The Crown (season 6)

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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.

Persona Non Grata [6.1]

Queen Elizabeth II: I hear you had a visit from Princess Diana.

Tony Blair: Yes, she came to Chequers last week with Prince William. We had a nice game of five-a-side. That's football. Then we had lunch. Then the princess and I went for a walk around the grounds. She feels strongly that she still has a lot to offer the country as a public servant. And a lot of energy. If you take her recent work on landmines, two years ago, a global ban on landmines was considered impossible. Now, almost a hundred countries have agreed to sign a treaty outlawing them. When Diana talks, the world listens.

Queen Elizabeth II: Yes.

Tony Blair: She wanted to know if I, that is, the government, could find a way to harness her gifts on a more formal basis. And that any official role I, we, might offer her would be enormously appreciated.

Queen Elizabeth II: I always say it's hard to be half in anything. You're either in or out. You yourself will know the difference of being in government or out. While she's mother of the boys and, in that respect, always welcome at the palace, as a divorced woman and no longer an HRH, Diana is now learning the difference between being officially in the royal family, and out.

---

Prince Charles: May I just say how wonderful it is to see you all here, and thank you all so much for coming. And particularly, I want to thank my darling aunt, Princess Margaret, and Camilla's father, Major Shand. Bruce, as many of you know, is a wine merchant, so he's better placed than anyone else here to tell us what it is to improve with age. As one gets older, one starts to realize what one really values in life. One's health. One's family. And one's friends. The people who enrich our lives and who we can't bear to be without. Well, tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we're all here to celebrate a person who, I'm afraid, I can't bear to be without. Darling, all of us here can testify to your quite exceptional warmth and generosity. But, again and again, I've been struck by something else. And that is your heroism. Because over the years, there have been many people out there, who know nothing about you, who've been quite staggeringly unkind and unfair. Now, the easy thing for you to do, the understandable thing, would have been to walk away. But you haven't. You've stuck with it. And you've stuck with me. And for that, I am eternally grateful. I wanted tonight to read an excerpt from a famous letter. It's a story of ardent young lovers challenged by adversity who have a second chance of happiness later in life. It's from Persuasion, and it's Captain Wentworth's letter. "Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant." Camilla, for you alone, I think and plan.

Two Photographs [6.2]

Mario Brenna: Everyone wants pictures of celebrities. Pictures that show famous people. They are no different. They are human beings, just like us. Making mistakes, just like us. The old rules have changed. Now there are no rules. It's every guy for himself. People, they pay one, two hundred thousand dollars for the right shot. But the right shot is hard to get. You have to be like, like hunters. Killers.

Dis-Moi Oui [6.3]

Dodi Fayed: Look what you've managed to achieve in the year since you've been divorced. A global anti-landmine campaign, raising millions for charity. And yet you're still not satisfied. Stop being in such a mad hurry to find whatever it is you're looking for.

Princess Diana: You know, I think that's been the story of my whole life. Dashing around. And losing sight of myself in the process. It has all been a bit mad recently. And, you know, if I'm honest, it's motherhood that's consistently made me the happiest. When I go to bed at night, it's the boys I'm thinking about. It's not a man or a role or a job. It's the boys.

Aftermath [6.4]

Prince Charles: It's always been hard for us to understand the connection that Diana has with people, but the fact that it's inexplicable shouldn't lead us to deny it. I've just been out there. I've seen it for myself. People taking to the streets. Not just here, all over the world, in their hundreds, thousands. And they will expect us to show grief and compassion and for you to be mother to the nation.

Queen Elizabeth II: If you don't mind, I'm concerned with being a grandmother to William and Harry. That's my priority. And I'd rather not be lectured on how or when to grieve or show emotion.

Prince Philip: Particularly by the person who caused her the most pain.

Prince Charles: All right. All right. I admit, I, I let her down in life. But I will not let her down in death. We can't have it both ways. Haven't we learnt that yet? We can't be a private family when we want to be and a public one when it suits us. Time and time again, we try to have it both ways. We can't, and it's time William learnt that. Yes, he's a shy boy, but he's also a future king. And when his mother dies and people grieve, he has to behave like one.

---

Queen Elizabeth II: I hope you're happy now. You've finally succeeded in turning me and this house upside down.

Princess Diana: That was never my intention.

Queen Elizabeth II: Oh, please. [gestures to the television] Look at what you've started. It's nothing less than revolution.

Princess Diana: It didn't need to be. But by making an enemy of me, not of me personally, but of what I stand for, then it starts to look like one. They're trying to show you who they are. What they feel. What they need. And I know that must be terrifying, but it needn't be. For as long as anyone can remember, you've taught us what it means to be British. Maybe it's time to show you're ready to learn too.

---

Prince William: Why are they crying for someone they never knew?

Prince Philip: They're not crying for her. They're crying for you.

Willsmania [6.5]

Prince William: You think I'm just like her. And you hate me for it.

Prince Charles: William. William, look, I admit, I... It, it has been strange. Unnerving, perhaps, to see the similarities. The way the crowds connect with you, adore you, the way you move something in them. And, yes, all right, I'm still getting used to it because I, I do see her in you. But that's not a bad thing. In fact, it's a rather wonderful thing. And it's only natural between a son and his mother. Look, I, I know I haven't got everything right. What parent does? I wish I had half your mother's emotional intelligence. And I'm sorry I haven't risen to the occasion in the way that you wanted me to, but the thing that people don't understand is that I've been grieving too.

Prince William: Really? Your grief. You're talking to me about your grief?

Prince Charles: Yes, of course. What? You think I'm not shattered by this? Your mother and I had just patched up our differences. We'd...

Prince William: Patched up your differences? What planet are you on? She still loved you, and only wanted to be in the South of France so not to be there when you threw a birthday party for the other one.

---

Prince William: I hate it. All the screaming and the shouting and all the attention. It's as if they think because I look like her, I'm like her.

Prince Philip: You're not remotely like her.

Prince William: I know that.

Prince Philip: So, is it possible you're angry with her for having been all the things you're not? Comfortable in the spotlight. Confident in front of an adoring crowd, which you think you now have to be.

Prince William: And hate.

Prince Philip: And is it possible you're angry with her because, well, because of her leaving you? And leaving you to deal with that legacy? Except, what son can ever be angry with his mother? Especially when he's grieving for her and missing her so terribly. So you take it out on someone else. And blame him for the fact that she's gone. An accusation I'm sure he's leveled at himself a hundred times. As have we all. But it's not our fault. And it's not his fault. And one day, when you're a father and your own son is staring at you with murderous eyes, and you're praying for his forgiveness, as your father is currently praying for yours and as I have on shamefully too few occasions prayed for his, well, maybe remember this chat.

Ruritania [6.6]

Queen Elizabeth II: You were political with the WI, the one thing we pride ourselves on never being.

Tony Blair: Well, as far as criticisms go, being too political is one I think I can live with. It would be like someone describing you as being too royal.

Queen Elizabeth II: I think I've come to realize there's no such thing as too royal. If you're doing it, do it properly. And unapologetically.

Ritz [6.8]

Princess Margaret: I've written a very detailed plan for my funeral. You know what a planner I am. And I want your reassurance that it will go exactly as I intend. I want to wear my flower dress, not some horrid black thing. And please don't let them put red lipstick on me. For the chapel, I want roses and tulips, and I want the finale to Swan Lake playing on the organ as people arrive. And one more thing. Very important.

Queen Elizabeth II: Yes, of course.

Princess Margaret: Promise me that I will actually be dead when they close the coffin.

---

Queen Elizabeth II: As a child, I felt sorry for children who didn't have a brother or a sister. From the day she was born, Margaret Rose has been my constant companion. Rarely able to see other children, we relied on one another, and, like Juno's swans, we were inseparable. We, we shared a room, wore the same clothes, enjoyed the same activities. In particular, managing our collection of wooden horses on wheels that we would groom and water and race. And whenever we got into trouble, Margaret would blame everything on her imaginary friend, Cousin Halifax.

Princess Margaret: Oh, yes, I would.

Queen Elizabeth II: There really wasn't anything Cousin Halifax wouldn't do. Sounding the air raid bell to wake the guards. Hiding the gardener's tools. He really was very mischievous. It's not always easy, growing up in a family where one person has to wear the crown, being the number two. But Margaret has been my ally, day in, day out. And that is the person I wanted to tell you about tonight. Not the dazzling, you all know that already, but the dutiful. Never wavering. My lifelong companion and support without whom, well, it would be unimaginable. Dearest Margaret, many happy returns.

Hope Street [6.9]

Queen Elizabeth II: The problem with telling someone you will always back them and then making it conditional is they tend to hear only the offer of support and not the conditions.

Sleep, Dearie Sleep [6.10]

Queen Elizabeth II (Younger): Monarchy is something you are, not what you do. The Crown is a symbol of permanence. Of stability. Of continuity. If you step down, you will be symbolizing instability and impermanence. You'll also be indicating the luxury of choice, which is the one thing we cannot have if we claim the Crown is also our birthright.

Queen Elizabeth II: So you would have a superannuated old lady running the show while a fit, energetic Prince of Wales watches on, straining at the leash.

Queen Elizabeth II (Younger): But I don't see you as decrepit. Since the jubilee, since Mummy's death, I see you as liberated. Confident. You say that Charles is in his prime. Well, I see you in yours. And admit it. You sometimes think there's a difference between you and the rest of the family.

Queen Elizabeth II: Yes.

Queen Elizabeth II (Younger): It comes naturally to you. They all seem to make such a mess of it.

Queen Elizabeth II: I didn't say that.

Queen Elizabeth II (Younger): No, but you've thought it. Privately. And with good reason. This system is a dreadful thing to inflict upon people. It's not natural. It's not fair. It's not kind. But you seem to thrive in it. And, more importantly, it seems to thrive under you. So, shouldn't you stay for every single day that you can?

Queen Elizabeth II: But what about the life I put aside, the woman I put aside, when I became Queen?

Queen Elizabeth II (Younger): What sort of question is that? For years now, there has been just one Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth. If you went looking for Elizabeth Windsor, you wouldn't find her. She's gone. Long gone. You buried her years ago.

---

Prince Philip: The system makes no sense anymore to those outside it, nor to those of us inside it. "All human things are subject to decay, and when fate summons, even monarchs must obey." We're a dying breed, you and I. Oh, I'm sure everyone will carry on, pretending all is well. But the party's over. The good news is, that while Rome burns and the temple falls, we will sleep, dearie, sleep.

Queen Elizabeth II: Oh, you looked.

Prince Philip: Yes. A piper's lament. Your sole musical choice. It's very you.

Queen Elizabeth II: And your coffin being driven in an old Land Rover is very you.