth episode continues with the disaster on 1982 Paris-Dakar Race when Thatcher’s son, Mark, got lost in the desert. Breaking the stereotype of being an unsympathetic and bossy woman, Margaret Thatcher is highly concerned about missing her son, calling him her favourite out of her twins. When she shares her worries with the Queen, such an utterance drives the latter into thinking if there is one child of her four whom she favours the most. At first, Her Majesty rejects the possibility of preferring one child to the other, although later she acknowledges Prince Andrew always to be her favourite. In reality, Elizabeth II never admitted any kind of preference to any of her children. However, as the Telegraph reports, the Queen used to make a lot more time for her second and third sons than for the first two children.
Here we also face the Falkland War and, again, the Prime Minister’s severe politics and its criticism. What was the purpose of it? If it was Thatcher’s ambitions to prove her ultimate leadership, was it worth entering the conflict? Was it necessary to engage in a war of the sort when the country was in such poor state, economically, socially, and politically?
This question continues on into episode five which is completely dedicated to Michael Fagan’s double break-in into the Buckingham Palace. Although the story itself seems relatively lengthy, it perfectly pictures the state of the lower and middle classes in 1980’s Britain as a major side effect of Thatcher’s politics. The episode stands out, concentrating on the character of Fagan and showing the character who does not belong to the upper class or the royal family. Though there always appear the side characters who have no relation to any royalties, royal administration, aristocrats or military (e.g. Churchill’s secretary Venetia Scott in Season 1 Episode 4), Fagan here steps forward, turning from a minor side character into the main one.
Episode six follows the Australian Tour of 1983 during which Charles and Diana experience troubles regarding both their marriage and parenting. They were able to cooperate for the tour to run smoothly. Moreover, at some point, they even manage to re-boost their marriage. Nonetheless, there is almost nothing left of the efforts till the end of the tour as Charles begins to feel downsized and sometimes even humiliated while Diana basks in her glory. The underestimation he once used to go through came back and this time it is even harder for him to handle it.
Diana’s relationship with her mother-in-law deserves a separate mention. After the tour, she decided to visit the Palace to confess to the Queen in her unhappiness and struggles in the marriage. Calling her “Mama” already startles the Queen, not to mention the topic which brought Diana there and the particularly desperate hug she gave her at the end. Making it clear that the whole family knows about her recent affair, the Queen dismisses the daughter-in-law.
The tension rises and episode seven can hardly be called light and refreshing as well. Princess Margaret gets lung surgery, which dreadfully reminds all about the late King George VI. After redefining her life completely, Margaret asks her sister, the Queen, for a duty she could fully dedicate her time to. However, she cannot get any as the 1937 Regency Act lists only six senior royals to deputise for the monarch and since Prince Edward, the youngest of the Queen’s sons, turned 21, Margaret appears to be not only unable to get a new “job” but also thrown out of the line and in need to relinquish her role as Counsellor of State. This news only enhanced her depression and she departed to and island abroad. Worrying about his aunt, Charles persuades her to see a therapist. During one of the therapy sessions, she finds out about a mental disease that follows back to her maternal line – cousins of the Queen Mother, Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, live in a mental institution. Margaret makes her mother acknowledge the unfair behaviour toward her family only in favour of the purity of the bloodline. Coping with loneliness, disregard, and other insecurities, Margaret decides to live her life in private, supporting her family even without having an enormous list of royal responsibilities.
Episode eight brings us back to the British government and raises the question of the Commonwealth’s power. Here, the 48 Commonwealth nations agree on uniting together to impose a number of sanctions on South Africa as a result of their apartheid politics. Though, nothing is an easy agreement if your Prime Minister is Margaret Thatcher. Being a leader of her state, she could not agree on such drastic measures since they would lead to weakening British economy, as well as South African. After a painful struggle, all participants of the Commonwealth signed the document, previously changing the word “sanctions” to “signals”.
Then there’s the scandal in the press that takes place. The Sunday Times printed an article stating the Queen is “dismayed” over Thatcher’s social politics and the state of the country in general, underlining also disappointment in her attitude to the Commonwealth. As the Queen never expresses her political opinion publicly, the article caused a lot of trouble. The Royal press secretary at the time, Michael Shea was responsible for finding a source, a person who spread out faulty information. While Shea was trying to find a real leak, the Queen’s Private Secretary, under the pressure of the members of Parliament, had to report Shea as the contact to resolve the situation. Nobody will ever find out if Shea was the informant. The truth is, though, he was indeed an infamous thriller and non-fiction writer and was publishing constantly since 1971. His last book, A View from the Sidelines, an autobiography, was published in 2003. Fun fact: Shea never wrote a book called Ixion’s Wheel; a Threnody, shown at the beginning of the episode.
Episode nine begins with the 1988 Covent Garden Gala where Diana surprises her husband with a dance for his birthday. The gift brought out a lot of emotion, although mostly negative: Charles resented Diana’s effort to make him happy, which, in turn, once more shows how different those two were. Afterwards, skiing in Switzerland, they fall into an avalanche that takes the life of their mutual friend. Returning to England, they both understand the marriage is bound to fail. Yet, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh try to persuade them to conciliate. In fact, during the whole series, there appears a “duty is foremost” consideration, implying, amongst other things, that royal spouses rarely live faithfully and/or happily but never separate or divorce, otherwise the dignity and the reputation of both the monarchy and the royal family will be ruined. While attempting to mediate the discussion, the Queen constantly hints Prince Phillip with his multiple affairs, referring to the ability to turn a blind eye to adultery for the sake of the crown and the family. Charles prepared a speech in which he would state the unbearableness of this union and insist on a separation. Instead, giving him no chance to speak up, Diana pledges to save the marriage, remaining faithful and breaking all contacts with her lover(s). Such an impudence angers Charles even more and he orders to conduct surveillance on her.
Through the whole season, one can trace Camilla’s relationship with Charles, her attitude to Diana and vice versa. While Charles keeps doting on her, she begs him to stay reasonable and realistic – she will never be anyone but a mistress to him.
The final episode starts with the resignation of Thatcher’s the most loyal and reliable supporter, Sir Geoffrey Howe. The devastated Iron Lady asks the Queen to resolve the Parliament. However, Elizabeth kindly leads her to the thought of stepping back, reminding that both the people and the MPs are against her. Still, Thatcher seems never to consider the “back-knifing” of her steadfast allies more important than the matters of the county’s international or domestic politics. Instead, she takes the issue as merely personal. Margaret Thatcher resigned after 11 years in the office, being rewarded The Order of Merit for changing the country entirely.
Taking her first solo trip, Diana flies to New York on Concord. Like the Australian tour earlier, it was also a great success. Showing her real self, she made a reputation of being the least royal and most people’s princess not only in Britain but all over the world.
The season ends on the Christmas Eve of 1990, when Charles and Diana try to put the question of their separation back on track, though, again unsuccessfully.
“Everyone in this system is a lost, lonely, irrelevant outsider…Apart from the one person…the only person that matters. She is the oxygen we all breathe. The essence of all our duty. Your problem, if I may say, is you seemed to be confused about who that person is.”
There are reasons for both praising and criticising the season. Incredible work from the actors, directors, creators, composers, and costume designers deserves the highest appreciation and the loudest applause. Noting the researchers’ work separately, it is worth mentioning that although the events themselves are somewhat familiar, here is not the question of “what” but of “how”. The attention to detail and their elaboration is great: from the work on each character, their speeches and dialogues, the language, to the style. Yet, the season is extremely disparaged of being too artificial, overly dramatic, almost completely made up in terms of characters’ behaviour in their relationships and far away from reality. Frankly speaking, this is the truth. Diana may seem a totally immature, pathetic whiner; Charles, too egoistic and selfish; Philip, too jealous’ and Thatcher, too self-confident. Needless to say that the royal family itself expressed some discontent of some depictions. However, we do not have to forget that real-life personas will inevitably get a fresh coat of paint. Emma Corrin confirmed these notions in her recent interview to Tamron Hall: “In The Crown we always try and remind everyone what we are – the series, that what we’re in is fictionalised to a great extent. Obviously, it has its roots in reality and in some fact but Peter Morgan’s scripts are works of fiction. We just want to constantly remind people that we approach these people that we play as characters.”
Furthermore, the exceptional sound must be pointed out as well. Each episode has its own vibe which the sound aims to highlight. Whereas the Fagan character is presented during “Boys Don’t Cry” by The Cure playing from the radio, highlighting the culture of the British ’80s, “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” sang by a choir in the last episode emphasises both Christmas mood and Diana’s emotional state, leaving perfect tension for the beginning of the next season of the show. Likewise, the inaudible scenes and dialogue came out quite powerful.
There are more specific comments to make with the first being the age difference between Charles and Diana not shown accurately, although it is directly and continuously emphasised. Though it has nothing to do with the overall characters’ presentation, it might cause a visual dissonance. The same goes for Thatcher’s twins: the actors are not alike even in the slightest, however the matter itself is accentuated. Moreover, the whole season can be divided into two major parts: the story of Charles and Diana, and the story of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister. Although there are other storylines, the viewer would be glad to see more in-depth moments with the other royals. Also, one needs either to have or to obtain some knowledge of history and politics of the time e.g. the causes and the course of the Falkland War or social politics in 80s’ Britain. Besides, some episodes are more loaded, and sometimes even overloaded with event. Last but not least, there is too much attention paid to Diana’s eating disorder, although on the other hand, it might be a perfect way to highlight the immense importance of the problem and the struggles it brings.
The closer for this season was all the information one could find in the sneak peeks all over the internet. Nevertheless, this did not make it less interesting and picturesque. There were definitely many surprising and noteworthy moments which, luckily, had not got into the sight before the show came out: Diana’s dinner with Camilla, Margaret’s surgery and her efforts in seeking mental balance, the appearance of the mentally disabled royal family members, Thatcher’s family issues, and (maybe) the first Prime Minister who cooked for the members of her Cabinet and many more.
All in all, the season as the whole show keeps supporting the statement that being royal is not only the highest privilege but also hard work. It is a duty that one is bound to carry until the very end. However, it is not the duty alone – behind, there is always a family. The family that, like any other family, has its ups and downs, joys and concerns. The only difference is that it has to care about 67 million other people and even the slightest mistake can turn out trouble for the whole country.
