The Crown – 48:1

By: Kelly Kearney

As the leaders of the world denounce South Africa’s Apartheid government, Margaret Thatcher and the Queen publicly feud over the right course of action for Britain’s Commonwealth. Sanctions are on the lips of the monarchy and her Parliament, but Margaret was never a team player and stalls the nation’s response as one of the cruelest displays of modern day slavery continues to flourish. Thatcher, firmly and happily on the wrong side of history where she feels most comfortable, is about to get a taste of the Queen’s power when it comes to the safety of her people.

South Africa

We open in the year 1947 as a younger Queen Elizabeth (Claire Foy) spends her 21^st birthday recording a speech from her tour of South Africa. She is speaking about The Commonwealth and all of its vastly diverse cultures, suffered losses and hardships during the second World War. She goes on to say that in the future she hopes they grow to be grander, freer and richer as she continues her reign as their Queen. As the record needle digs her speech deep into our history’s vinyl, we see a young Margaret Thatcher growing from a young shop keeper’s girl into a graduating woman ready to take the world by storm. What is immediately obvious in 48:1 is that these two women, of similar age and power, could not be more different and that difference is about to spill out on in unprecedented ways.

Back to the present and we see the Queen’s long time Press Secretary, Michael Shea (Nicholas Farrell), typing away. He is finishing up a new book before he starts his workday at the palace. When he arrives he is hounded by questions over Thatcher’s refusal to issue sanctions on South Africa for their Apartheid Government. Michael declines to answer on the account of the fact the Queen is not supposed to comment on anything her PM does or does not do. They are two separate and powerful entities and any opinion of the Queen’s would interfere with job her people elected their PM to do. The current head of state has often found herself smothered in public scrutiny. And while the Queen has never said it publicly, they don’t see eye to eye and that has made their relationship tense. It’s a growing intensity that seems to be gaining ground and pushing them further and further apart. It certainly doesn’t help when Margaret (Gillian Anderson) goes to Parliament and calls the Commonwealth “a waste of time.” She doesn’t understand why The Queen cares about them so much, in particular, South Africa. Financially, they are not worth wasting resources on.

Elizabeth Breaks the Rules

After a speech in South Africa about celebrating diversity and healing the divisions in her Commonwealth, Thatcher and Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) discuss what is to be done with the country’s unwillingness to give up its minority rule. The Queen feels sympathy for the oppressed black people and wants Great Britain to place sanctions on the country until they end Apartheid. Thatcher doesn’t share in her feelings because she feels like South Africa is a disinvestment and for the head of the Conservative Party money beats human rights every single time. The two cannot make an agreement on this and for the first time in her majesty’s reign, she is starting to wonder if now the time is to let her opinion be heard. The two women go around and around about the issue until the Queen asks Margaret to sign a statement in favor of sanctions. Is this break in protocol a royal directive? Is Elizabeth using her power to force the PM to her will? Margaret seems to think so, and every time another statement from the palace crosses Thatcher’s desk, she vetoes it based in semantics. A no for the word “sanctions,” a no for the term “actions and” two more noes for “measures” and “control.” What was originally a difference in opinions has turned into a tug of war with both women intent on being crowned the victor. Tired of Margaret’s games, The Queen asks her Press Secretary to reword the statement for her and it works! Michael changes “actions” to “signals” giving Margaret an opening to signal to the world she cares, but not back it up with any action or sanctions. In her tete de tete, Thatcher thinks she has won and takes her victory lap to the press explaining that her concession to the Queen’s statement changes nothing thanks to a manipulation of wording and their intent. When the Queen hears this she is livid, not only because the sanctions would go a long way towards ending the oppression but because it looks like the PM pulled rank on the Queen. Any sign of weakness risks the stability of the Crown.

Meanwhile, Michael speaks with his publicist about his book and, so far, there have been no offers to publish it. He is a good writer, but perhaps the topic isn’t something that sells books? She asks him if he would consider writing a political thriller and, as appealing as that is, (and boy does he have a lot of personal material to pull from) he politely declines and says he is sticking with what he started.  Later at work Michael and the Queen’s advisor Martin (Charles Edwards) try to convince Elizabeth to make a public declaration in support of Thatcher because after her press conference the public is catching on that the two are at odds. The Queen’s advisor is always going to counsel Elizabeth towards securing a united front with Downing Street. Anything less could cause a Constitutional crisis and result in irreparable harm between Parliament and Buckingham Palace for years to come. The problem is Elizabeth doesn’t support Thatcher on this and wonders if now is the time is to stand up for what she believes in, which is an end to oppression and freedom for all her people. Since she doesn’t appear to be backing down, Michael and Martin offer her another way to get her opinions published but they want it on record that they were strongly against it. They do not want to be the fall guys for when this blows up in the palace’s face.

Breaking News…

The news of the rift between Downing Street and The Queen splashes across the front page of the Sunday Times. While it does tell the truth about Elizabeth’s support of sanctions she isn’t happy over the media blitz she knows will follow. As for Margaret, she is more eager than ever to have her meeting with the Queen. When the two women finally sit down Thatcher accuses the Queen of breaking the unspoken rule about the monarchy interfering with the country’s politics. Elizabeth bobs and weaves the issue like a pro fighter, but it is no use. Margaret knows she ordered the paper to run with the story. She effectively backs Elizabeth into a corner and will not allow her to escape with empty platitudes and avoidances. Margaret quickly takes charge of the conversation when she begins to rattle off her talking points by reading the article out loud. She particularly takes offense to the part that calls her uncaring and socially divisive. It goes on to highlight her lack of compassion and how her “government has done irretrievable damage to the country’s social fabric.” She reminds the Queen that a PM’s job is to serve the country and not allow sentimentality to hinder her from accomplishing the very things the people elected her to do; namely turning it from a collectivist country who relies on others to an individualist nation with bargaining power in the world’s stage. Capitalism runs through her veins and if that makes her unsympathetic to the South African’s plight so be it. Just don’t utter it in the press. Then she drops the familiar phrase of nationalists who came before and after her, “To Make Britain Great” the again was inferred but still chilling, nonetheless. Margaret tries her best to explain her position by dragging the Queen down memory lane with a reminder of where they both come from. Elizabeth, born her into wealth while she was born into and the small town, as if that is a reason for her apathy and greed.  At that The Queen takes offense because while it is true they are two women of the same age but from different walks of life, what does that have to do with silencing her when she tries to speak her mind? Did her wealth, something she had no control over, steal her voice? Why is it expected that she should support Thatcher but not the other way around? Why couldn’t Margaret support her? In her refusal the Commonwealth, their leaders of which many are Elizabeth’s friends, now think she has betrayed them. For them her silence sounds like a booming voice of support. The Queen is getting hot under her royal frock and takes a moment to dial down her anger by reminding Margaret of how usually these meetings are short. Margaret takes the hint and ends their meeting on a lighter topic, Prince Andrew’s (Tom Byrne) upcoming wedding.

The Feud Upstages the Wedding

The episode comes to a close on a happier note – the wedding between Andrew and Fergie, which is only slightly tainted by the Queen’s public row with the Prime Minister. Apparently, the media is all a buzz about Elizabeth’s opinion and Andrew, who never misses an opportunity to prove why he is the worst of the royal heirs, whines over mummy overshadowing his big day. “The wedding of the Duke of York should be a landmark event,” he says as he ropes his siblings into his pity party. His tantrum continues as he drops another hint about what a better King he would make than Charles (Josh O’Connor). In turn, the Prince of Wales assures him he can keep dreaming about that because now that he has two sons it is never going to happen. He dubs Andrew a “fringe royal” and even their brother Edward (Angus Imrie) agree Charles has gone too far with that nickname. As the credits roll we see the struggle South Africa went through – videos of the fight to free Nelson Mandela, the end of Apartheid and their subsequent return to the Commonwealth in 1994. In the end Elizabeth was right and sanctions were the deciding factor in ending the oppressing in South Africa. A lesson for future Prime Ministers: if it is important enough for the Queen to speak out than it is important enough for them to listen.