It has taken me a lot of convincing to take what seems like everyone’s advice on the watching of The Crown (Netflix), however, I won’t lie, it takes me a hell of a lot of time to take anyone’s advice on watching anything. I can be stubborn and see myself as having phenomenal taste in all things media related. Not to sound like one of those trendy know-it-alls – but when something seems to be – or I believe it to be – overhyped and somewhat bandwagon-y, I do just have an innate resistance to want to give it any of my time or energy, and unfortunately, that is how I have always viewed The Crown. Although, I must mention, I’m not the Monarchy’s biggest fan as it stands anyway – sorry to all hardcore royalists out there.
However, despite all preconceived notions about The Crown, I decided to put it all aside and actually give it a chance to see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, there is more criticism than there is praise.
What we as viewers are given is essentially a whistle stop tour on the history of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and all of the trials and tribulations she went through in negotiating her responsibilities as England’s monarch. A responsibility, we learn, was never meant to be bestowed upon her. Now, I’m no Jenny Bond, but as an amateur Royal Correspondent, the backstory is that Edward VIII abdicates the throne – leaving the responsibility to King George VI to take over – essentially resulting in his untimely death due to the alleged stress of being a King). So, prior to us even knowing any of the context, the series is framed in a way that allows us as the viewer to believe it is going to be a heroic and triumphant tale of not only our Queen, but the ascension of a powerful female figure.
However, the negotiation between us viewing the Queen in a powerful light is dependent on her journey of progression. She very much begins her journey as a timid woman with much of her attention focused solely towards ensuring her husband is happy to be her subordinate, which the concept of alone, in 1953, was unheard of. Phillip very much goes through his own journey of accepting his mediocrity which he numbs through a string of affairs, yet still doesn’t quite manage to fathom that he himself has no lineage to the throne. He enjoys throwing his weight around and is potentially the most entitled character of all. Unfortunately for the Queen, her husband isn’t the only petulant white male she has to deal with.
We are guided through the day-to-day proceedings of the Queen’s job role and learn a huge portion of time is spent dealing with the Prime Minister. We meet several Prime Minister’s throughout the seasons, most of all are stuffy white male archetypes of politicians. The Queen seems to develop interesting relationships with all and gains different skills in governing from all of them, it’s interesting to see the contrast in the way in which the Queen develops season to season based upon who the UK’s current democratic leader is.
For example Winston Churchill is portrayed as being extremely set in his ways and insists on sticking to historic protocols of how he and the Queen interact with one another, he is beyond horrified at being offered a cup of tea and insists upon standing for the duration of their meetings. Churchill constantly reiterates the fact he is a civil servant there in order to address royalty with important policies – he is not there for a mother’s meeting. Churchill quickly shares his years of wisdom with Queen Elizabeth in order to ensure she never dares make such a faux pas again.
By the time we get to the Thatcher years the Queen has very much settled into her role and understands her responsibilities, her relationship with Thatcher is different to anything she has ever experienced with the Prime Ministers which preceded. She initially praises Thatcher, as I believe she views them in the same light, women who have very much risen up in a ‘Man’s World’ and hold positions of power. Thatcher however, doesn’t seem to echo this notion, however, she famously spent a significant proportion of her time proclaiming women shouldn’t be in government because they’re too emotional. The progression in the way the Queen approaches both Prime Ministers shows how her time in power has given her skills in diplomacy as well as knowledge.
Wow, well done Liz, I can’t imagine how difficult it is to sit for 20 minutes or so listening to repetitive political jargon. Despite the fact she has to deal with the odd trifling matter I’d argue her life is still pretty cushty… For me, this kind of content masquerading as a valiant and courageous tale of feminism doesn’t really cut it.
Other aspects of The Crown, for me, make it hard to stomach. I personally view it as an unapologetically tactile attempt to try and humanise The Royal Family, in a very ‘look at us, we’re just like you, we also have dinner in front of the telly sometimes’ sort of way. This is what happens to be my issue with the series. I have lived in London my whole life, I grew up here and I have some seriously hardcore, decorative-jubilee-plate-paraphernalia-possessing members in my family. They adore the Queen. They can recite the history of the Queen that has shaped their lives from historical instances they lived through – and I love that for them. I just wasn’t filled with that same sense of patriotic pride whilst watching it. If anything, it highlighted, for me, a long list of problematic issues regarding the rules and regulations in place within the Monarchy – it all seems a little messed up to me.
However, that being said, I could potentially only have that view due to my age and position within society. The Royal Family are to some extent glorified celebrities – but we very much still live in a celebrity worshipping society at the moment, it’s just that the focal point has changed, the things we see in the magazines and on the internet everyday are massive bums and lips and boobs, celebrities walking around scantily clad, involving themselves in scandals in order to get press attention for their upcoming shows and movies etc. The audience is still there, it’s just the content that has changed. If i was in my 60s I probably would be a royalist, due to the fact they were the hot topic of the late 20th Century. I’m not by any means saying all the Queen needs is a pair of hot pants and we‘ll all magically be hooked again (although it is hard to picture that not going viral) I’m just saying the concept of the Royal Family in the 21st century is just super outdated.
My final point regarding The Crown and why I found it so difficult to comprehend was the ongoing theme of ‘love being banned’. Time and time again we are reminded of the abdication of Edward VIII and told it is the root cause of everybody else’s wrongdoing – all this guy did was fall in love. I don’t know if it’s because I am such an old romantic or the fact I was born in an era where telling someone they can’t love who they want to love isn’t even a concept that enters my mind, but the downright oppressive system everyone is forced to live within caused me so much trauma to bear witness to. The fact that those who are royals can’t just simply fall in love and marry who they want to and it being the reason for such widespread unhappiness, suicide attempts and death hurts my fragile mind.
The Queen can’t slap Prince Philip with a nice divorce when he cheats on her time and time again, Margaret can’t marry that guy she actually LOVED, what was his name again? Peter Townsend? Then gets with Lord Snowdon and then can’t even divorce him after he cheats on her time and time again. Anne faces a similar fate (in reality) despite it not being in the show, as well as Andrew as well!! (Although it’s hard to give this man any sympathy considering all of the current news surrounding him – I wonder if in season 5 there will be a Jeffrey Epstein cameo).
Charles is forced into marrying a woman he has never loved (poor Diana) because Camilla is being some old trollope somewhere else, it’s all beyond daft, Diana would still be alive if it wasn’t for all of these royal rules and regulations being in place for no reason other than causing widespread unhappiness, pain and sorrow.
Moreover, I don’t get why the Queen is more than happy to just let everyone be so miserable because it’s their duty to be depressed or something??? In the most recent series, Charles deeply tries to connect with his power hungry mother regarding the fact he simply cannot make it work with Diana and she tells him to grow up and get over it in a world where appearances mean more than anything. Above all this is what I find the most difficult to digest regarding the show. The fact that this ‘power’ ultimately means you have no power at all. If these are the protocols still in place within the royal family Harry fleeing them for good makes more and more sense every single day. Good for you Harry.
Anyway, the question on my lips after having endured 4 seasons of The Crown is why on earth does everyone continue to care so much about these snooty upper upper upper upper classes? Their lives are so far removed from ours, despite the fact that the show tried so desperately to highlight the lives of the regular working classes in the 70s and 80s, the class divide, I’d argue, is even wider now. The lavishness of their lives (on the taxpayers dime may I add) being highlighted in such a frivolous way, I find to be incredibly distasteful, in a time where hardworking people that work 3 jobs a day still struggle to put food on their tables. They truly wouldn’t spit on us if we were on fire, they shouldn’t be allowed to continue to be propped up in their cosy palaces simply due to the fact their blood is allegedly more superior than ours.
Shen is better known as her online alias Roy Bitchenstein – commentator on all things pop culture related. She has a Master’s degree in Theatre and currently works as a freelance illustrator and writer, providing people with humour, risqué opinions and a much needed splash of colour. She loves controversy and is always ready to offer a hot take!
