TV Reviews: The Crown, Seasons 1 and 2

I love this show so much! It's about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. It shows the royals as real people and focuses on relationships between people, not pomp, ceremony and riches. Peoples' faults are not glossed over. They are dealt with candidly, showing that these important people are only human. Prince Philip's racism is portrayed, as is Winston Churchill, Lord Mountbatten and the Queen Mother's arrogance Margaret's recklessness and Charles's sensitivity. The series opens with the then Princes Elizabeth and Prince Philip's wedding, before she became Queen. A good decision, I think, as the relationship between them is so central to the series. It goes on to cover the death of elizabeth's father, King George VI, the coronation, the Queen and other members of the Royal family, especially Prince Philip who is frustrated by living in his wife's shadow and his lack of personal freedom, becoming accustomed to their new roles and Princess Margaret's ill-fated romance with Group Captain Townsend. The second season focuses on political crises, Elizabeth and Philip's marital problems, Margaret's marriage, meeting JFK and Jackie and Charles's education. It's beautifully acted. Claire Foy is brilliant as the Queen, and Matt Smith is a great Prince Philip.The cast is massive and there is a nice surprise almost every episode, as yet another favorite actor is recognised. John Lithgow is incredible as Winston Churchill. I think he gets him entirely right, very surprising from an American comedy actor! The Duke of Windsor, the former King Edward VIII, is an interesting character. You start off feeling very sorry for him, as an outcast, who made the wonderfully romantic decision to abdicate so he could marry Wallis Simpson, but later end up despising him, as his history as a Hitler supporter and a traitor is revealed to the Queen. I also never realised that some of the other main characters had such interesting histories. I never knew Prince Philip was part of the Greek royal family, and that his family were forced to flee for their lives, and that he was smuggled out in an orange crate as a baby, as spent his childhood more or less in exile, and that everyone opposed his marriage to Elizabeth. He couldn't see his family as they sided with the Nazis. Or that the Queen Mother was thought to be common, as she was only a Lady at the time of her marriage, not royalty, and that this was fairly radical for the time. Altogether a gripping, well-acted and brilliantly writeen series. It seems to teach that money doesn't buy happiness and that not even these people are free from illness and unhappiness, and that bad things happen when people try to stand in the way of love. I'll be very interested to see how the show develops in the next season, as the timeline progresses and the parts are passed on to older actors. And I'm sure nobody else cares, but I love how in the coronation scene Princess Margaret is wearing the tiara that Meghan Markle wore for her wedding to Harry!