王冠第一季

作为Netflix的首部“英剧”，担任编剧的Peter Morgan早在2008年就因为操刀相同题材的影片《女王》为大家所知。《王冠》的诞生同样可以追溯到2013年由他编剧的戏剧《女王召见》（The Audience），这部剧展现了伊丽莎白二世在位60年中和历任英国首相们（从丘吉尔到卡梅伦）每周御前报告的场景。没错，这部13年度热剧《女王召见》正是电视剧《王冠》的底本——戏剧导演Stephen Daldry同是电视剧集导演之一，Netflix为此掷下重金，号称网飞史上投资最高剧集，预期把女王自1940年代末继位前夕起的生涯用每季10年的跨度展现给观众。

戏剧《女王召见》

在头一个10年里（从1947年到1956年），伊丽莎白成婚，乔治六世去世，女王继位，伦敦大雾，公主结婚风波，苏联氢弹试爆，女王出访英联邦，丘吉尔卸任……这一连串和英国王室关联的事件中，我们窥见了什么？菲利普亲王时常闹情绪，虽然情有可原但越到后来他看起来越不像一位称职的丈夫，在重压之下他似乎选择了逃避。女王的私人秘书汤米（Tommy Lascelles）包办一切的古板“老父”形象，真的非常讨人厌。龙钟老态的丘吉尔在战后不像是一个英雄，而是个自大的老顽固，在52年应对伦敦大雾时犯了大错，更可气的是，这场危机中“拯救”他的是秘书的意外死亡。至于副手艾登，也就是下一任首相，有野心却无能力，还是个药罐头，虽然在历史上对他的评价确实不高。

本剧讨喜的角色似乎不多，或是为了满足观众对王室的窥视欲，或是为了让剧集更可看，他们个性都很突出，可这样并没有让人感觉更好。最明显的例子是剧中的温莎公爵，温莎王室的亲戚们大半都厌恨他，他是个不负责任的败家子，他的私情让王室权威岌岌可危。更有甚者，老去的温莎公爵开始做起了曾经皇帝的旧梦，对过往地位的怀念让他对如今的王室更加眼红愤恨。——这一切，如果站在“王权”的角度看并无不妥，女王毕竟还是对这位叔叔给予了最低限度的尊重。剧中温莎公爵的形象，实则树立了一个王权荣耀的对立面，似乎想告诉我们，辜负无上荣耀的人最终只会落得丧家犬般的下场。这也很好地说明了，为何与王权关系不大的温莎公爵，在剧中戏份如此之多。

温莎公爵这个角色不仅是被黑，还十分刻意地安排在那里，以显示出“崇高”和“背离崇高”之间悬殊的距离。但在我看来，这反而使他成为《王冠》中的绝对例外。他几乎每次出场都语带讥讽，一提祖国和家庭就是彻骨的阴冷。还在通过电视机观看加冕典礼时嘴炮连连：“你会变魔术时，怎么会希望别人一眼看穿”。通览全剧后，难道他的语句不是最毒辣和戳中要害的吗？同时，他也见缝插针地被安排成为化解两起事件（阻止女王子嗣改姓和争取公主婚事）的关键人物，难道他是一时诋毁王权一时又劝说女王维护王权的跳梁小丑？没有这么简单，谁都知道他并非没有坚定立场，他一再宣示自己的对立，所以他的出场无非是为自己而已。最微妙的是，这位被加以强调的不负责任的公爵，孤立于王权之外的人，居然仍对女王有着强大的说服力！他自称没有国土的王，向另一位王宣教并立下预言。

若从这个角度看，剧中没有其他王室成员敢像他那般地破格做事和说话（唯一敢爱敢恨的玛格丽特公主每在彰显个性时就立即被遏制）——因为那样做会被告知破坏了王权。这让温莎公爵比伊丽莎白二世看起来更像一个人，他是真正从枷锁中挣脱出来的，他的生命更加敞开和充满未知，就算为了钱写写专栏接接采访，又何尝不可呢？

报纸对公主恋情的报道

和“例外”的对比，恰恰让全剧表现女王个人和王权之间张力的意图显得尴尬，编剧想通过想象和史实的结合来丰满她的个性，但实际上王权在这两面之中总是压倒性的。这不是在过程和抵抗中展现出西绪福斯式的生命力量，而是一切尚未开始，就看到了结局，一再预演和服从，其中的挣扎甚至有些假模假样了。英国《独立报》（The Independent）对《王冠》的评论中写道：“简而言之，如果把这部剧集拆开来，本质上只看见在一个房间里，一连串的男人在谈论一个女人应该和不应该做什么，当然在这之前，他们会礼貌地在这位女人面前坐下并提出自己的建议。”这样看来，《王冠》只是在重复上演父权制的把戏（即便温莎公爵也不外如是），尤其是，这次掌权的正是一个女人。女王的角色似乎令人同情，因为在这套系统中越往上走，越失去个人自由——潜在的呼喊是：根本没有人想当国王/女王。但总体上来说，本剧只关心“王冠”，它强调王冠是一种责任，乃至是神圣的责任，它也在叙述这个新生的王是如何一步步让王权压过自身，最终“在其位，谋其职”的——而不是两者之间调和的可能。“王冠”还有效地隔绝了人民的踪影，在本剧为数不多出现民众意见的时刻，我们反而发现人民拥戴“动摇王权”的公主和上校，那么贵族和政客们每天念叨的王权要垮，是谁的王权呢？真是英国人民的吗？本剧暂未给出任何可能的回答。

正如剧中所有冲突都被一股力量所钳制，剧中人物真实可触的灵魂也极其有限——没有任何反思的自我，也看不出什么孤独，只是一直在说：真的很对不起，但那是规矩，我不能碰。在夹缝中填充进的人物个性最终触及到的是真实的王权，在现实中，女王不会也不能对英国议会做出的决定表示异议。但同时，王室并不是受害者，它握有一定的权力。使得本剧在各个层面上都折射出王权在现代的尴尬处境，甚至隐含着更广的价值冲突：曾经那嵌入的，统一的世界和如今这祛魅的，多元的世界。

既然一种荣耀树立起来了、稳固了，它不可避免地描述王权衰微和危机。如果《王冠》的后续剧集还有什么令人期待地方，那就是当60年代之后王室面对更多丑闻和外界攻击时，王室家族会有怎样的反应？还是拭目以待吧。

丘吉尔80大寿演讲和他的肖像画

参考资料：

The Crown writer Peter Morgan: 'I bet the queen would've voted Brexit', via The Guardian

The Audience – review, via The Guardian

The Crown review: Sumptuous but empty, Netflix's latest fails its queen, via The Independentt

剧里出现的帝国王冠真身我没见过，但属于伊丽莎白二世的王冠，我见过另一顶。

前年夏天跑去爱丁堡边缘艺术节，顺便观光了城堡，就见到了。人们排长队进一个旋转上升的小塔楼，楼上放的就是象征苏格兰君主权的宝剑，权杖，和王冠，还有一块看似平凡无奇的加冕石，每件各还能说出几桩野史。几百年了，为了盘这么几件东西，英格兰和苏格兰人民大战不下三百回合。

那个操着销魂的苏格兰口音，穿着苏格兰短裙的男导游也神秘莫测：『现在的英女王同是英格兰和苏格兰的女王，所以这顶王冠，暂时是属于英国皇室的。不过等到下一任君主上位，王冠可要还给苏格兰喽！』

同行的朋友看这东西金光闪闪，简直什么贵镶什么，就酸酸地说：『戴上一时爽，不过脖子也要断了吧？』

爽，都在心里呀！我当时这么想着。

有人造过一个词，叫『技术投胎』，指他人生下来就在一般人花多少力气也到不了的起点。

举个🌰，就好比你很享受谈恋爱时看看电影拉拉手，暂称穷光蛋式的浪漫。突然有一天女朋友告诉你，现在搞对象，流行先给女方浪掷千金，豪宅起送，比如，她就收到过这么N套......这起点太不一样了，值得生气。

说实话，我们这种平凡人，光想着自己没受到的好处了，要怎么理解技术投胎后的烦恼。《The Crown》里出现的哪一个人不是技术投胎的受益者。很多人说欲戴王冠必承其重。知道重，但具体有多重？太抽象了。

那就换一个角度讲讲吧：技术投胎者要吃的苦，你也没吃到呀！张女士的那句话反过来怎么说？你穿不上的华袍也沾不上虱。

我试着厘清一下这部女王养成记里的主要人物的关系。如果这里史实虚构傻傻分不清楚，请不要怪我，毕竟我看的还是一部讲皇室的肥皂剧。

来自宇宙时尚大刊Vogue

伊丽莎白二世倒霉的爸爸，老国王乔治六世，作为次子，本来根本就摊不上当国王的使命。他那位性格软弱的哥哥，伊丽莎白二世的伯父，曾经的爱德华八世，后来的温莎公爵，在二战时面对德国人性格十分软弱，想了一个逃进温柔乡的办法让皇室蒙羞，讨离异、且前夫在世的美国交际花当老婆，在这件事上开了个头。于是这位《国王的演讲》里写的乔治六世，只能结结巴巴上位，又几乎没过上什么好日子，就罹病去世了。他母亲玛丽王太后说，我的一个儿子是被另一个儿子害死的。

温莎公爵和妻子演的是一场被贬谪到法国，有家回不了的苦命鸳鸯戏。皇室说起『那个女人』，也是一副咬牙切齿的样子。为了维持奢靡的生活，两人表面上与皇室维持友好关系，想尽办法领津贴，私下则骂骂咧咧。真爱说了那么多遍，不是为了撒狗粮，而是为了说服自己，没有做错选择。

公爵心里也不是不想当王。这个念想变成了法国家中的阁楼，里面装满了他短暂身为『爱德华八世』时的纪念品，变成了他时常吹响的苏格兰风笛。这个念想，变成了他与庶人同看伊丽莎白二世加冕典礼电视直播时的刻薄吐槽。侄女真正戴上王冠的时刻，直播中断了。别人问他这个『圈内人』，为什么？他说，『因为此刻，她就是神。』

也来自Vogue，这个角选得跟原型好，像，啊

谁要当这个没有实权，又一辈子被约束的神啊？

但这种事，没的选。『神』身边的人，也没的选。

女王小时候帮助过父亲在加冕典礼前演习向教会、议会、人民宣誓。轮到她自己的时候，她问能不能借帝国王冠来练习。

『借？这顶王冠不是你的，又是谁的呢？』

老国王得知自己重病后主要做了两件事，一件是安排女儿访问邦国，另一件就是给女婿安排工作。周围的侍从都虚情假意，只有老国王知道自己时不久矣，特意挑了一个大雾天，带着大家都不看好的女婿去猎鸭子。

史传这位女婿，菲利普亲王，是出了名的喜欢裸睡，剧拍得很仔细，出现了好几个早晨他光屁股被叫醒的场面。这次是老国王亲自出马。在湖上，老国王一句点破：亲王这个职称，才不是你的工作呢。

『She, is the job』。爱她，保护她，没有比这更伟大的爱国了。看到这里有些泪目。

女王的丈夫，就这样变成了一个被闲置的男人。他的孩子不能继承他的名字，要姓温莎，他不能先行于他的妻子，他必须在加冕典礼上向自己的妻子下跪，余生必须留守白金汉宫，他也不能继续自己的海军事业。为了培养点爱好，他跟着玛格丽特公主的姘头学开飞机，几乎提前感受中年危机

女王的妹妹，玛格丽特公主在剧中的性格十分飒爽，爸爸在世时的一句『Lilibet is my pride, but Margaret is my joy』让她恃宠若娇，但并不令人讨厌。22岁的玛格丽特爱上爸爸身边比她年长16岁的侍从，又是离异，前妻在世，人民拥护的姻缘却被英国教会否定。姐姐作为皇室家长不能支持她的自由婚姻，也是一种痛苦。

真美啊这个set，一身衣服也喜欢

还有一条线没有说，丘吉尔，倔强的人民领袖战后服老的一段，人物刻画得特别好，不展开讲了。提示大家注意他和女王口音的神还原，还有很多场景服装的设置，都是这部剧讲究的地方。

至于不仅有王冠还有很多顶帽子的女王本人，还在超长待机呢，也是真敢拍。提供一个小道消息：《王冠》一共会出五季，每季跨度十年。掐指一算也能拍到现在了。

很多人还提到，这部剧是靠钱砸出来的。就凭能让平凡人看到极尽完美中的身不由己，该砸。

我终于跑完了“观看〈Crown〉（《王冠》）”马拉松，到现在它更新到第四季，待播第五季，从乔治六世在位一直到伊丽莎白二世掌权至中年，女王把这条路越走越坚定，家庭中各个成员却迷失各自的迷失。

第一季其实是我最喜欢的一季，它把每个人物的自由和骄傲之间的挣扎讲得太好了。

为了完成婚姻的自主选择，被迫退位的温莎公爵有多爱损女王的继位仪式，就有多舍不得这本属于自己的王权，平衡自由与骄傲的方式，他选择了以无视、嘲讽的姿态对抗向往和遗憾。

这像人世间的任何事，它不仅会停留在王室里，它停留在任何地方，接受每一个选择的另一面，有的时候太难了，道理应是好事不能你一人占全，但落在真实生活时，平复我们的也许是激愤的情绪，是嘲弄的意味，总不会是那条谁都懂的道理。

玛格丽特公主这条线的故事，我看的时候，难过，鼻腔和眼睛都成了被堵塞的通道。玛格丽特公主作为一个基督徒和王室成员，为自己和Peter的婚姻争取了些年，但四面八方的压力、威胁，最终还是将她压死在白金汉宫的森严之中。

她没有办法离开王室带给她的一切，最多她只能做到在内部进行对抗，她无法做任何外部的进攻。接受，看似是一个平和地将往事压于箱底的姿态，但它反噬的力量却极大。玛格丽特公主一生都在寻找有别于规则，最接近自由的情感和人，但她一生都没有得到。

自由当然会生长在被控制的环境中，但如果它冲不破这藩篱，它就一生都是被控制的自由。

也只有第一季对Mother Queen的挣扎做了表达，她想要在海边花100磅买下年久失修的城堡，和城堡主人的交谈中，她抛去头衔的交流最终被白金汉宫对自己的急召打断，城堡主终于知道她是谁的时候，Mother Queen哭着说，你终于想起来了。

这句话里有期待被认出，期待被俯首称臣，也有被认出后，对突然在彼此之间竖起铜墙铁壁的无奈。最平凡的情感和最高的王权它大部分时候肯定是相悖的，我们是人类，所以无法真正生活在哪一个绝对的立场，我们只能生活在这个夹缝中。

Mother Queen在这个夹缝中，玛格丽特公主、温莎公爵、菲利普亲王、查尔斯王储，包括女王自己，他们每一个人都在。

在这四季中，他们每个人都会对王权更坚定，会更冷静，会讲些残酷的道理，但也并不影响他们总有那么几个时刻，是没办法说服自己的。

不仅是他们，我们也一样，没有一条铁律可以说服我们的一生，我们要不然不断被不同的东西说服，要不然不断用同一个理由去辩驳。

话痨预警！爆肝码字！

一、《王冠》的光与影

王冠是一部众生相的剧，也是我想写的女王剧评系列三部曲中格局最大的一部剧，此剧传达的价值取向太多，我能get的也只是我的纯主观角度。它既尊重与还原历史大人物超脱于寻常人的神圣伟岸，又通过多方切入，努力让历史大人物的光环落地，巧妙的进行人性层面的挖掘。

伊丽莎白二世作为这部剧绝对的女主角，却不是绝对的主角。

《王冠》的剧本，编剧首先做到了尊重历史，然后在这个基础上去自主的创作，既让王冠辐射下的众生散发各自的光芒，又让观众看到那些与光芒相伴的阴影。

而正因为如此，才看出仅十集的剧其剧本之功力，它做到了饱满扎实，精雕细琢，人物刻画的多面立体。

光篇

（一）高贵公主的纯粹爱情

在我看来伊丽莎白对菲利普的爱比菲利普对她来的更纯粹。

仅仅是因为他是他，所以她可以不看他的背后的家族是否没落，也不去将他与其他适婚者比较，仅仅因为爱他，所以选择他，嫁给他。

第一集有关菲利普亲王这样一个大众熟知基本不用科普的背景，剧里是选择一笔带过的。但是也有暗示，比如丘吉尔在婚礼高喊菲利普的姐姐嫁给了纳粹。本质上就是个“无家可归的德国佬”，但是这个德国佬也非凡林鸟，历史上的他既美颜盛世又内外兼修。

菲利普的爱情显然是复杂的，作为一出生就在外国流亡的希腊王子，他虽与莉莉贝特的相识相恋的过程如同青梅竹马般美好，也能做到在非洲行面对大象威胁的时候，不顾自己安危去维护伊丽莎白的安全。但当他岳父死时他表现的毫无悲恸，反而与家族一起庆祝“蒙巴顿”姓氏的胜利时，却又无法不让人怀疑是否甜蜜的相爱里也掺着点权衡，毕竟一旦这位失势王子娶了全世界最成功的王室之一的第一顺位继承人，爱情与面包就都有了。

但那又何妨，起码在还是公主的伊丽莎白身上，看到了她对纯粹爱情的追求。

外表端庄温柔的伊丽莎白，内心分明是有着一股韧劲的。这个角色已经通过她对爱情与婚姻力排众议，有主见的态度渐渐在立起来了。

这样的她是很讨喜的，即使是古老君主制的代言人，即使出生于还相对保守的年代，她的婚恋观也是带着前瞻性的现代女性思维的。罗马非一日建成，正是她这些细节处性格上的光芒，才有理由相信她带领的王室能在新旧世界的交替中找到自己的定位。

（二）平凡的父亲与伟大的父王

当看到这一幕我的内心是带着触电一般的感动的。就是这样一段话，写出了一位平凡的父亲与伟大的父王两重形象。编剧功力实在可怕，这位知道自己大限将至的父王，是在用心良苦的把守护女儿的接力棒传给女婿，是在呕心沥血的为自己的继承人铺路搭桥。

她才是你的职责，爱她就是爱国。这句话的重量菲利普可能需要花一辈子去领悟。

剧里的乔治六世，具有一个国王的所有美德，忠孝仁义，爱国爱家。可以想象他半路即位，为了完成自己的使命，扛起王权的大旗，放弃自己之前对生活的所有规划，从没有王材的平庸王子历练为一个真正的国王，是付出了多少艰辛。

他克己自律，为了当好一个国王，他只有听听荤段子来缓解情绪，甚至以疯狂抽雪茄抽烟伤害自己的方式来克服口吃，最终因此罹患肺癌。

对于观众来说，他与女儿相处时俨然是一位循循善诱的平凡的父亲，他说伊丽莎白是他的pride，玛格丽特是他的joy，他的父爱溢于言表。他教导姐妹手足之情大于一切，引导她们树立正确的三观。

但从伊丽莎白的角度，他是位有榜样力量的伟大父王。伊丽莎白成为女王之后，与父王的每一次回忆都是一门帝王课业。

当前国王爱德华八世用那种提起乔治六世就带有的天生优越感说，乔治六世是一位虚弱的兄弟的时候，王室秘书的回怼让人拍手称快。

“先王并不软弱，我可以代表在场所有人表态，他是个英雄。”这是句来自臣下的衷心评价。剧中刻画的乔治六世并不是生而为王，更别谈什么君权神授，他之所以成为了真正的国王，完全是因为他的勇敢与担当，他站出来用言行举止维护了王室尊严。而他的精神，也一直影响着伊丽莎白。

（三）有趣的国父

安东尼这句“温斯顿还觉得自己是国父呢”虽然看似是在评价丘吉尔很自大，但整个第一季通过刻画对丘吉尔的定调，分明是国父无疑了。首相常有，而国父不常有。

因为是他国历史，所以在看《王冠》与《敦刻尔克》之前，我并不是太能想象丘吉尔对那个时代的英国人的影响力的具体程度，看完之后，实际上说他是英国人的精神领袖也不夸大。历经二战的英国，除了国王有力量在战时鼓舞人心，再来就是这位英国国父了吧，或许二者的地位在当时英国民众心里是等量齐观的。

抛掉这位历史名人曾对中国的种种行为，还是该给一句这是位有人格魅力的大人物的中肯评价。就像即使是如希特勒那般政治错误的人，也会有他的过人之处，何况他还不是希特勒。

这位有高度责任感又能力超强的首相，该庆幸年轻的女王遇到了他，这会是一位最棒的伙伴。记得他真诚的说“政党需要我，国家需要我，她需要我。”

他当然不是完美的，他自带着政客的伎俩与狡黠，他看起来太过精明而缺乏善良。然而，这位英国国父的那种充满骄傲的倔强与带有智慧的变通，却又让他鲜活无比。

当雾霾覆盖整个伦敦的时候，犯经验主义错误并醉心于政治博弈的他，终于在那个女秘书因雾霾天出车祸而死之后，如梦初醒，那个崇拜他并且不断敲打他不忘初心的女粉丝死了，他才意识到自己的决策错误。

看着他在短短几分钟内，以深厚的写作才华与出众的演讲实力给出了一份危机公关的最佳案例，从差点被女王逼下野到扭转局势为“危机中的真正领袖”，这种紧急中所展现的机智还是让人内心叹服的。尽管还是脱离不了政客的作秀与心机，但我相信他是出自真心的像爱豆一般为死去的那位女秘书粉丝惋惜。

剧中丘吉尔第二次如梦初醒是因为他的另一位粉丝，一位画家，奉命为他画一幅肖像画。他们甚至成为了莫逆之交。但当他第一次在议会上揭开那幅画的时候，他是强忍着愤怒的。回来后，他更是又羞又恼，因为他心中的自己与画中的自己分明是两个人。他甚至认为这是那位画家对他友情的背叛。

这位画家是真诚的，他毫不留情的拆穿丘吉尔英雄迟暮的事实，并且提醒他认清事实。真爱粉就是这样吧，即使忠言逆耳，也要拒绝阿谀奉承。

丘吉尔就是这样有趣，中国有句古话叫“宰相肚里能撑船”，这位老头虽然恃才傲物倔强到甚至自大的程度，但是作为领导人从善如流的基本素养却从来没有丢过。他终于意识到自己该退位让贤了，衰老的身体不会给国家带来什么益处。

于是他坦然的像自己真心教导过的晚辈一般的女王告别，一直谨遵礼数，即使身体勉强也要站着觐见女王保持臣下的态度的他，第一次不顾礼数，吻上了女王的额头。

他还向亦敌亦友相杀相爱的安东尼告别，纵使有过不愉快，但这都过去了，没有哪位首相是不想为国家鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已的。虽性格不合，但他俩的理想是一致的，他们双方都清楚这点。

在第九集末尾，伴随女王向他的致敬演讲词，那幅他内心无比拒绝的肖像画被烧掉。当他自己能够正视自己的现实，又何须一幅画来提醒呢？肖像画被烧掉冒起了青烟，象征他过往的辉煌也注定成为历史。

剧里还交代了他退任后的生活，这位传奇人物，使我想到了美国人的一位国父，汉密尔顿，正如音乐剧《Hamilton》里唱的：“who lives who dies who tells your story？”

同样送给这位英国国父，千百年后，谁会活着？谁会死亡？谁会将你的故事传唱？

影篇

（四）破灭的童话

王子与公主的故事若是停在婚礼起誓的那一刻，或是停在他们蜜月期，又或是停在他们共同迎接爱情结晶的那一瞬，都会是一个圆满的童话故事。

但在而后漫长的岁月里，王子会逐渐变成一位委屈的，满腔包袱无处施展的王夫，公主则勇敢选择修炼成一位真正的女王。故事的走向也就不可能是童话了。

犹记得众多公众号以这对伉俪为主题写的各类鸡汤与反鸡汤的文章。实际无论是哪种，美好如“女王与守卫”的故事的确是存在，破灭如“花心亲王”的丑闻也无法掩埋。之所以美好与破灭并存，恰恰是因为，他们，乃至他们所代表的王室群体，都不会像民众期待那般成为童话故事的主角。

她与菲利普的故事像是虽以童话开了头，但结局却走向寻常百姓都会经历的入世婚姻。为差异化的观点而争吵，为谁掌握一家之主的位置而闹脾气，为如何摆脱女王与小白脸的扭曲定位而挣扎。

菲利普若真的心甘情愿胸无大志的做一个女王背后的男人，可能女王也不会像迷妹那般爱他了。正如许多媒体撰写的那般“正是因为所有人都仰视她，菲利普对她如普通夫妻的那种平凡的缠绵与纠葛才令她更加珍视与爱护。”

有不足的菲利普却仍旧是一个特别的存在。

但这段爱情，这段婚姻，相对于美好这个词来说终究是幻灭，带着缺憾的。

在中世纪，女王可以有男宠是上流的约定俗成的一个传统，但作为一个伴随着近代革命遍地开花，君主制摇摇欲坠的时代背景登基的特殊女王，即使面对丈夫的出轨，也不能像过去的统治者那样放纵自己内心。

更何况这还是位有着崇高责任感与坚贞爱情观的女王，她必须竭力维持王室的体统与作为妻子的自尊。

第一季对于菲利普的出轨，描述的有些隐晦，大概是出于历史真人还在世吧。

男人与女人有时就是这么不公平，男人情人多的夸张到可以开俱乐部，但有些女的还是会选择睁一只眼闭一只眼，特别是身居高位有顾忌的女的。女方才冒出一个纯洁的匆匆那年的青梅竹马，却足以让男方大醋横飞，女方只能通过真挚的表白来消除隔阂。

王冠光芒映照下的男主角，却依旧带着普通男人可能会有的劣根性。伊丽莎白这番话分明是让菲利普羞愧难当的，一个专一的女人能让一个滥情的男人羞愧，一方面是因为她的美德散发了光芒，另一方面是因为菲利普还爱着伊丽莎白，尽管这份爱带着肉体出轨的阴影，暗淡的不再耀眼。

菲利普大概就是那个验证深情不如久伴的人吧！他的确不够深情，但他也从十几岁陪伴她到八九十岁，并牺牲了年轻时候所有的梦想。虽然这段爱情童话般的打开方式被现实打败，破灭了，但他还是从未背弃过“执子之手，与子偕老”的誓言。

二、哪有什么君权神授，不过是有人勇于为王

（一）神性的加法与人性的减法

想起丘吉尔对伊丽莎白说：“不要让他们看到真实的伊丽莎白，不要让他们看出王冠也是负担，让他 们看着你，但只看到王权不朽。”

想起丘吉尔对玛格丽特说：“王权，他们想看到这个，而不是你。”

王权是神圣的，带着神性，而你作为人的色彩，却再也不再重要。

于是女王的微笑是否发自内心再也不重要，她甚至假笑到脸抽筋到必须注射治疗，手的挥舞可以做到如同机械一般的频率，那个高高在上例行访问的国家统治者，看起来却越来越像一个招财猫，一个吉祥物。

这是因为，王冠，让神性做着加法，而让人性不断的做着减法。

“最神圣的时刻，我们不为什么能观看，因为我们是凡人。”神族有所失，凡人有所得。你看，上帝选的代言人，也并没有比在坐的各位活的更快乐。

或许那一瞬间有人曾羡慕过王冠光芒下的那个女孩，但大多数人也就仅限于那么一瞬，带着猎奇的动机，带着一丝对王权的向往。

接受“我不是一个凡人”这样一个伪命题，分明是一件需要莫大勇气的事。

（二）哪有什么君权神授，不过是有人勇于为王

通过这部剧的展现可以看到，要成为一个女王，绝不是投了个好胎，亦或者玩些君权神授的戏法那么简单。

真的女王，不是承受王冠之重下的傀儡洋娃娃，而是一个不断修炼内心，强大自我的勇者。哪有什么君权神授，不过是有人勇于为王。

这位勇敢的现代女王，跟大多数现代女性一样，除了事业上需要超脱于大多数女强人，去处理逼格很高的国际事务之外，其他时候，与事业型女性一样，她也还需要思考如何兼顾家庭与事业，也会需要面临婚姻与亲情危机，更会为如同寻常百姓家的家长里短头疼，在未来几季，还要面临世纪难题，那就是与儿媳戴安娜的婆媳问题。

而这些，如果没有一颗勇敢的心，没有一个迎难而上的心态，是很难让自己有力量坚持下去的。生而为人，本就不容易，更何况，生而为王。

爱德华八世不勇敢，所以变成了故国难回的前国王，但她勇敢，所以成为了超长待机享誉世界的伊丽莎白二世女王。

其实对一个现代女王来说，认输才是最大的勇敢吧！承认输给王权，在王权面前，“自我”永远是第二位，甚至是不应该存在一样东西。

而这个勇敢在于，为了将胜利拱手让给王权，必须在漫长的女王角色扮演生涯中，静悄悄的以循序渐进的方式，最后甚至毫无余地的亲手埋葬“自我”，魔幻般的给自己营造出不平凡的一生，作为女王的一生。

在倡导个人主义的西方，这是一个十分不易的现象。看臣民高举“放飞自我”的旗帜时，她却必须冷静自持的一边表示欣赏，一边同她的王室家族一起，收起想一起狂欢的羽翼。

而万民窥探，成为历史活样板，更是她输给王权的赔款。

白驹过隙，那个跟朋友们在Party中手舞足蹈的海军夫人伊丽莎白蒙巴顿，随着伊丽莎白的勇于为王之路，也就慢慢变成了泛黄的历史，尽管那个海军夫人，才是伊丽莎白她自己。

这是透过编剧的刻画，我理解的剧中的伊丽莎白。实际上我个人，无论是剧里还是现实，羡慕女王，其实也就只是羡慕她有钱一个理由而已。比起羡慕她，欣赏与尊敬的态度更为贴切。

而这份欣赏与尊敬，就是这部剧编剧对女主角的态度，因为欣赏她尊敬她，所以有关她的所有剧情，都是引导观众往正面的思维去看待她，这才是一个编剧刻画女主角时最该做到的。唯有编剧真正爱惜这个角色，观众才能真正体会到角色的魅力。

从“王冠之主，舍你其谁”到“现在只有伊丽莎白女王”的台词暴击，总是让明明不那么悲壮的剧情，带着些丝丝悲壮感，观众也觉得莫名悲凉，大概是因为谁都不想失去那个真正的自己。

丧王之痛其实只能暂时的铭记于心，丧己之痛，才是一个女王一生都难以忘怀的吧！

原文链接

Series one, episode one: Wolferton Splash

The series opens with King George VI spewing blood into a lavatory pan, to indicate that he is a sick man. Before the opening credits, there is a scene in which the King invests Prince Philip, as Duke of Edinburgh. Prince Philip is described as a Prince of Greece and ‘of’ Denmark. Then the King knights him as he bestows titles on him in the wrong order, and only then gives him the Order of the Garter. There is a scene in which the King uses the ‘C’ word. We are introduced to the Prince Philip character, portrayed throughout the series as a kind of ‘Jack the Lad’, smoking a cigarette on the day before the wedding and treating it all as something of a game.

This episode introduces the various themes. We see tension between the King and Prince Philip, we meet Group Captain Peter Townsend hovering amorously around Princess Margaret, and Princess Elizabeth preparing for her future role, at work with her father.

At the 1947 royal wedding Prince Philip’s mother is depicted in a nun’s habit – in reality she was a civilian then and did not adopt the habit (which she wore at the Coronation) until 1948. But this allows Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) to describe her disparagingly as ‘the hun nun’. But then she calls her daughter ‘Elizabeth’ when it was always ‘Lilibet’. There are scenes in Malta of Princess Elizabeth’s carefree life, though her son, Prince Charles, was not in Malta at that time.

The King has to have an operation, so we see Princess Margaret waiting anxiously with Queen Mary and the King with his doctors. There are gory scenes of the lung being removed and the lung is wrapped up in a copy of The Times (a story gleaned from Hugh Trevor-Roper’s letters). There is a scene where Sir John Weir, the well-known homeopathic doctor, informs the King of the gravity of his illness despite the operation. It is curious that this role was assigned to Weir. In reality he failed to give the King proper advice. He was even mistrusted by the admirable Dr Margery Blackie, the most distinguished of homeopathic doctors, who had little time for him.

In 1948 Dermot Morrah, a respected Times writer, reported privately that the King was in danger of losing his leg: ‘One special source of anxiety is his personal physician – a homeopathic quack with a fascination for women, some of whom planted him on Edward, Prince of Wales, who bequeathed him to his successor as official medical officer. Of course they’ve called in good men as consultants, Cassidy and Learmouth especially, but this old menace is there all the time, and it was he who let the trouble go to this length before sounding the alarm.’

It was as bad in 1951, in which this episode is set. Weir accompanied the King to Balmoral for the summer. The worldly doctor enjoyed himself shooting with Scottish dukes. Only when the local doctor was called in was the gravity of the King’s illness appreciated, resulting in him being whisked down to London to have his lung removed. Following that, those who understood such things realised that the King’s life was likely to be short.

This episode depicts Churchill becoming Prime Minister again (in October 1951), and suggests that neither he nor the King are in good health, the King is forced to wear rouge (which was the case). In reality it is not certain how much the King was told about his state of health. The episode ends with Princess Elizabeth looking at the King’s boxes, and in a sense facing her destiny.

A minor mistake: Princess Elizabeth’s car has the royal coat of arms on it. This is reserved for the monarch. Lady Churchill’s GBE riband at the wedding is too red and too wide.

Series one, episode two: Hyde Park Corner

Episode 1 warned us that the King’s life was in danger. Episode 2 carries him off. It starts with Princess Elizabeth arriving in Kenya on the first leg of the proposed Commonwealth tour she is undertaking on her father’s behalf.

We see the royal limousine arriving at an event and the Royal Standard fluttering on the front of it, the inference here being that Princess Elizabeth has already become Queen, but no, it is the wrong Royal Standard. Princess Elizabeth’s would have had a label of three white points. Soon afterwards a cocky Prince Philip mocks a Kikuyu chieftain for wearing a medal to which he is apparently not entitled, in fact a VC, though this is not explained. This was in February 1952 and yet Prince Philip was wearing a 1953 Coronation medal, which, arguably, might not have mattered, but for the fact that he was chiding someone else for wearing the wrong medal.

As they arrive at Treetops for the fateful night of 5/6 February, the Prince Philip character does a Crocodile Dundee feat in seeing off a bull elephant. In reality there were no elephants there that day or night.

The scenes in which Lord Salisbury is seen plotting to get rid of Churchill have not been well received by the Cecil family due to inaccuracies. He would never have elicited the help of Lord Mountbatten, for example. Anthony Eden did not go to Sandringham to ask the King to exercise his constitutional right to remove the Prime Minister from office on account of his incapacity to run the country properly, least of all in February 1952. Churchill himself is given a fictitious secretary called Venetia Scott, so that she can play a role in Episode 4.

Following the King’s death, we see a gruesome scene in which Princess Margaret visits the body of her father during the embalming process. Churchill did not broadcast in the presence of the entire Cabinet, yet his actual words are as moving to listen to today as they surely were at the time. Tommy Lascelles, the Private Secretary, is invested with a most sinister role. He is given good lines, such as when he passes on the Queen Mother’s offer to Townsend to become her Comptroller at Clarence House: ‘I don’t expect you to accept.’

Minor mistakes: It was not Lascelles who told Churchill of the King’s death, it was Sir Edward Ford; Queen Mary was told by Lady Cynthia Colville, not by a footman; it is unlikely that Princess Elizabeth had just written to her father before hearing of his death; Queen Mary did not come to Sandringham to curtsy to the new Queen (that happened at Marlborough House); there is no evidence that Lascelles caught Princess Margaret and Townsend kissing; contemporary evidence proves that the Queen Mother did not cry hysterically when she heard of the King’s death (she was far too stoical); Martin Charteris did not disappear from royal service immediately after the King’s death (he became part of the team, though no longer the new Queen’s actual Private Secretary). Some of these things are acceptable under the heading of dramatic licence.

Series one, episode three: Windsor

Back we go to 1936, seeing Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret playing just before their uncle, King Edward VIII, broadcasts his Abdication speech. There is no way that Queen Mary would have come into the room to see the King to try to dissuade him from broadcasting. And Mrs Simpson was not hovering in the background as he made that speech. In reality she was in Cannes. In the real abdication speech he was announced as ‘His Royal Highness Prince Edward’ not as Duke of Windsor.

Presently there are many scenes involved with the aftermath of King George VI’s death, the young Queen wearing black and sometimes a black veil, and Tommy Lascelles becoming ever more the dominant figure in the Palace.

Two big issues are explored to show how Prince Philip no longer has any say in the running of his family. There are many scenes of the redecoration of Clarence House, and he wants the family to stay there. He insists that the Queen puts this proposal to Churchill. The other issue is the family name. It is understood that, in real life, the Queen and Prince Philip would have preferred to stay at Clarence House, which was the perfect London home for a young family, not too big, and with a well-sized garden. Buckingham Palace has always served multiple purposes: a series of state rooms, offices for members of the Household, and the King and Queen’s rooms along a long corridor on the Constitution Hill side. It must have been a bit like living in an Edwardian hotel. But Churchill insisted that the monarch must live in the Palace, and so they moved in on 5 May 1952. The Queen Mother moved into Clarence House on 18 May 1953.

The name issue was another genuine cause for Prince Philip to be upset. As seen in this episode, Lord Mountbatten, curiously dressed for dinner in his own home (Broadlands) as an Admiral, boasts, with some justification, that the House of Mountbatten now reigns in Britain. Normally the male who marries a Queen Regnant gives his name to the new house, hence Queen Victoria was the last Queen of the House of Hanover which became Saxe-Coburg when she married Prince Albert in 1840. Prince Ernst August of Hanover was at Mountbatten’s table in 1952 and did not like what he heard. He informed Queen Mary who called for Jock Colville, then Private Secretary to Winston Churchill. The Prime Minister duly informed the Queen that the Royal House must be called the House of Windsor. There is a fictional scene in which the Queen reads out this declaration to the Privy Council.

It is true that Prince Philip was livid about this though, in reality, he wanted it called the House of Edinburgh, rather than Mountbatten, the preferred choice of his ever-manipulative uncle. Harold Macmillan recorded that Prince Philip wrote a well-reasoned memorandum making his case, but the Government would not countenance the Mountbatten name being used. In opposing Prince Philip, ministers such as Macmillan were keen to send ‘a shot across his bows’, to keep the young consort in his place.

The Duke of Windsor comes over for his brother’s funeral, and the series makes much of the newly styled Queen Mother’s hostility to him. The Duke of Windsor also wants various things. There is a lot of bargaining in this episode. The Queen asks Churchill to do her a favour by informing the Cabinet about the Mountbatten name, claiming that she is keeping him in office by agreeing to a delayed Coronation. In fact the Coronation was always planned for June 1953 as it takes a long time to arrange such a ceremony.

Then Churchill asks the Duke of Windsor to help put various points to the Queen – for example to be an intermediary over the other two issues of this episode, the family name and the move to Buckingham Palace. In exchange, the Duke wants to retain the allowance King George VI promised him (which ceased at the King’s death) and again demanded an HRH for the Duchess. There is a curious scene in which three contrasting aspects of love are explored – we see a sequence with the Windsors dancing romantically, the Queen and Prince Philip at the opera (where he takes her hand), and Princess Margaret popping in to Townsend’s office to kiss him with some passion.

The Duke of Windsor then lunches with the Queen, which did not happen in real life, and puts Churchill’s two points to her. Most erroneously, we find the new young Queen turning to the Duke of Windsor for avuncular advice. He is presented as a sage and explains in the almost Shakespearean language the scriptwriters give him why she, as a monarch, must move from Clarence House to Buckingham Palace.

Alex Jennings, the actor, looks incredibly like the Duke of Windsor, but the real life Duke never delivered such Shakespearean oratory. Nor would the real Queen ever have asked for advice from a man so patently incapable of giving it.

The Duke of Windsor had been immensely tiresome ever since the Abdication in 1936, and Tommy Lascelles had seen him off on more than one occasion, most effectively in 1945. The Royal Family felt gravely let down by the Abdication, and Lascelles wrote at one point in the 1940s that any appearance in Britain by the Duke would have a grave effect on the health and peace of mind of George VI. Later on, in real life, the Queen was courteous to her uncle, and various rapprochements were made before he died, but the trouble with the Duke of Windsor was that if he was given an inch, he would take a mile.

In other themes, we see Prince Philip asking Group Captain Townsend to teach him to fly, a theme followed up in the next episode. He did learn at White Waltham, near Maidenhead, but was taught by Flight Lieutenant C.R. Gordon, of Cheltenham. He received his wings from Air Chief Marshal Sir William Dickson, on 4 May 1953, having flown for 90 to 100 hours.

The film-makers also introduce the idea that Prince Philip bullied Prince Charles, which is again addressed in later episodes.

Minor mistakes: Prince Philip was a descendant of the royal houses of Greece and Denmark, but not of Norway. King Haakon of Norway (1872-1957) was a Prince of Denmark who was given the Norwegian throne in 1905.

A recurring mistake throughout the series: All the characters arrive at Buckingham Palace through the ceremonial front gates. Normally they enter via the gate to the right near Constitution Hill.

Series one, episode four: Act of God

This is a curious episode based on the great fog that descended on London between 5 and 9 December 1952. This fog caused some spontaneous burglaries and one murder. London was perfectly used to fog, so it was not treated as a particular emergency until much later when it was estimated that between 4,000 and 12,000 people died – though most of them had breathing problems or were very old. Most of this episode is fictional and did not happen. Obviously the scenes involving Churchill’s fictional secretary, Venetia Scott, were made up. She is killed when hit by a bus, but since there was no public transport, other than trains on the London Underground, due to the fog, this could not have happened.

The film-makers then involve Churchill failing to take action, the question of Clement Attlee, the Leader of the Opposition, potentially turning the situation to political advantage, and Churchill’s decision to visit a hospital during the crisis, but all this is fiction too. Interestingly the fog did not rate a mention in Martin Gilbert’s official biography of Churchill.

The other scenes involve Prince Philip learning to fly and Government annoyance at this. Queen Mary falls ill and takes to her bed, attended by Sir John Weir. The Queen walks through the fog to visit her ailing grandmother to discuss what is expected of her as a monarch.

Series one, episode five: Smoke and Mirrors

There is a flashback to 11 May, with George VI explaining the significance of anointing in the Coronation ceremony, and talking of the weight of the crown, both actual and symbolic. The action then moves forward to 1953, with the Queen trying on the same crown before her Coronation.

Queen Mary falls gravely ill, which brings the Duke of Windsor over. In this series he comes from France, though he actually came with his sister, the Princess Royal, from New York. There are lots of opportunities for him to complain to the Duchess of Windsor about his family, his mother and his treatment. The Queen is warned by the Queen Mother to be wary of the Duke – ‘like mercury, he’ll slip through the tiniest crack.’ During his visit, the Duke is summoned from Marlborough House to Lambeth Palace where he finds the Archbishop of Canterbury, Tommy Lascelles and one other, ranged against him explaining why he should not attend the Coronation and that the Duchess would not be invited. The Duke is furious, but he agrees to put out a statement explaining why he won’t be there.

While he is at Lambeth Palace, a message comes through that Queen Mary has died. In reality the Duke was not at Lambeth Palace. Her funeral is shown (with the Royal Standard on her coffin, not her personal standard).

In real life, the question of the Duke’s possible attendance preoccupied the Archbishop of Canterbury as early as November 1952 and he raised the matter with the Queen at lunch. It was agreed that his presence ‘would create a very difficult situation for everybody, and if had not the wits to see that for himself, then he ought to be told it.’ Churchill took the line that while it was understandable that the Duke would wish to be present at family funerals, it would be completely inappropriate for him to attend the Coronation of one of his successors. Tommy Lascelles wrote to the Duke’s lawyers making it clear that no summons would be forthcoming. A statement was prepared for the Duke to issue to save face, but he must have alarmed the British Government by giving an interview at Cherbourg in which he said he might well be in England at the time of the ceremony. As it happened he and the Duchess stayed in Paris and watched it on television with friends, a scene recreated in this episode. We see the Duke explaining the proceedings in the Abbey, again in Shakespearean phrases, to a group of undistinguished guests. The episode ends with him playing his bagpipes outside the house, with tears in his eyes, presumably to hint that he is regretting all that he discarded.

The other main theme in this episode is the role of Prince Philip in the preparations and also in respect of the part he intends to play in the ceremony. Here he only agrees to chair the Coronation Committee if he has total control and we see him coming out with all sorts of modern ideas for the day, such as inviting Trade Union leaders and businessmen to take part. He is told that some things cannot be changed. There is a row with the Queen and he tells her he refuses to kneel before her to do homage. In the end he is obliged to do so, but he is given credit for insisting the ceremony be televised.

Having written a book on the Coronation and delved into the Archbishop of Canterbury’s papers I can testify that these reveal the Archbishop of Canterbury, pushing Prince Philip out as much as possible. He pronounced: “There must be no association of him in any way with the process & rite of Coronation.” Yet they also show that Prince Philip was quite happy to do fealty after the Archbishop (when he could have been expected to go first) and that he presented a silver gilt wafer box to the Abbey, and a chalice and paten to Lambeth as a form of offering to respect taking his place next to the Queen during the communion.

Unlike other flaky consorts such as Prince Claus of the Netherlands and Prince Henrik of Denmark, Prince Philip was raised within the Royal House of Greece. But for the birth of the future King Constantine in 1940, he would have ended up as King of Greece in 1964, and marriage with Princess Elizabeth would have been out of the question. In real life he adapted quickly to his changed circumstances, but in The Crown, they put him in conflict at every opportunity.

The Coronation scene was a wonderful opportunity to create a scene of great visual magnificence but it fell seriously short in regard to a great number of details. Earl Mountbatten, seated in the front row of the Royal Box (he was not in the front row) appears dressed in ducal robes, and is not wearing his Garter collar. Nor is the supporting actor representing the Queen’s uncle, the Duke of Gloucester. The Marquess of Salisbury carries the Sword of State (which he did at the actual Coronation), but he crowns himself with an Earl’s coronet. The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire (Mistress of the Robes) fails to put on a coronet. The oath was not administered during the anointing but before it. There are a number of peeresses sitting where the Peers sat in reality. Thus this scene is one of the least convincing in the series.

The St Edward’s Crown with which the Queen is crowned was far too big, but this may have been intentional to demonstrate the burden the Queen was assuming.

Series one, episode six: Gelignite

The theme of this episode is the Princess Margaret – Peter Townsend love affair and their attempt to marry in 1953. The opening scene shows the Queen and Prince Philip going to the Coronation Derby, but we then see a newspaper office where an unshaven journalist has picked up what he realises is a huge scoop (hence ‘gelignite’) – Princess Margaret having been observed picking some fluff off the jacket of Group Captain Peter Townsend at the Coronation – he being by then a divorced equerry. Princess Margaret and Townsend are on the point of accompanying the Queen Mother on an official visit to Rhodesia.

The Princess invites the Queen and Prince Philip to dine with her and Townsend and they believe that they have her blessing, but they soon run up against the establishment. Tommy Lascelles invokes the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, which stated that no lineal descendant of George II could marry without the consent of the Sovereign, and so Princess Margaret is asked to wait for two years. The series suggests that the Queen deceived her sister by appearing to support her wish to marry him and then eventually forbidding it. The film-makers imply that the Princess never forgave her sister, a theme which recurs in later episodes. The essence of this episode is more or less correct, but the sequence of events is somewhat muddled. Since there are also a number of contradictory accounts left by Peter Townsend, Tommy Lascelles, and Princess Margaret to her biographer, it is hard to settle on a true version, since that true version depends on which source is trusted.

Lascelles appears at his most severe in this episode, a Satanic and menacing figure. This is an interpretation that might well have resonated with the real life Princess Margaret, not to mention the real life Peter Townsend.

There is no doubt that Princess Margaret fell in love with the Group Captain. He was the trusted equerry of the father she adored and a Battle of Britain hero. He was rather a gentle figure. However, as Lascelles made clear to him in no uncertain terms, he had been placed in a position of trust and responsibility. He was a married man with two sons and he was considerably older than the Princess. The real Lascelles said of him: ‘He has Theudas trouble’, a reference to the Acts of the Apostles: ‘For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody.’ Churchill made it clear that the Queen could not sanction the marriage. So Townsend was sent away to Brussels, where he stayed for two years. By the time he returned in 1955, when the British public were agog to know whether the marriage would take place, the path of love had completely run its course. This is the main theme of Episode 10.

Minor mistakes: The costume department gave Townsend his CVO, but failed to give the actor playing Lascelles any medals or Orders (by 1953 he was entitled to a GCVO, CMG, MC and various other medals); in Rhodesia, there was a Governor-type figure in a Guards tunic with a GCB, but only bar ribbons for medals. At one point we see the telephone switchboard, which includes Highgrove House. This is the house that the Duchy of Cornwall bought for Prince Charles in 1980, so it would not have been on the switchboard in the 1950s.

Series one, episode seven: Scientia Potentia Est

It is 1940 and the Princesses are with their French governess. Princess Elizabeth goes to Eton College to be instructed by the Provost, Sir Henry Marten (not Vice-Provost as stated in the series). This leads to the Queen wishing to be better educated – knowledge is power - and as the story moves on into 1953, one of the themes is that she wants a tutor to help expand her general knowledge. Martin Charteris such a figure called Professor Hodge, but he is a completely fictitious character. The Queen did not seek a tutor to help her and nor would she ever have taken advice over constitutional matters from a figure outside the Palace system.

Retirement, or rather non-retirement, is in the air. Churchill is getting old and rather desperate, but refusing to go. The Anthony Eden character is ill in Boston, rather luridly so, taking injections, the implication being that he was almost a drug addict (a theme which gets worse in subsequent episodes). Then Churchill has two strokes. Evidently the Queen is not informed and so the fictitious Hodge urges her to summon Churchill and Lord Salisbury to tick them off like recalcitrant schoolboys. The Crown plays out the two wiggings. Symbolically this is to demonstrate that the Queen is getting on top of her role as an assured constitutional monarch.

Tommy Lascelles is also about to retire. In this series, the Queen wants her former Private Secretary, Martin Charteris, to take over and even offers him the job. He and his wife (Gay in real life, but here carelessly called Mary - the name of his daughter), go to look at the Private Secretary’s new home at St James’s Palace and have a tree trimmed outside it. They even say the house will be good for ‘the girls’. (In real life they had the one daughter and two sons). Michael Adeane hears about this, is aggrieved, and complains to Lascelles, who engineers that he does succeed him and not Charteris. Once again Lascelles proves himself more dominant and the Queen’s private wishes are set aside.

This is inaccurate. It is traditional that the monarch’s serving Private Secretary stays on for a few months at the beginning of a new reign to help with the transition as did Lascelles until after the Coronation, retiring at the age of sixty-six on the last day of 1953. Michael Adeane and Martin Charteris were working as a team (along with Edward Ford, who is not portrayed in the series). Michael Adeane was always the natural successor, and there was no fuss. He took over.

In this episode, the film-makers have put a 1972 story into a 1953 context, presumably so that they could use the Lascelles figure. There was a fuss over Adeane’s successor when he retired. At that time Charteris was the natural successor but Lord Cobbold, a former Governor of the Bank of England, wanted to sweep away the Guards officer Old Etonian types who held sway in the Palace and replace them with more meritocratic types. He tried to reject Charteris in favour of Philip Moore. But Charteris went to see the Queen and asked to take over. She immediately agreed, and he proved to be an inspired Private Secretary, who succeeded perhaps better than any other Private Secretary in presenting her to the world as she really is. He served until 1977.

The message that emerges from this episode is that the Queen is conscientious, prepared to do her homework and research, with a knack for discovering the truth when it is kept from her – as, for example, with Churchill’s two strokes (though Lord Salisbury is unlikely to have been willfully withholding this information from her).

Lascelles is well played in the series, though his older daughter (now 94) has said that his hair parting is wrong and his moustache too big. By curious misfortune, the actor playing Michael Adeane looks more like the real life Martin Charteris.

Series one, episode eight: Pride and Joy

The King used to say of his two daughters: ‘Lilibet is my pride, and Margaret my joy.’ (This is something first published by me in my biography of the Queen Mother and therefore explains the title of this episode). Here there is a complete jumble of the real life facts. The episode starts with a scene where the Queen unveils a statue to King George VI in the Mall. This was in fact unveiled on 6 October 1955. But suddenly plans are being made for the Commonwealth tour of 1953 and 1954, so the story moves back in time.

There is particular discussion about Gibraltar as a place that could be dangerous. This was quite true. There were threats from the Spanish and for a visit of less than two days, there were detectives from Scotland Yard operating under cover there for several months. There are some scenes from the Commonwealth tour demonstrating the Queen’s determination to undertake it all, and the strain this put on her. At one point the press see the Queen and Prince Philip emerging from a house after a row. Rightly, they stress the success of the tour.

The film-makers decided that while the Queen was away on her Commonwealth tour, the country would be run by Princess Margaret, rather than the Queen Mother, enabling them to use her as a modernizer breaking all the rules and introducing a spontaneous and touchy-feely (quasi Diana, Princess of Wales) approach to being Head of State which, not surprisingly, upsets everyone. She rewrites a speech, suiting her wayward personality and introducing more colour into it, and delivers this at an Ambassadors’ reception (curiously British Ambassadors serving overseas, in Washington and Athens, who appear to have flown in for this occasion). She gets the guests laughing. The point they seek to make is that Princess Margaret thinks she would make a better Queen than her sister, more in tune with the changing times. The Charteris figure gets more and more worried as she chats to miners, gives spontaneous interviews to the media in which she mentions her affection for Townsend and takes a dig at the Queen. She gets ticked off by Churchill who begins to detect a crisis arising, akin to the Abdication. When the Queen comes back, Churchill alerts her to Princess Margaret’s behaviour.

None of the above happened and is ultimately tabloid invention. Nor do I subscribe to the idea that there was bitter jealousy between Princess Margaret and the Queen. Princess Margaret always supported her sister.

To achieve this, they blur the dates and have the Queen Mother out of the way, buying Barrogill Castle (later renamed the Castle of Mey) in Scotland, something which actually happened a whole year earlier, in 1952. Lascelles (who would by then have retired) tells the Queen Mother what her duties will be, but she tells him she wants to be away. The episode twists history by suggesting the Queen Mother was prepared to shirk all her responsibilities.

In reality the Queen Mother was very much in London while the Queen was away, not least looking after Prince Charles and Princess Anne, who stayed with her at Royal Lodge most weekends (when she was not away racing) and at Sandringham for a long Christmas holiday. She was the senior Counsellor of State during the Queen’s absence. Counsellors act in tandem and Princess Margaret usually assisted her. But Churchill had the same kind of audiences with the Queen Mother as he would have done with the Queen, but not so regularly. The film also has Princess Margaret being advised by Martin Charteris, when in real life, he was travelling with the Queen and Prince Philip.

As to the Castle of Mey scenes, the Queen Mother did not ride horses after the early 1930s, so to see her cantering along the beaches is somewhat strange. Nor is it likely that the castle’s funny old owner, Captain Imbert-Terry, would not have recognised her. While she stays with the Vyners, she addresses the issues of her early widowhood. As this is meant to be late 1953, and not 1952, this does not convince – even with dramatic licence.

Minor mistakes: At a fitting they dress Prince Philip in the naval uniform which he wore but once – at the Coronation, an outdated uniform with epaulettes; later, he wears a Garter riband and bar medals, which is incorrect. The Caribbean Governor in white is wearing what might be a curious interpretation of a military GBE riband along with a huge GCMG star. When Princess Margaret gives her speech, the guests are wearing Orders, but she is not.

Series one, episode nine: Assassins

In London in 1954 Jean Wallop, a private person still very much alive, arrives in a restaurant to dine with Lord Porchester (later 7th Earl of Carnarvon). He proposes to her. She accepts on one condition – that he does not still hold a torch for ‘her’ – i.e. the Queen. I have it on impeccable authority that the future Lady Carnarvon did not even know that he knew the Queen when she met him. The outcome of this scene is that he tells her that for the Queen there was only ever Prince Philip, and she (his bride to be) is the only one for him. The Porchesters were married in January 1956.

The Crown suggests that Porchester was the man many wanted the Queen to marry, and they hint that she would have been happier with him than with Prince Philip. For the record, the Queen Mother originally wanted Princess Elizabeth to marry a Grenadier Guards officer. The late Duke of Grafton springs to mind. But from very early on, she set her heart on the good looking Prince Philip. Soon after he returned from war, they were engaged. The Queen Mother told Sir Arthur Penn: ‘Won’t the Grenadier Guards be disappointed?’ They were and at first refused to have Prince Philip as their Colonel.

The episode depicts Porchester ringing the Queen late at night, with a certain number of double entendres, his wife-to-be coming through from the bathroom. The Queen’s love of racing is emphasized as is Prince Philip’s boredom with it. This theme is rather dropped as the episode goes on, though in one scene, the Queen and Prince Philip watch a mare being covered, with Lord Porchester observing from afar and with some predictably cheap lines. Afterwards Prince Philip jumps out of the Land Rover in a rage. This is followed by a scene back home with a declaration of love by the Queen for Prince Philip.

Lord Carnarvon was a close adviser to the Queen as her racing manager and she often stayed with him and his wife to visit studs in the Berkshire area. Both she and Prince Philip flew down from Balmoral to attend his funeral in 2001.

The Graham Sutherland story is well told. Sutherland was commissioned to paint Churchill’s portrait to be presented to him in Westminster Hall for his 80th birthday on 30 November 1954. Peter Morgan is on firm ground here as it is within the political domain. Intermingled with this is the theme that Churchill should stand down. There is a fictional scene where Eden visits Churchill at Chartwell and bids him to give way in a histrionic, hysterical way – presaging the recurring theme that he was some kind of junkie. As to the portrait itself, it was revealed after her death in 1977 that Lady Churchill had destroyed it. In 1957 she described Churchill’s reaction to the painting in a letter to Lord Beaverbrook: ‘it wounded him deeply that this brilliant … painter with whom he had made friends while sitting for him should see him as a gross & cruel monster.’

There is a partly fictitious version of the speech he gave in Westminster Hall in which he teases the audience that he is about to retire and that his successor, Anthony Eden, is to hand. It appears that he then promptly resigns and with the brutality of the political system, as he leaves the Palace, Eden’s car draws up. The Queen’s speech at Churchill’s farewell dinner was taken from a private letter from the Queen to Churchill after his resignation and not delivered as such on the night. As we listen to it, we see another scene – Lady Churchill presiding over the burning of the Sutherland portrait.

In reality Churchill did not resign immediately after his 80th birthday in November 1954. He hung on in office until April 1955.

Series one, episode ten: Gloriana

The episode reprises the events of December 1936. Edward VIII agrees to see his brother, the Duke of York, but not the Duchess (there is no evidence for that). Then the new King informs his daughters that their uncle has put love before duty. He tells them never to let each other down thus introducing the theme that there could be tension between them later on.

A Royal Standard is hoisted over Balmoral. It is Princess Margaret’s 25th birthday (21 August 1955) and she declares she still feels the same way about Group Captain Townsend. It seems possible that she can now marry him. But the Queen discusses the Royal Marriages Act with Michael Adeane. He invokes a different version of the situation. He mentions that both Houses of Parliament need to approve and the need to wait for 12 months. Still under the illusion that she is free to marry, Princess Margaret wants to announce it.

Another scene shows Prince Philip teaching Prince Charles to fish so that we realise that he is quite tough on the boy. The Queen Mother voices the opinion that Prince Philip is taking it out on Charles due to the frustrations of his life. The Crown likes to think that the Queen Mother is very thick with Lascelles, in his retirement. She relied on him a bit after the King’s death but Lascelles took a dim view of her philosophy of life, considering it was best summed up in the hymn: ‘the rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate’. But it gives them the idea that Prince Philip was sent by the Queen to open the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia in November 1956 to get him out of the way, to get him away from bullying his son and in the hope, as expressed clearly in this episode, that he would come back ‘changed’. But this all happens in August 1955 and he did not undertake the voyage until October 1956.

The second and final round in the Princess Margaret – Peter Townsend drama is played out. We see headlines speculating as to whether or not she is going to marry the Group Captain.

Apparently Prince Philip is somewhat in league with Princess Margaret over the marriage question. Townsend returns and they run together in a passionate embrace. Then come the problems, the involvement of the Attorney-General, the threat that Lord Salisbury will resign if the marriage takes place, the Queen saying she will support her in any way she can, but then that she would be deprived of money and titles, and have to live abroad for several years as Mrs Peter Townsend. Princess Margaret claims the country is on her side. The invented words of their father about mutual support are repeated by the Queen.

Then it all gets worse, with the Cabinet advising against the marriage, the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Bishops reminding the Queen that she is Defender of the Faith and of the oath made at the Coronation, and finally the Queen seeking advice from the Duke of Windsor in France. He tells her ‘You must protect the kingdom’. And so, in this episode, the Queen’s line is that Princess Margaret cannot marry Townsend and remain part of the family.

In reality, Eden did advise the Queen at Balmoral, but there was no involvement from the Archbishop, and the Duke of Windsor was in no position to pontificate about the role as sister and Queen, and duty to the realm.

The film-makers maintain that Princess Margaret broke off from Townsend because she had been forbidden to marry him. Furthermore, she tells him she will never marry anyone else. And then Townsend makes a public statement, in fact reading much of the written statement that in reality Princess Margaret issued to the press. He then returns to Brussels.

In truth, the decision was a mutual one between Princess Margaret and the Group Captain, largely based on the fact that Lascelles’s separation plan had worked and the love between them had died.

None of the characters are happy at the end of this episode. Princess Margaret is seen depressed at parties, and Peter Townsend sitting forlornly alone in his apartment in Brussels. Prince Philip is angry at being sent away on the long tour.

The situation with Nasser in Egypt is flagged up during this episode, meetings with Eden, more pills being taken and in the end, Anthony Eden slumped in front of burning cine-film of Nasser, having just stuck a needle full of drugs into his arm – followed by an image of the Queen posing in tiara and evening dress, next to the Crown Jewels which have been brought to the Palace for effect. She is shown as an assured and confident young monarch while the ever-frustrated Prince Philip drives off down the Mall in his open care, all alone, looking distinctly fed up.

I should be grateful that it is Cecil Beaton who gets the last word in both this series and Series two, extolling the virtues of monarchy with Shakespearean lines. Nevertheless Claire Foy’s Queen looks ominously sad.