The Crown (season 5)

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The Crown (2016–2023) is an English historical drama airing on Netflix about the life of Queen Elizabeth II, beginning with her marriage to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 1947 and ending in the 21st century.

Queen Victoria Syndrome [5.1]

Queen Elizabeth II: I am aware the comparison between Queen Victoria and me has been made recently in the newspapers and intended as criticism. What people fail to understand is, I see any similarity with Queen Victoria as a compliment. Attributes people use to describe her, constancy, stability, calm, duty, I would be proud to have describe me. And speaking of the royal yacht, it has now become clear that a small refit, a teeny-tiny little refreshment and refurbishment, is required to keep her in tip-top shape. I am aware the costs for its maintenance are borne by the government, not by the Palace, and so here I am, coming to you, Prime Minister. On bended knee. For the sign-off. But I'm hoping that will be a formality.

John Major: I'm just mindful that, before she left office, Mrs. Thatcher bequeathed the Palace an extremely generous civil list settlement. A deal that leaves the royal family richer than ever before. Given that this deal was designed precisely to forestall any awkward public debate on royal spending, I feel bound to at least raise the question of whether there's a way you might consider bearing the cost yourselves. It's just, with the royal yacht being perceived as something of a luxury, there is a danger the Palace could be seen to be asking for too much.

Queen Elizabeth II: But she isn't a luxury.

John Major: Isn't she?

Queen Elizabeth II: Prime Minister, there has always been a royal yacht, going all the way back to King Charles II. She is a central and indispensable part of the way the Crown serves the nation. And the revenue she has generated doing so is incalculable.

John Major: But we're in the midst of a global recession. Each penny of public spending is closely scrutinized. I worry that the government spending public money on the refurbishment of a lu... of a yacht might backfire. On us both.

Queen Elizabeth II: When I came to the throne, all my palaces were inherited. Windsor, Balmoral, Sandringham. They all bear the stamp of my predecessors. Only Britannia have I truly been able to make my own. Perhaps for that reason, the connection between me and the yacht is very much deeper than a mode of transport or even a home. From the design of the hull to the smallest piece of china, she is a floating, seagoing expression of me. I hope we can agree that, as sovereign, I have made very few requests, let alone demands, in return for the service I have given this country. Perhaps the reason I have held back is in the hope that when I actually do, people don't just take it seriously. They do as I ask without question. So, I would like this government's reassurance, your reassurance, that the costs for the refurbishments will be met, and for you to inform me as soon as the arrangements are in place.

---

John Major: When you imagine the problems you might be confronted with as prime minister, you imagine tricky sessions at PMQs. The economy in free fall. Going to war. You never imagine this. The House of Windsor should be binding the nation together. Setting an example of idealized family life. Instead, the senior royals seem dangerously deluded and out of touch. The junior royals, feckless, entitled, and lost. And the Prince of Wales, impatient for a bigger role in public life, fails to appreciate that his one great asset is his wife. It's a situation that cannot help but affect the stability of the country. And what makes it worse is it feels it's all about to erupt. On my watch.

The System [5.2]

Penny Knatchbull: Norton thought it was morbid to have her so close, but I wanted somewhere I could see her every day. Be near to her every day. It also means I can never leave here.

Prince Philip: Why would you want to?

Penny Knatchbull: It's not always easy.

Prince Philip: You know, one of the many, many things that attracted me to Lilibet was that the commitment would necessarily be lifelong. And to a young man who'd had such an unsettled nomadic childhood, the clarity of that permanence felt so reassuring. It still does. But it brings its problems too. Because it doesn't take into account the one thing human beings do the minute they make a commitment to a life together.

Penny Knatchbull: Which is?

Prince Philip: Grow in separate directions.

---

James Colthurst: Andrew wanted you to start by explaining why you're doing this.

Princess Diana: Because I've tried everything. I've confronted my husband about his mistress, and I've been dismissed. I've gone to the Queen. It's like facing a blank wall. And it finally dawned on me that unless I get my side of the story out there, people will never understand how it's really been for me.

---

Prince Philip: A long time ago, I lost my favorite sister. Cecile. In an airplane crash. I learned then what grief was. True grief. How it moves through the body. How it inhabits it. How it becomes part of your skin. Your cells. And it makes a home there. A permanent home. But you learn to live with it. And you will be happy again. Though never in the same way as before, but, but that's the point. To keep finding new ways.

---

Prince Philip: I can be a tough old nut, but I've always had a soft spot for you. Maybe because you're young. Maybe because you're a beautiful woman. Maybe because I often share your frustration with your husband. I've always felt protective of you. Fond of you. There, I've said it. So when I see you making errors of judgment, I want to lean across the table and remind you, I'm on your team. What am I trying to say? You're not a novice anymore. You're long past the point of thinking of us as a family. That's the mistake people make in the beginning, but you understand, I think, it's a system. And we're all in this system. You, me, the Boss. The cousins, the uncles, the aunts, the lepers. For better or for worse, we're all stuck in it. And we can't just air our grievances and throw bombs in the air as in a normal family, or we end up damaging something much bigger and something much more important. The system. So the tip I want to give you is this. I mean, just, just be creative. You can break as many rules as you like. You can do whatever you want. You can make whatever arrangements you need to find your own happiness. As long as you remember the one condition, the one rule. You remain loyal to your husband and loyal to this family in public.

Princess Diana: You mean silent?

Prince Philip: Yes. Don't rock the boat.

Mou Mou [5.3]

Mohamed Al-Fayed: Is it really true you used to work for the King of England?

Sydney Johnson: I worked for His Royal Highness the Duke of Windsor after he abdicated the throne as King Edward VIII, yes.

Mohamed Al-Fayed: You know the Duke visited Alexandria once.

Sydney Johnson: That was my first overseas trip with His Royal Highness, and then he asked me to join him permanently and brought me here with him to Paris.

Mohamed Al-Fayed: As his valet?

Sydney Johnson: Yes, sir.

Mohamed Al-Fayed: The Valet of the King!

Sydney Johnson: Sir?

Mohamed Al-Fayed: It's an Egyptian thing. No matter. So, tell me, what did your job entail? What did you do for him?

Sydney Johnson: Everything. I took care of every aspect of his life from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning to the moment he closed them at night.

Mohamed Al-Fayed: And how did someone, forgive me, of your background know what the former King of England might need?

Sydney Johnson: I didn't. His Royal Highness taught me everything. With great patience and kindness.

Mohamed Al-Fayed: Then, will you teach me?

Sydney Johnson: In which capacity?

Mohamed Al-Fayed: As my personal valet. British society is the finest in the world. British manners and customs rule the world. With your help, I will become that rare thing, a British gentleman.

Annus Horribilis [5.4]

Prince Andrew: We all knew what we were getting into when we brought Sarah into the family. Everyone was so pro. You more than anyone.

Queen Elizabeth II: Yes. She was a breath of fresh air.

Prince Andrew: Modern, relatable, buckets of fun.

Queen Elizabeth II: That laugh.

Prince Andrew: So infectious.

Queen Elizabeth II: Yes.

Prince Andrew: But that's what we do in this family. Destroy anyone that's different. Not at the beginning. First, we tell ourselves how good they'll be for the system. They'll be our salvation, our secret weapon. Make us look more modern. More normal. More human. And we learn the same painful lessons yet again. That no one with any character, originality, spark, wit, and flare has a place in this system.

---

Queen Elizabeth II: Darling, I'm glad you've found happiness. I know how difficult it was in the end with Mark. But of all the families you could have been born into, fate has endowed you with this one, with everything that goes with it. Including the fact that your mother is Supreme Governor of the Church of England and remarriage when the first husband is still alive, as you well know, is not only frowned upon, it is forbidden.

Princess Anne: I, of all people, hardly need reminding of the requirements of being in this family. I have dedicated myself to my role. Bent myself into shape. Placed duty above all else. Including, more often than not, my own happiness. Five engagements a day. Three hundred days a year, for the past twenty-four years. Well, you cannot have all of me. And I will not give all of me. And I will marry Tim.

---

Queen Elizabeth II: I have been no stranger this year to my children's marital difficulties. But while Anne's and Andrew's problems are deeply distressing, yours are in a category of their own because you, as future king, are in a category of your own. At my coronation, I took an oath that you will one day take at yours to maintain the laws of God. And God's law is that marriage is for life. And while it is expected for the monarch to be married and produce an heir, being happily married is a preference rather than a requirement.

Prince Charles: You also took a solemn promise to maintain and protect the Crown. Diana won't rest until she's blown the whole thing up.

---

Princess Margaret: Any idea how it started? The great metaphor? I mean, fire.

Queen Elizabeth II: A spotlight blew a fuse or something. In the private chapel. All very innocent.

Princess Margaret: Or was it? Like one of those Agatha Christie mysteries. One can imagine multiple suspects, each with their own perfectly plausible motive to burn the place down.

Queen Elizabeth II: Who?

Princess Margaret: My neighbor, for one.

Queen Elizabeth II: Diana?

Princess Margaret: Frustrated after years of neglect, she decides to take the matter into her own hands. Though arson probably isn't violent enough for her. She'd prefer an atomic bomb.

Queen Elizabeth II: Hasn't she detonated that already?

Princess Margaret: Andrew, the Duke of York. Furious at his own mother for having led him to believe his whole life that he was irresistible and invulnerable, only to discover his principal role is to be humiliated. Me.

Queen Elizabeth II: You?

Princess Margaret: You don't think I have reason to burn down my sister's home?

Queen Elizabeth II: Why would you do that?

Princess Margaret: Because of what she denied me. Peter Townsend.

Queen Elizabeth II: What?

Princess Margaret: Without sun and water, crops fail, Lilibet. Let me ask. How many times has Philip done something? Intervened when you couldn't? Be strong when you couldn't be? Be angry when you couldn't be? Be decisive when you couldn't be? How many times have you said a silent prayer of gratitude for him and thought to yourself, If I didn't have him, I'd never be able to do it? How often? Peter was my sun. My water. And you denied me him.

Queen Elizabeth II: I denied you as Queen, not as your sister.

Princess Margaret: The conditions are irrelevant. The prohibition is what counts. A prohibition, incidentally, you are not now extending to Anne.

Queen Elizabeth II: That is different.

Princess Margaret: How is it different? Anne is a royal princess with no prospect of acceding to the throne, as was I. Commander Laurence is a palace equerry, marrying scandalously above his station. Peter was a palace equerry, hoping to marry scandalously above his. Anne and Commander Laurence are in love. Peter and I were in love. In both cases, one party is a divorcee. The situation is identical in every way except for the outcome. She is being allowed to marry him. I wasn't. Her story ends happily. Mine did not. And yet, even after forty years, you cannot bring yourself to acknowledge what happened to me and the part you played in it.

The Way Ahead [5.5]

Prince Philip: If I weren't so ashamed, I might confess to admiration of the sheer scale of your achievement. In one fell swoop, you've succeeded in alienating the church over your moral fitness, the politicians over your conduct unbecoming, The House of Commons is in uproar. They're saying we've pressed the self-destruct button. Among your many, entirely unjustified military honors is colonel-in-chief of the Royal Regiment of Wales. I wonder if you might remind us of their motto? [Charles starts speaking in Welsh] In English.

Prince Charles: Better death than dishonor.

Prince Philip: What's that? Speak up!

Prince Charles: Better death than dishonor.

Prince Philip: A sentiment on which you would do well to reflect.

---

Princess Anne: What's all this I hear about a book?

Prince Charles: The idea is to do a book following on from the interview. Taking some of the points further.

Princess Anne: Why?

Prince Charles: Because a lot of the really important things I wanted to say about education and environment and architecture got drowned out by all the hoo-hah about adultery. Also, people are interested.

Princess Anne: Maybe not as interested as you think.

Prince Charles: Maybe more interested than you think. If my postbag is anything to go by. In the 18th century, it was considered perfectly normal for the Prince of Wales to set up shop at Leicester House to generate fresh ideas. A shadow monarchy, in essence. A rival court.

Princess Anne: But this is not the 18th century. And creating rival courts is not what we do in this family. We close ranks behind the sovereign, not criticize her.

Prince Charles: We're all after the same thing, Anne.

No Woman's Land [5.7]

Princess Diana: No one prepares you for what it's like to be separated. It's a strange sort of no-man's-land. Or no-woman's-land. Neither married nor single. Neither royal nor normal. Like a harpy. One of those mythological creatures. Half woman, half bird. And one minute, you're flying high, the center of attention. And the next thing, you're down to earth with a bump. Not even a bump. A crash. No one to talk to. And there's no one for company. At least when I had the children here, we had each other. Now William's about to start at Eton. I can't believe he's already at that age. So grown-up. And he's always been my rock. Now that he's gone, I don't know what I'll do.

---

Queen Elizabeth II: You and Diana talk, don't you?

Princess Margaret: What makes you think that?

Queen Elizabeth II: You always say how much sympathy you have for her.

Princess Margaret: I feel for her. As an outsider. As someone who is emotionally complex. As someone who struggles to lead a straightforward life. As someone with flair and character. And star quality.

Queen Elizabeth II: Yes.

Princess Margaret: The system isn't easy for people like us, you know. But that doesn't mean we talk. Or share confidences. Diana comes and goes, and I have no idea what she's up to.

Gunpowder [5.8]

Queen Elizabeth II: Does it not occur to you that if you feel the need to clear a few things up, a public forum might not be the best place to do it? That such matters would best be discussed in private with the people involved?

Princess Diana: I've tried that.

Queen Elizabeth II: When?

Princess Diana: On numerous occasions over the years. I've asked to see you so that we might talk face-to-face. And on every occasion, you refused or were unavailable.

Queen Elizabeth II: I accept it's not easy navigating this family. And I can understand why you might think we're all a bit remote. But there is another word for "remote." Busy. We are all busy people with busy diaries, rarely under the same roof for two nights at a time. And none of us, not one senior member of the royal family, has a spare ten minutes to think about themselves, let alone you or how we might best make your life miserable. On the contrary. It might surprise you to learn we all spend a great deal of time doing the opposite. 'Cause when people, armies of people, say to me, What has that girl done now? Who does she think she is?, What do you imagine I say? Oh, Lord, yes, Diana's awful. A nightmare. What a mistake that was. Not once. Not a single time. You're wife to my eldest son, mother to my grandsons, and a valued senior member of this family, so I defend you each and every time. Loyally. Emphatically. To the hilt. The enemy you imagine I am, the hostility you imagine we all feel is a figment of your imagination.

Princess Diana: Is it?

Queen Elizabeth II: Yes. All any of us want, Diana, is for you to be happy. And one day, to be our next Queen.

---

Marmaduke Hussey: A great many honest, decent people work at the BBC. And on their behalf and mine, I'm so sorry.

Queen Elizabeth II: Diana had the decency to warn me in advance, but no one was prepared for this.

Marmaduke Hussey: I blame myself entirely. And will, of course, hand in my resignation.

Queen Elizabeth II: There's no need, Dukey.

Marmaduke Hussey: There's every need, ma'am. I'm already hearing shocking rumors about how the interview was secured. How can I effectively govern when it's not a corporation I recognize anymore? It's not a world I recognize anymore.

Decommissioned [5.10]

Prince Charles: For years, Diana has washed her dirty linen in public. She's thrown endless grenades over the Palace gates trying to blow us all up. And throughout this, Camilla has remained a model of discretion and decency and dignity. And yet you save your most bitter condemnation for her. The prime minister...

Queen Elizabeth II: Ah yes, the prime minister.

Prince Charles: [ignoring her interruption] ...a young man who understands the public better than anyone, told me that what they want is a happy heir to the throne whose private life reflects the world as they see it.

Queen Elizabeth II: I don't want to get drawn on Mr. Blair or whether he understands the people better than me or not.

Prince Charles: I'd say he does.

Queen Elizabeth II: But I do want to make clear that the only person in this family to have a direct relationship with the first minister is the sovereign.

Prince Charles: Which will one day be me.

Queen Elizabeth II: One day. But not yet.

Prince Charles: When?

Queen Elizabeth II: You should know the answer better than anyone because, God willing, you will one day take the oath yourself. This job is for life.

Prince Charles: Let's hope there's still an institution for me to take the oath for.

Queen Elizabeth II: I don't think it's my behavior that's threatening its survival.

Prince Charles: Isn't it? It hasn't been on my watch that there's been a complete breakdown of authority, that a program on national television's made such a mockery of us.

Queen Elizabeth II: The vote, as I understand it, went comfortably in our favor. Less in yours.

Prince Charles: In Hong Kong, I saw how easy it is to dispose of us. Buildings renamed. Your head removed from the stamps. 150 years of living under the Crown, they couldn't have been shot of us more quickly. That's what happens when we fail to move with the times. You can't be blamed for living a long life.

Queen Elizabeth II: Thank you.

Prince Charles: But you have to accept that your, your values were shaped by Queen Mary.

Queen Elizabeth II: Yes. Proud of it.

Prince Charles: Hers by Queen Victoria.

Queen Elizabeth II: Proud of that too.

Prince Charles: I'm just worried, Mummy, that if we continue to hold onto these Victorian notions of how the monarchy should look, how it should feel, then the world will move on. And those who come after you will be, will be left with nothing.