After the death of King George V the British Empire was a ruckus. The war was over leaving Churchill old and weak. An old man was given the responsibility to ready Princess Elizabeth for the crown. And my God, is she is a personality!
The Crown is about Queen Elizabeth. She inherits the crown from her father. She is not very well read or confident but she becomes a Queen nevertheless. In her words, ‘I am aware that I am surrounded by people who feel that they could do the job better, strong people with powerful characters, but for better or worse, the crown has landed on my head’.
And she intends to do her duty.
Claire Foy has ruled as the Queen. She acts amazingly well. She is the right blend of under confidence and authority at appropriate places. There are moments of Matt Smith too. He plays the insecure husband with amazing conviction. There are moments when you love to hate him. Churchill himself is a powerful character, an old man who is losing the trust of the commoners. But what is worse is he doesn’t even care. Apart from the main characters Princess Margaret is someone you will harbor sympathy for. She is an ordinary woman born into a wrong family.
Here are some of my best moments from the series in random order:
- When Churchill visits the dead body of the secretary out of sympathy but decides to turn the moment for his own benefit, addressing the media. It was a perfect Dr Jekyll Mr Hyde moment.
- When King Gorge asks Elizabeth to practice with him for his coronation. It was definitely the most heart touching moment with the little princess that the father had.
- When Elizabeth realizes her insufficient education is making her cower in front of diplomats and she engages in a tiff with her mother, blaming her for it. It is a perfect moment that connects with the audience. Elizabeth is a woman and a queen. She ought to have studied more like everyone else does.
- When Margaret and Peter are forced to end their relationship. It breaks hearts. Dull as he may be, he calls for a meltdown. You feel for him when he breaks down with Margaret’s photograph in hand.
- When Churchill’s portrait is commissioned to an artist who is hell bent on portraying him as the man he truly is. Churchill’s wife burns the portrait in her garden. The particular scene forced you to put her under the suspicion. Prime ministership is a tough job and Churchill was getting old. Did she commission the portrait for Churchill to have a realization and quit he office?
The crown definitely is a series made for the realists. This is not glorifying the history. It is presenting it as it was with raw emotions. The second season releases in December on Netflix.
Unfortunately I do not have any recommendations for books written on the Queen but I do intend to find out and read more about her.