The Crown is a historical drama television series centered on the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Created by Peter Morgan for Netflix, the decades-spanning series chronicles the personal life of the Queen and the events that shaped the latter half of the 20th century. After six seasons and three different portrayals of the queen, the award-winning royal saga has ended its reign.
The central theme of The Crown is duty vs. individuality, and the series explores this theme through its writing and characters. The series allows a reflection on the past and also deals with issues of politics, race, and identity. We’ll look at the 10 best episodes of The Crown, spanning different seasons that showcase the series’ standout performances and exceptional writing.
10 Marionettes (Season 2, Episode 5)
In response to a tone-deaf speech given by Queen Elizabeth at a car factory, Lord Altrincham writes a column attacking her upper-class attitude. The public started to sympathize with him as he claimed the monarchy must adapt to post-war society. Prime Minister Macmillan reminds the Queen about other countries’ inclinations to abolish their monarchies. She decides to meet with Altrincham and agrees to loosen up her image and televise the Royal Christmas Message. Months later, the Queen Mother expresses the monarchy’s loss of authority.
How The Crown Foreshadows Modern Society
“Marionettes” explores the series’ main strength: exploring how the monarchy is an archaic institution stuck in the modern world. Claire Foy’s fantastic performance plays on Queen Elizabeth’s desires, frustrations, sincerity, and humor. There is a wonderful moment where she creates a smile for the camera only for it to fall right after. The episode foreshadows the constant push and pull of the monarchy’s role in modern society.
9 Ritz (Season 6, Episode 8)
In a flashback to VE Day in 1945, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret celebrated with crowds outside Buckingham Palace and danced at the Ritz Hotel. In 1998, Margaret suffered two strokes while vacationing, and she returned to London in Elizabeth’s care. At Margaret’s 70th birthday party at the Ritz, she attempts to relive her and Elizabeth’s night in 1945 before her sister toasts in her honor. The two share some tender moments and the epilogue reveals Margaret died in her sleep in 2002.
A Beautiful Tribute to Princess Margaret’s Life
“Ritz” pays a beautiful tribute to Princess Margaret and the decades-long love between her and Queen Elizabeth. As a “No. 2,” Margaret led a bittersweet life. She embodies the glamor and charm of a princess and yet lives with constant heartache and a lack of purpose. Lesley Manville fully embraces the role, showing her playfulness, charm, disgust, and eventual deterioration. As Queen Elizabeth is forced to reckon with her sister’s mortality, the silent, tender moments show her true love. This episode wraps up Elizabeth and Margaret’s storyline and brings back familiar faces in Porchey and Peter Townsend.
8 Fairytale (Season 4, Episode 3)
Prince Charles proposes to Diana, and she celebrates her engagement. She immediately moves into the Palace but begins developing an eating disorder due to her new stress. As Diana meets Camilla for lunch, she is embarrassed about how little she knows her fiancé. When Margaret speaks out against the engagement to Queen Elizabeth and Philip, they insist that Charles must marry, and he will grow to love Diana. In the end, the public celebrates the couple’s engagement while Charles and Diana sorrowfully prepare for their wedding.
How The Crown Foreshadows the Doomed Love Triangle
A story told multiple times, a fairy tale has its villains and lessons. In The Crown, everybody suffers from the same fate: the destruction of the individual for duty. After adoration from the public, there is a sense of dread that consumes the characters. There are fun moments where we dance along with Diana to ’80s pop music and Emma Corrin’s heartbreaking portrayal of Princess Diana from excitement to regret creates a claustrophobic nightmare. There is also a hilarious irony when Diana and Camilla dine at Ménage à Trois, which accurately portrays their doomed love triangle. This “fairy tale” doesn’t end in a wedding, as the message is clear: the Crown always wins.
7 Matrimonium (Season 2, Episode 7)
After learning that Peter Townsend is engaged to another woman, Margaret urges Tony to propose. Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth is pregnant and learns about Tony’s adventurous sexual relationships. She decides against telling Margaret and months later, Margaret and Tony marry at Westminster Abbey.
One of the Most Daring Storylines in The Crown
“Matrimonium” features The Crown’s most seductive storyline as a clash between old and new. The portrayal of the period’s sex culture is also The Crown at its most sensual and daring. The mercurial and enigmatic performances of Matthew Goode and Vanessa Kirby are the thematic and stylistic collisions of Bohemian cool and stiff upper class. As Tony and Margaret ride away on his motorbike to Vivaldi’s “Spring,” it is the epitome of young love.
6 Assassins (Season 1, Episode 9)
Queen Elizabeth begins spending time with her friend Lord “Porchey” Porchester, while Philip begins spending more time away from the Palace. Tensions escalate in their marriage and later Elizabeth tells Philip, “The only person I have ever loved is you.” Winston Churchill meets with artist Graham Sutherland as Parliament commissions an eightieth birthday portrait. After completion of the portrait, Churchill confronts Sutherland about its accuracy, eventually admitting to his old age. Churchill resigns from office while his wife Clementine watches as the portrait is burned.
How The Crown Perceives Image and Marriage
“Assassins” serves as the climax of storylines developing since the series’ beginning: the growing unhappiness of Queen Elizabeth’s marriage and the end of Winston Churchill’s career. John Lithgow’s towering performance of Churchill reaches its peak as he comes to terms with his vulnerabilities. The juxtaposition of the two couples at the end of the episode shows the reality of marriage in high office: Clementine’s preservation of her husband’s strong image and Philip’s growing struggles living within an institution.
5 Terra Nullius (Season 4, Episode 6)
As the newly elected Australian Prime Minister threatens to abolish its monarchy, Princess Diana struggles to balance motherhood, her marriage, and royal duties on a tour to Australia. After a rough start, the tour is a success as Diana is adored by the public. When the Prime Minister tells Charles that Diana has saved the monarchy, Charles becomes cold and distant. As Diana meets Queen Elizabeth and explains their unhappy marriage, the Queen is unsympathetic.
The Crown Shows Why Diana Was the People’s Princess
The episode’s title, “Terra Nullius,” serves as a double entendre for both Britain’s occupation of Australia and the uncharted territory of Charles and Diana’s marriage. The growing popularity of Princess Diana fuels both Josh O’Connor’s and Emma Corrin’s performances as they balance love, fragility, jealousy, and anger. Throughout the series, The Crown will portray Diana as both a savior and antithesis to the monarchy as she ultimately crumbles under its power.
4 Vergangenheit (Season 2, Episode 6)
In 1945, classified documents belonging to Hitler’s translator and information called the Marburg files were uncovered. Winston Churchill and King George VI agreed to suppress the information. In the present, the Duke of Windsor returns to London to seek employment. Historians uncover the files and there are threats to publish the information. As Queen Elizabeth seeks spiritual counsel from the evangelist Billy Graham, she learns about the Duke’s ties to the Nazi High Command. The Queen confronts the Duke and contemplates forgiveness. But in the end, Elizabeth cannot forgive him and denies the Duke’s request.
How The Crown Shows the Complicated Past of the Monarchy
“Vergangenheit” deals with the effect of one’s troubled past and whether one can forgive such actions. As Queen Elizabeth grapples with her desire to forgive her uncle, it speaks to her loneliness, faith, and her look for guidance. As she tells him, “There is no possibility of my forgiving you. The question is: how on earth can you forgive yourself?” The episode is heavy and uncomfortable as we learn about the Crown’s troubled past, and the episode ends with the real-life chilling images of the Duke of Windsor joyfully standing beside Hitler.
3 Tywysog Cymru (Season 3, Episode 6)
On advice from Prime Minister Wilson, the Queen sends Charles from Cambridge to Wales to learn Welsh before his investiture as Prince of Wales. He befriends his tutor Edward Millward and becomes sympathetic to Welsh nationalism. Charles gives his speech in Welsh and includes statements recognizing Welsh nationalism. Charles requests a meeting with the Queen hoping for appreciation, but Queen Elizabeth lectures him about the importance of impartiality. Charles returns to Cambridge and stars in a performance of Richard II.
Highlighting the Relationship between England and Wales
“Tywysog Cymru” is an episode that wonderfully parallels the relationships between England, Wales, Queen Elizabeth, and Charles. Josh O’Connor delicately portrays Charles as awkward and sympathetic as he puts duty over happiness. In Wales, Edward not only becomes Charles’ language tutor but helps him find his voice. As Charles watches the mundanity of family life, he reflects on his cold and distant relationship with his mother. The scene between the Queen and Charles is stunning as it encapsulates what it means to be a monarch at the cost of one’s individuality and family. There is no empathy and, in the end, the monologue about a sovereign who lost his kingdom perfectly sums up Charles’ feelings.
2 Aberfan (Season 3, Episode 3)
Following the events of the Aberfan disaster in 1966, the public blamed the National Coal Board and the government. As Queen Elizabeth faces criticism for not immediately visiting, she also hears rumors that she is not sympathetic. Confronting Prime Minister Wilson, the two converse about their struggles, and she explains her struggles to show emotion. In the end, the Queen visits Aberfan and, in private, cries as she listens to a hymn sung at the funeral.
A Tribute to the Tragedy that Rocked the Monarchy
“Aberfan” is dedicated as a tribute to the tragic loss of 116 children, 28 adults, and the people of Aberfan. Many moments are haunting and heart-wrenching: The tension-filled prologue of children singing, the terrifying images of the landslide, and the silence of rescue teams as they search for survivors. Olivia Colman’s stately performance of Queen Elizabeth’s visit and repressed emotions show how one must “put on a show” in a position of leadership. In the epilogue, the delayed response to the disaster was her biggest regret as sovereign.
1 Hyde Park Corner (Season 1, Episode 2)
With King George VI in ill health, Princess Elizabeth and Philip tour the Commonwealth in his place, making their first stop in Kenya. Back at home, Cabinet members express concern about Winston Churchill’s ability to govern. After spending the evening with Princess Margaret, King George VI dies in his sleep. Elizabeth and Philip return to London, where she assumes the role of sovereign.
How Duty Calls in The Crown
After the “Wolferton Splash” introduction to The Crown, “Hyde Park Corner” thrusts the narrative forward with the juxtaposition of King George’s death with Elizabeth and Philip’s adventure in Kenya. Both Claire Foy and Matt Smith do wonderful acting with their facial expressions and body language as they feel the weight of the words “Long live the Queen.”
As Elizabeth grapples with her new role, she not only mourns her father but a part of herself. The concept of her individuality and duty will be in constant conflict with each other throughout the series. As Queen Mary writes, “The crown must win-must always win.” Pairing Churchill’s words about the future with Elizabeth’s first steps in her new role is powerful. Queen Elizabeth’s reign begins, as does six seasons of The Crown.
The Crown
- Release Date
- November 4, 2016
- Seasons
- 6
- Studio
- Netflix
