Most of the audience who first watched ‘The Crown’ really had no interest in the lives of the British Royal Family and despite all the facts, lies, and history as a TV series it was unnecessarily intense to watch. But in a very positive way! Viewers were fascinated with the history of the past and the way the series has portrayed each character and each event made it more important towards every one of them.
Full credit should be given to the filmmakers in all departments who have made this series incredible to watch. From acting, makeup, costumes, set design, music, and photography truly created an amazing piece. Each season was different in its own way showing each character their relationship with our one and only special Queen of England.
The lives of each character in the series were somewhat similar to one another however my very favorite characters that were in a way the most relatable were Princess Margaret during the first and second season and Princess Diana during the third and fourth season. Both Princesses were two different people, two different personalities, with two different auras. Yet both young girls trapped in a giant golden box.
Princess Margaret who was played by Vanessa Kirby gave a stunning performance in the first two seasons. She was the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II who believed she could have been the better candidate as Queen. The series truly showed it as well, Margaret loved being a royal Princess, living the famous, glamorous life in Buckingham Palace but due to her sister’s title she slowly broke down. Her chances to make a difference were blocked off because of a few rules that clearly the Queen herself had plenty of chances to change but just could not because she believed that just simply doing nothing was her best course of action. Now during the 1st and 2nd seasons, the young Queen did not want to do anything but eventually through the 3rd and 4th seasons she has grown to just swallow the pride and follow those rules.
Margaret was frustrated with her sister and family yet had no choice but to step back and watch her chances of getting married and gain the small ability to work alongside her sister just slide down the river. Young viewers can relate to her and wouldn’t want to just sit around and do nothing as well especially during this generation. You feel true sympathy for her and even wished she could’ve gotten more chances. But clearly, the secretaries, the head of Church, the Queen, and most importantly the Crown itself wouldn’t allow it.
Throughout the seasons we begin to feel more sympathy and begin to relate with the younger group of characters. Maybe it’s because they were all around my age group and I could only feel so much remorse for each person whether it was young Elizabeth, Margaret, Charles, Anne, and Diana. To be in your 20s but still have no freedom to love the one you want to love and do the things you want to do. Their so-called “normal” life was to just have that freedom. They could not blame anyone for the lives they are given, they were born under the Royal roof which came with an immense amount of consequences.
Once we see an older Princess Margaret played by the stunning Helena Bonham Carter, she is still restrained by her sister. Margaret only asks for the same roles, the same questions she asks her sister for. In the character development of Margaret, she seems to still be the young girl who struggles with mental health, loneliness, and most of all the fact that she could never have what her sister has or what she calls is being “the second born”.
The Princess of Wales was introduced little by little, really causing the audience to come to the edge of their seats. Every time Princess Diana would appear you first watch her innocence and just the curiosity she has towards Prince Charles. It was a poetic love story between the two, they were both curious and felt those warm feelings. Nonetheless, those warm feelings begin to spark and light a fire. Once the marriage hits a dark turn came for Diana. The Netflix series shows that the late Princess Diana has been struggling with bulimia yet there is no evidence of what truly happened inside the royal walls and we can never be so sure if the series has portrayed bulimia in the truest form. All we can know is that the late Princess has struggled to cope with being a part of the Royal Family.
Ever since season 4 was released I only remember my Instagram feed was filled with Princess Diana documentaries, photos of her with her children, her “Revenge Dress” and her dancing to Uptown Girl. I just knew I had to watch the series and see what the whole fuss was about. After finishing the series I’ve begun searching for documentaries on Diana and her life after divorcing Charles.
Many people do feel remorse and compassion for her because of the way she was treated. Without being able to have a voice and call for help, she turned to the media and took the advantage of her fame. Using the paparazzi as her own voice and cry help. Which also violated not only her private life but her children as well. She enjoyed the love and fame of the people and not only Charles but other members of the Royal Family were jealous and fully aware of her glory. However, in her defense, she was very young. A young girl who would have been in her 2nd year in college and should be reckless having fun night outs but instead married a man twice her age who was nonetheless the son of the Queen of England.
The same goes for Prince Charles and Princess Anne. We don’t go into the full depth of Anne’s life but a good amount of her voice is shown while with Charles’ voice struggling to reach out to the surface we have full awareness of his life.
Whether what country we are from rich, poor, royal, or not royal everyone’s standard of a ‘normal’ life is to be independent, with a voice. We want love, we want money, we want to do something that gives us meaning. All we want in life is a purpose, isn’t that what we all want? 2020 seemed to have taken that away for most of us yet we always have new chances to find new ones or take them back. However, the royal family members always had a big fat no and silenced to the very end. The Queen many times recalls to her children that their lives can never be ‘normal’ and are not normal indeed.
In the last episode of season 4, we have the Duke of Edinburgh talk with Princess Diana explaining to her that she is not the only outcast and that each and every one of them is broken and an outsider except for the Queen. All members of the Royal Family have no choice but to revolve around her because she is the center of their world. We as spectators can never relate to this particular group of people. They are in a different world and live a life that we can never relate to. But can relate to the restrictions and feeling lonely at times. ‘The Crown’ was given a lot of love from audiences but a lot of hate from the Royal Family themselves. Calling out on the Netflix series the Royal members say the facts are all false. I could see that they would hate this series but then again this is a reflection to what we see upon them. Which is no one’s fault, we all have expectations towards them because of their titles, it’s only a matter of how they take it in and react towards the media.
