The Crown – War

By: Kelly Kearney

The end is here, my royal lovelies, and it’s not only the season finale but the end of this current cast we have grown to love these last two seasons. With the end of the 1980’s came the end of Thatcher’s reign. She went to war with her Parliament and came out on the losing end of a tumultuous ousting from Downing street. The Conservatives have lost confidence in their Iron lady leader, something that mirrors the Queen and her people’s feeling for years. Now we are headed into the 90’s and with that decade comes a dark and miserable time for the Royal family, particularly Diana and Charles. It’s a good thing the finale season will not be airing until 2022 because it gives fans plenty of time to prepare themselves for the inevitable tragedy to come. So, buckle up fans, this finale is the tipping point to a long and treacherous fall from grace.

No Confidence

The episode begins in Parliament with Sir Geoffrey Howe’s (Paul Jesson) resignation, which does not end with praise for the current PM, Thatcher. He states that the conflict in loyalty between himself and Thatcher has led him to this decision. Margaret (Gillian Anderson) sits stunned since Howe was one of the few she thought of as a friend. Thatcherism has turned the people against them and, thus, turned their representatives against their female leader. Without their confidence in her, there isn’t much hope of Margaret remaining in power.

At the palace the news of the resignation sidelines Charles’ (Josh O’Connor) meeting with his mother (Olivia Colman) about Diana’s infidelities. He wants a formal separation, but Mummy can only concentrate on one tragedy at a time and right now with the news is reporting that they may be looking at a change of the Downing Street guard, so to speak. Everyone is glued to the TV wondering what Thatcher is going to do next. Once again Charles’ voice is smothered into silence by duties calling. Soon enough, Margaret makes her way to Downing Street where we see one of the two times she displays human emotions. Sobbing in her bed, she knows the end for her is coming.

Elsewhere, Diana (Emma Corrin) and Charles meet to appear like a united and supportive front for William (Lucas Barber-Grant) at his rugby game. After the game Charles gives his son a distant “well done” while Diana hugs and kisses her first born goodbye. William stands on the steps of Ludgrove School waving as his parents pull away. The look on his face is one of worry and also loneliness, something he shares with his mother. Inside the car the mood is tense as Charles kicks off a one sided argument over Diana’s impending trip to New York. He accuses her of using the trip to advance her self-interests and then brings up her affairs. Diana stays silent as he berates her and the argument devolves into a finger pointing blame game that shows just how deep this divide goes. There is no building a bridge to reconciliation now. They are two separate entities forced to play out this farce of a marriage to make everyone but themselves happy.

Party Squabbles are No Big Deal

Back at Buckingham Palace The Queen and Margaret Thatcher sit down for their weekly update meeting. Elizabeth mentions the importance of Sir Geoffrey Howe’s resignation, but Thatcher downplays it as just “party squabbles.” When the Queen utters the words “leadership challenge,” Margaret (or should I say her ego) snaps to attention as if she is thinking no one would dare challenge the iron lady. Elizabeth makes it known that she isn’t so sure. Later that night Philip (Tobias Menzies) tells Elizabeth he cannot believe Margaret tried to downplay the resignation. It s as clear as day that her end is nearing and he is right. When there is a leadership challenge, Thatcher cannot drum up enough votes in her favor to block a second ballot. Seeing that she is indeed facing a possible ousting, she meets with her ministers one by one to ask them for their support. Each one fills the conversation with praise for her tireless work, but not one offers her their support. The numbers are in and they say her office is vulnerable. Additionally, the overall consensus is Downing Street needs new blood. As hard as Margaret tightly grips her role as PM, her emotions are unraveling. She is a lot of things, but clueless isn’t one of them. She knows what the end looks like and she is running out of stall tactics to keep the ball rolling.

As Britain prepares for a new leader, Diana and Charles prepare for her trip alone to New York. Their advisors go over the schedule and it is mentioned that there is talk about Diana’s mental wellbeing and questions of whether or not she can handle the responsibility. Diana hears this and is smacked with her own truth; she knows she isn’t well, but she is going to soldier on to the big apple regardless.

True Power is Knowing When and When Not to Use It

After Denis Thatcher (Stephen Boxer) goes off on a tirade over his wife’s ousting “the tory party is full of bastards,” he says, Margaret calls a meeting with the Queen to ask her for permission to dissolve Parliament. She claims they are on the brink of war, but really this is just one last attempt at holding the governing body hostage to stay in control. The Queen offers Margaret some advice that she begrudgingly takes. She questions if it is wise to use power simply because it is there to use, especially when her own party and the people of Britain do not support her. She wonders if it isn’t better to do nothing and concentrate on the other passions in her life, to which Margaret quickly responds that she hasn’t any. In fact, being Prime Minister is her only passion and then Margaret lets her emotions overwhelm her as she whines about how this challenge is preventing her from finally accomplishing her goals for the country. Again, the Queen questions if now is the right time to lay down her power and do nothing, but Margaret parries that response with a huge truth. It is easy for the Queen to do nothing as for her nothing changes. She will still be the Sovereign Queen. For Margaret, doing nothing will end in her having nothing. Two very different endings.

As the country prepares for a change, Diana gets her own change of scenery as she heads to New York. As expected, the city welcomes her with open arms. As her car makes its way through the urban city Diana realizes her popularity isn’t just with Britain and the Commonwealth, but with world; everyone in it loves her. She is the People’s Princess, regardless of the land she is standing on. Unfortunately, the love The Big Apple shows her doesn’t curb her eating disorder, but she does manage to pull herself together for a tour of a hospital. There she meets a young, orphaned boy with AIDS and when she hears that his family wouldn’t even touch him she gives him a hug. The media catches on to this and her kindness makes waves across a country suffering from the pandemic. Incidentally, this began Diana’s crusade to fight AIDS with kindness and love. Her actions went a long way to people accepting the truth about the disease and funding to find a cure. As the media praises the down to earth and kind Princess, back home Camilla (Emerald Fennell) watches the response on TV. She tells Charles he needs to give up in the idea they could one day be together. Now the entire world will think she is a home wrecking villain if he were to leave the Princess for his mistress. Charles uses this as fuel for his already raging fire against Diana.

Ding Dong The Thatch is out!

After eleven years of wars, unemployment and unprecedented poverty in the North, Margaret Thatcher is voted out of Downing Street. As she exits for the last time she climbs into her car and breaks down in tears. The Queen has asked for presence and so Margaret makes her way to Buckingham Palace for their very last meeting. Once seated Elizabeth offers Margaret her condolences and mentions that for all the media blitz about them both they never took the time to point out what the two have in common. Their age and their devotion to their country are common grounds they both could meet on. Then, Elizabeth does the noble thing and awards the beaten down woman the Order of Merit medal. Only two dozen before her have been granted such an honor and she pins it to Margaret’s lapel. It is a reminder of her time as Prime Minster and the achievements she accomplished for the betterment of Britain. Margaret graciously thanks the Queen and takes a knee one last time to honor the only other woman in Britain who fought the boy’s club to serve their country.

Back to Diana as she returns from her trip from New York to find a rage filled husband who accuses her of purposefully trying to hurt Camilla with her self-serving displays at the hospital. He accuses her of using the children as a prop to maintain her popularity. His anger is explosive as he spits his love for Camilla in Diana’s face. He blames her for making her, the woman he wants to be with, feel like a villain and he won’t allow her to be hurt any longer. He manipulates the people’s love for her and uses it like a weapon, all while ignoring the fact the trip was a success for the crown. Camilla is who he loves and he will forever be loyal to her. When Diana tries to defend herself by saying she is the mother of his children, Charles begins to cry and orders her to leave their boys out of this because he is washing his hands of this whole family farce. After her husband’s furious meltdown, Diana goes to the Queen privately for advice. Elizabeth goes out of her way to avoid her by using the royal corgis feeding time as an excuse to escape the inevitable. Like anyone is daft enough to believe she feeds those dogs on her own!

Next up is Charles who also tries to bend Mummy’s ear about how he is suffering in this marriage and wants to end things once and for all. Elizabeth reminds him that both he and his wife are dripping with privilege and she and the rest of the family are sick of their sob stories. She orders him to start acting like the future King and strikes down his request. The Queen has spoken: They will stay married and there will be no separation! Elizabeth is right that to be a royal is a privilege that millions would kill for and Charles and Diana both need to recognize that. Where she gets it wrong is in forcing a marriage between two people who, at this point, despise each other just to maintain the status quo and their royal bloodline. What worked in her day does not work in the modern world. Unfortunately for the Prince and Princess of Wales, the modern world doesn’t exist behind the walls of then palace.

As the finale draws to a close we see Prince Philip pay Diana a visit. Out of all the people in their family he was always in Diana’s corner. Maybe it was that stag hunt that sold him or maybe it was the fact they were both outsiders, but he always saw her brilliance where everyone else just saw her as a problem they had to fix. So, when he tries to offer her sympathy at their family Christmas party, he starts off by apologizing for the family’s behavior that he calls “rough.” He goes on to ask her how she is feeling since she has been hiding in her room the whole night. She responds with a deluge of emotion and finishes off by saying she has no hope left for her and Charles. Philip shrugs that off and simply says that his son will eventually come around and, by the way, the rest of the family agrees he’s mad. Meaning his choice in partners. Diana thanks him for his kindness, but says she thinks they are passed the point of reconciliation. In fact, if this family cannot offer her the love she deserves she will break away from them and go live her life and be happy. Philip goes from sympathetic to frighteningly prophetic as he advises her against that because it won’t end well. Diana asks him if that was a threat and Philip never answers but it certainly sounds like one. At that, Diana turns off the charm and tells Philip that while they are both outsiders in this family they are nothing alike. He smiles and then reveals his outsider truth: Everyone in the family is alone. They are all lost and irrelevant outsiders. That is all except the one person that matters most- The Queen. They live in her shadow; it is the essence of their duty to serve her and be grateful that she allows them to exist in the warmth of her glowing light. They are mere mortals; blessed with servitude to the Sovereignty. He ends the conversation, and the season, with a wakeup call for the Princess. He tells her that he wonders if Diana is confused as to whom the Queen is because (spoiler alert Di) it’s not you! As he leaves her the camera scans past the other lonely and lost family members and soon Diana follows joining them. Each of the lost prepares for a happy family photo, but as always they are outshined by the matriarch smiling in the middle. Diana’s face is grim as if she knows this is the last holiday with this family, regardless of Philip’s warning. Her bright and charming spirit that made Diana an instant sensation is now dulled and gasping its last breath drowned out by the sheer existing power of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning monarch in history. God save the Queen!