I have always been fascinated by royalty. Sometimes I think that all little girls are – the idea of a falling in love with a Prince, becoming a Princess… it’s the age old fairytale that we somehow find ourselves wanting to live out.
Now, I watch shows like The Royals and I love them. But who doesn’t love anything and everything by Mark Schwann. I knew heading into The Crown it wasn’t going to be a Mark Schwann show and I wasn’t sure exactly how much I would care for it.
But cancelled Saturday night plans and 10 hours later I haven’t moved.
Premise: The Crown focuses on Queen Elizabeth II as a 25-year-old newlywed faced with the daunting prospect of leading the world’s most famous monarchy while forging a relationship with legendary Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. The British Empire is in decline, the political world is in disarray, and a young woman takes the throne….a new era is dawning. Peter Morgan’s masterfully researched scripts reveal the Queen’s private journey behind the public facade with daring frankness. Prepare to be welcomed into the coveted world of power and privilege and behind locked doors in Westminster and Buckingham Palace….the leaders of an empire await.
There is no doubt that The Crown is beautifully shot, but it’s so much more than that. I was expecting drama, but what I wasn’t expecting is that in every moment, I felt as though I was there, living every moment along side Elizabeth.
Clare Foy’s performance was spectacular – every moment that she was on the screen she drew you in and had you feeling for Elizabeth – cheering her on, hoping that someone would cut her a break and see that she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.
Matt Smith became Phillip – literally I stopped seeing him as Matt or The Doctor, really quick. Vanessa Kirby was breathtaking as Princess Margaret. John Lithgow was the reincarnation of Winston Churchill.
It’s going to be hard to narrow this down to the 6 things we loved the most.
Humanizing Queen Elizabeth.
Look, I know that she’s a living, breathing being – but it really never was a second thought to me that she could smile or not be so uptight. Granted what I have seen of her has been her as an older woman, never as the young woman who fell in love and just wanted to have a life with her husband and children.
It never occurred to me – even though I knew that she was married and had kids – that she was a mother. It never occurred to me that she had a life before that. It never occurred to me that she wanted to smile (cause she really doesn’t). It never occurred to me that she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.
But she is. She’s human. She was a young woman thrown into impossible circumstances. She had no choice but to be strong and she did it with grace, class, and dignity. This series had great respect for Elizabeth and we love that.
That sister/sister relationship.
And you thought your relationship with your siblings was complicated. Imagine if your sister wanted to be with a married man (yes, he eventually got divorced) and you couldn’t let that happen cause you were the head of the church. Then to make matters worse, you had to be the one to tell her no.
The thing is Elizabeth and Margaret only had each other, but their relationship was complicated. Elizabeth was devoted to her sister and having to balance that with the weight of the crown was a lot to handle.
Tiara’s Are Really Heavy.
Now, I don’t know about you all, but I always thought that I wanted to have a tiara. Diamonds are a girls best friend right?
But Tiara’s are really heavy. And I don’t mean just the weight you can feel – but also the weight that comes from having to to do the duties implied by that tiara.
Making choices in normal life is hard enough. But making the choices that can change a nation? Talk about needing a lot of Xanax. No tiara seems to be worth that much anxiety.
The Crown really got in there and showed you that every decision has implications and for Elizabeth – she hadn’t expected that weight on her shoulders at such a young age. Yet she had it and though she tried to keep things seperate, there was no chance that it wouldn’t always affect her. Every decision would be influence by the weight of that crown or the tiara that she was wearing.
Not so sure I want to wear one of those anymore.
The Costumes/Sets
O.M.G. – talk about flawless. Everything was absolutely beautiful. Everything was stunning.
From the smallest detail to the biggest detail was WOW. You couldn’t help but being drawn in – to stare at the gowns, the crowns, the settings – the people behind all of that deserve big fat bonus checks.
And I want to go find myself a ball gown and play pretend Queen.
A Father’s Love.
Every little girl wants to be a Princess in their fathers eyes. I don’t know about you, but I thought my father hung the moon as a little girl.
King George was a strong man – thrown into being King after his brothers abdication of the thrown. He was effectively “the spare” and what do you know, the spare was needed. But the King wanted to make sure that his daughters had it better. That they didn’t let anything come in between them.
His love for his girls was evident. It drove him as much as the crown. At least that’s the way I felt.
Winston Churchill
John Lithgow was a genius as Winston Churchill. Uber creepy, uber strong, and so very damn stubborn.
Churchill had a love of country, and though was told many times that he should step down – he refused.
Lithgow’s portrayal of Churchill was someone who was hungry for power, who wanted to be seen as someone who embarked the UK on a road for change.
When Churchill was in the scene you could not look away.
Netflix made a two season commitment for The Crown when they gave the green light to the project. We’re sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for season 2.
Foy is definitely the crowning jewel in this series, but the supporting cast are absolutely amazing. You will start the series and not be able to turn away.
Have you watched The Crown? What do you love the most about it?
All 10 episodes of the first season are available on Netflix now.