The Crown
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Sometimes life gets in the way of art.
Yet the heavy themes and imagery of death loom large.
In the meantime, Elizabeth must deal with a more pressing concern: Charless desire to marry Camilla.
Just like Prince Philip is for Elizabeth.
For the first time, the queen is willing to consider his request.
Also, for the first time, Elizabeth wants to grant her permission for the marriage.
Yeah, its bloody awful, but baby steps, right?
Next on the queens agenda is a chat with William and Harry about their fathers wishes.
This is a fantastic scene because it illustrates how little Harrys opinion matters compared to Williams.
Harry,as he did inSpare, voices his desire for Charles and Camilla to just continue living together.
William, knowing he needs to think like a future monarch, decides to be a realist about this.
Its not what he wants, but hes not going to stand in his fathers way, either.
And poor Harry is just iced out.
Charles then gets the call hes been waiting for: the wedding is a go!
Ladies and gentlemen, the queen of England.
And the perfect funeral needs a perfect bagpipe lament.
The music captivates everyone in the palace, with even a throne room cleaner stopping to sing along.
Dammit, the queen is crying and so am I.
And now we take you to the Harry Dresses Like a Nazi portion of the episode.
Yep, like Charles and Camillas wedding, that happened in 2005 too, so its gettingThe Crowntreatment.
(The theme of the party was Colonials and Natives, in case this storyline wasnt cringe enough.)
Just like Harry noted inSpare, William and Kate dont do much to dissuade him from thisabsolutely terrible idea.
However in the episode, Kate is given a weak maybe cover the swastika?
According to the series, Harrys punishment amounted to little more than extra farm chores.
To help the queen with her decision-making, she holds a conversation with herself.
She also says that she wants to write the speech herself.
This sets off alarm bells throughout the family … oh my God, is she stepping down?
Charles is giddy at the thought, although Camilla and William are petrified.
This is true to form:The queen only attended Charles and Camillas church blessing and the reception.
This Elizabeth has materialized to offer a counterpoint to Colmans pro-abdication stance.
As in, Dont you DARE think about stepping down!
Foys Elizabeth then gets down to brass tacks, which is that monarchy comes naturally to you.
Her children and grandchildren, on the other hand, seem to make such a mess of it.
The girl speaks the truth.
Something else Queen Mary told Elizabeth in season one?
Everyone is waiting with bated breath to hear if this will be an abdication speech, too.
Whether it ever was, well never know.
Sure, Charles is disappointed, but Camilla and William are beyond relieved.
Queen Elizabeth II will remain the sovereign until her dying day.
Always the audience surrogate, Philip also speaks some blunt truths here through his irrepressible, unfiltered manner.
One day, the monarchy wont be their problem anymore because theyll be dead.
If the monarchy even lasts that long, that is.
The partys over, Philip observes before leaving Elizabeth to finish her prayers.
When the camera pulls away, the coffin disappears, but Elizabeth has company.
The Crownmay be over, but fear not, royal watchers.
CrownJewels
I love thatThe Crownreferenced Philips specially designed funeralLand Rover.
was a superb throwback to a similarly tense photograph scene from the season-two finale.
