Mark your calendars because the fourth season of the beloved historically based television series featuring Britain’s royal upper crust, The Crown, is set to release on Netflix this Sunday November 15th. This season spans the late 70s into the dawn of the 1990s, following Elizabeth and England’s journey through the Irish Republican Army attacks, the ten week Falkland War, and tense relations with South Africa during the apartheid period.
Paralleling the tumult the country faced internationally, there was also a fair share of personal drama within the palace walls. Between Prince Charles’ courtship of Lady Diana Spencer, his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, Princess Margaret’s battle with mental health, and the decline of Princess Anne’s first marriage to Captain Mark Phillips, the audience will have an abundance of drama to look forward to.
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Season 4 is uniquely intriguing since it focuses on not only one, but two women in the highest seats of political power in England. On the throne as the figurehead of monarchy and generational rule is Queen Elizabeth played by the brilliant Academy Award winning actress Olivia Coleman. Joining the cast as her rival in power and wit is Gillian Anderson as the cunning Margaret Thatcher, a leader of the people and voice for democratic principles in her role as England’s first female prime minister.
The tension between the two women bleeds through the screen in the cinematically rich trailer released by Netflix on October 29th.
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In the opening minutes, the audience catches a glimpse of a meeting between Elizabeth and Margaret in the Queen’s private sitting room. In this dramatic scene, Thatcher kneels before the Queen as a sign of respect, but just before rising to her feet she remarks,
“We are the same age after all… just six months between us.”
Taken aback by Margaret’s statement, Elizabeth asks,
“And who is the senior?”
To which Margaret responds,
“I am… ma’am.”
The brief pause between Margaret’s response and her hesitant “ma’am” speaks volumes. Not only does it place emphasis on the fact that she is the older of the two, but it also conveys to Elizabeth that Margaret will not bow to the power of the crown. Margaret wants to show Elizabeth that she is just as wise, just as poised, and just as prepared to guide the English people into a new dawn. She is willing to work alongside Elizabeth, but she will not sacrifice her principles and bend to the will of the monarchy. In the brief seconds of this interaction, the audience experiences a taste of the intriguing and tumultuous relationship between the two most powerful women in England that will play out through the course of the season.
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While the past three seasons sang an ode to Elizabeth, this season will sing for both Margaret and Elizabeth, shining light on the neverending hardships and short lived victories brought on by being a woman in a male dominated sphere. Prince Philip himself shares his doubts, boldly declaring to Elizabeth that
“Two women running the shop. [That’s] the last thing this country needs.”
To this Elizabeth retorts,
“Perhaps that’s precisely what this country needs.”
And perhaps Elizabeth is right. In the next minutes of the trailer, the audience is blinded by the flash of a camera as a photographer snaps a portrait of the members of Parliament. Like a rose peeking out of a bushel of thorns, Margaret Thatcher sits cross legged, adorned in a deep magenta dress, blaring in stark contrast with the sea of black suits. Despite being out of place, Thatcher is unafraid to shake the ground she stands on and rally for change, shifting the power of long standing political and social institutions that were once the backbone of England.
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As the wrought iron gilded gates of Buckingham Palace open, allowing Margaret’s car to enter, the trailer cuts to a clip of her boldly declaring,
“My goal is to change this country from being dependent to self-reliant, and I think in that I am succeeding.”
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The film then cuts to a large crowd of protestors filling the streets with throngs of police officers shielding them in. In the center of the shot, a group of hands holds up a large black poster with bold white lettering reading, “Civil Rights Association.” Thatcher’s England is one of change, a shift from the status quo. Elizabeth, as head of the monarchy, is in strong juxtaposition with Thatcher’s vision, and she warns,
“Joblessness, recession, crises. It’s a dangerous game to make enemies left, right, and center.”
Margaret, however, is prepared and retorts,
“What if one is comfortable with having enemies?”
This bold assertion solidifies Margaret’s mission, and shows the audience that she is not afraid of Elizabeth and the ancient power of monarchy that she represents, paving the way for an interesting power dynamic throughout the season.
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Woven between the political drama from Downing Street and Buckingham Palace, Season 4 also welcomes the appearance of Emma Corrin as the lovely Princess Diana. The season will follow Prince Charles’ courtship of Lady Diana Spencer, their grand 1981 wedding, and the subsequent deterioration of their marriage in later years. Diana’s story is one of both tragedy and immense inspiration, and it will be exciting to watch Corrin personify her story on screen, breathing new air into a broken woman. In studying Diana’s persona, Corrin notes,
“She had so much time for other people… and she was incredibly emotionally intelligent.”
Princess Diana came from another world, and entering the royal realm was like setting foot in a foreign land. Life as a royal comes with a whole different set of societal norms and expectations than one would experience in ordinary society, and The Crown season 4 will explore these complex differences.
In a breathtaking clip, the audience watches Diana rollerblade down the halls of Buckingham Palace, listening to music on her walkman radio. Her pink gingham pants, white wheeled skates, and short blonde hair stick out in stark contrast with the age old galleries, arching doorways, and gold mouldings of the palace. Gliding her way through the halls, Diana represents a break in long lasting family tradition, a breath of fresh air.
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As a member of the royal family, Diana the individual had to take on a whole new role as Princess Diana—a figurehead and role model for the people. A role that would eventually wear her down and lead to her breaking point.
In a beautifully tragic clip, the audience watches Diana dance alone in a blue leotard and silky sky blue skirt in a grand isolated room in the palace. Diana dances wildly, flailing her arms and spinning endlessly round and round as she releases mounds of frustration and pent up emotions until she falls broken to the floor. Like a fallen dove, tainted by long exposure to the sun and lack of food and sustenance, Diana is worn down by the burdens of life. This scene is painful, yet perhaps the most poignant of the trailer. It reminds audiences that although The Crown is a beloved television series, it’s events and emotions were also a reality for real women and men who lived and continue to live within the walls of Buckingham Palace, secluded from the rest of the world.
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In an interview with Harper’s BAZAAR UK, Corrin reminds the audience,
“Our series is so separate from the reality. No one really knows or will ever know what their relationship was like… and nor should we.”
Nor should we. That statement holds immense power, and reminds The Crown enthusiasts that we are simply watching an artistic interpretation of a very real and very personal history. As cinematically brilliant and informative as The Crown is, it is one depiction of complex characters and nuanced events that we will never truly understand. And as a member of the audience, there is comfort in the fact that we will never truly know the centuries of joy and pain plastered into the walls of the palace, but rather we can observe and appreciate The Crown’s new season from the safety of our homes.
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