Season one of The Crown begins in 1947, where Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark
renounces his titles and takes the name Philip Mountbatten in order to marry Princess Elizabeth,
the heir to the English throne. Philip quickly rises up the ranks of the Royal Navy,
and the couple give birth to two children, Charles and Anne.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, begins to fall gravely ill. Members of
the Cabinet begin to grow concerned about Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s abilities to govern,
leading to Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Eden asking George to persuade Churchill
to step down. George refuses, and soon after dies in his sleep.
Following the King’s death, Elizabeth assumes the role of sovereign. Just like her father,
Elizabeth is pressured by her advisors to ask Churchill to step down. A Great Smog has come
to London, killing thousands, and Churchill’s inaction angers the Cabinet. Before Elizabeth
has a chance to speak with Churchill, his secretary is struck and killed by a bus
due to the smog affecting visibility of the road. This inspires Churchill to take action,
delivering a passionate speech and developing the Clean Air Act
to prevent future smog. And so, Elizabeth decides to let Churchill remain in office.
King George’s brother Edward VIII returns home for the first time in twenty years, having previously
been the King, but abdicating the throne to controversially marry a twice-divorced
American socialite, Wallis Simpson. Edward immediately clashes with his mother, Queen Mary,
and George’s widow, the Queen Mother, who still resent him for his shameful and harmful actions
toward the monarchy. Despite this, Elizabeth frequently turns to Edward for counsel.
Elizabeth’s younger sister, Princess Margaret, begins an affair with the divorced Royal Air
Force officer Peter Townsend. The Church of England forbids divorcees to be remarried,
so Margaret and Townsend would need Elizabeth’s support to get married. Following advice from
Edward, who had experienced marrying a divorcee and shaming the monarchy, Elizabeth
forbids the marriage, devastating Margaret.
Meanwhile, Philip begins to grow frustrated at feeling like nothing more than a prop to
Elizabeth, leading to a very public confrontation. This begins to strain their relationship,
and Philip begins to spend more time away from the Palace, while Elizabeth grows close to her
horse-racing manager, Lord “Porchey” Porchester, which further escalates the fracturing of
Elizabeth and Philip’s marriage. Elizabeth affirms to Philip that he was the only man she ever loved,
and he apologizes for his actions, leading to the couple reconciling.
As the season comes to a close, Winston Churchill finally resigns,
with Anthony Eden succeeding him as Prime Minister.
In season two of The Crown, the marriage of Elizabeth and Philip continues to crumble.
After discovering a photo in Philip’s briefcase, Elizabeth becomes convinced he is having an
affair with a Russian ballerina. When Philip’s secretary Michael is served divorce papers due
to infidelity, the press begin to investigate Philip and Elizabeth’s marriage and Philip is
forced to fire Michael. Philip then confesses to Elizabeth that he resents their son Charles
outranking him, and that he wants more respect from the palace staff. And so,
Elizabeth names him “His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.” Following this,
the two once again reconcile and give birth to another son, Prince Andrew.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Eden orders British troops into Egypt to handle the Suez Crisis.
Immense international political pressure forces Eden to withdraw the British forces, leading to a
historic setback in foreign policy and the ruining of Eden’s reputation. Eden is forced to resign
from his position and Chancellor Harold Macmillan is made the new Prime Minister. Macmillan serves
as Prime Minister for many years, until he too is forced to resign due to ailing health.
Princess Margaret is still reeling from her breakup with Peter Townsend when she meets
photographer Tony Armstrong-Jones. Tony takes a photo of Margaret in which she appears nude that
Margaret has published in the newspaper, shocking both Elizabeth and the public. When Margaret
learns that Townsend has gotten engaged to a much younger woman, she pressures Tony into proposing.
Elizabeth discovers that Tony may have fathered a child during a series of sexual relationships,
but decides to withhold that information from Margaret. And so, Margaret and Tony get married.
Queen Elizabeth is forced to deal with another massive scandal when historians
discover classified documents known as the Marburg Files. These files detailed Edward’s
past association with Adolf Hitler, including he and his wife Wallis being Hitler’s personal
guests after their marriage. Most damning was proof of the Nazis’ plan to reinstate Edward
as a fascist King of England should they come out of the war victorious. Following
this revelation, Elizabeth condemns Edward and banishes him from the royal family.
As the season comes to a close, the fractures in Elizabeth and Philip’s marriage reemerge.
A massive sex scandal rocks the country, involving Secretary of State for War John
Profumo and a young model named Christine Keeler, who also happened to be having an affair with
Soviet Captain Yevgeny Ivanov. This affair was feared by MI5 to be a massive security breach,
and it was all facilitated at a lavish sex party hosted by a man named Stephen Ward.
Ward is put on trial, but ends his own life before a verdict is reached. Prince Philip is
believed to be in photos from Ward’s parties, and a hand drawn picture of Philip is found
in Ward’s belongings. Elizabeth confronts Philip over attending Ward’s sex parties,
but he denies having ever been involved. Prince Philip reaffirms his love and support
for Elizabeth, and the two reconcile once again, leading to the birth of Prince Edward.
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the channel. Now let’s get back to the recap.
Season three of The Crown opens with the death of an old Prime Minister, Winston Churchill,
and the welcoming of a new Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. Rumors begin to spread that Wilson
was a mole working for the KGB, but Elizabeth discovers that the real mole was her art advisor,
Anthony Blunt. Blunt also happened to be in possession of evidence of Philip’s
involvement in the Profumo sex scandal. And so, the Royal family never publicly
acknowledges Blunt’s treachery in an effort to protect themselves from further media scrutiny.
Cabinet members begin to express frustration at the Royal family’s lavish lifestyle and
expenditures, which is made worse when Prince Philip publicly complains about
the tightening of the budget and the fact that he was forced to sell one of his many
yachts. This is all a part of Philip’s mid-life crisis, as he begins to feel he
has never accomplished anything. Broken and faithless, Philip meets with Robin Woods,
the Dean of Windsor, who helps restore his faith and give his life meaning.
Philip’s Uncle, Lord Mountbatten, begins to cause some trouble of his
own when he attempts to stage a coup to overthrow Harold Wilson and name
himself the new Prime Minister. Elizabeth discovers the plan and rebukes the Lord.
Mountbatten also grows close with Elizabeth and Philip’s son, Charles. Charles falls in
love with a woman named Camilla Shand, currently dating Andrew Parker Bowles,
whom his family disapprove of. When Charles asks Mountbatten for help in convincing the
family to support a marriage to Camilla, Mountbatten instead schemes with Elizabeth
to put an end to the relationship. Camilla is married off to Andrew,
and Charles is shipped off to a posting in the Caribbean for eight months.
Throughout the season, Princess Margaret’s marriage to Tony falls apart and she begins
an affair with a man named Roddy Llewellyn. When photos of the affair are made public,
Margaret and Tony proceed with their divorce, the first divorce in the Royal family since Henry VIII
in the 16th century. Publicly ridiculed and struggling with severe depression,
Princess Margaret attempts to kill herself. Fortunately, she survives,
and Queen Elizabeth emotionally confesses to Margaret that she was the most important
person in her life. The two sisters reminisce and bond, and as the season comes to a close, Britain
celebrates Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee, which marks the 25th anniversary of her serving as Queen.
In season four of The Crown, Margaret Thatcher is elected as the country’s first female Prime
Minister. Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth quickly clash over their differing beliefs, with Thatcher
making significant spending cuts in the face of heavy opposition from her colleagues. When
Argentina invades the Falkland Islands, Thatcher declares war. Frustrated by the collapsing
economy, unemployment, and an expensive war, a man named Michael Fagan manages to break into
Buckingham Palace to confront the Queen and demand her to save the country from Thatcher. Things come
to a head between Elizabeth and Thatcher when the Queen supports sanctions to help end the Apartheid
in South Africa, but the Prime Minister refuses to sign the sanctions out of fear for their effect on
the British economy. Eventually, Thatcher agrees to support the sanctions after they are renamed
“signals”, but the rift has already formed. Although the Queen is supposed to be apolitical,
Elizabeth allows rumors of her feud with Thatcher to leak to the press. When Deputy
Prime Minister Geoffrey Howe resigns from his office and gives a speech criticizing Thatcher,
it causes her entire cabinet to turn against her. While Thatcher at first considers dissolving
Parliament to remain in power, Elizabeth convinces her to instead accept defeat and resign.
Meanwhile, as Elizabeth and Philip’s son, Prince Edward, comes of age, he is given
the role of Counsellor of State, which pushes Princess Margaret out of the role and further
into depression. When Margaret begins seeing a therapist she discovers that two of her cousins,
Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, long thought to be dead, were actually institutionalized. The
cousins suffered from severe developmental disorders, which the Royal family wanted to
hide away. Margaret is appalled by this family revelation and becomes further disillusioned.
Charles is continuing his affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles,
but when Lord Mountbatten is assassinated, the Prince reads a letter written by his
now deceased great uncle that urged him to find a suitable wife. And so, Charles begins
a relationship with Lady Diana Spencer, who quickly impresses the entire Royal family.
As his family pressures him to marry Diana, Charles continues his affair with Camilla.
After getting engaged, Diana develops an eating disorder due to the pressures of being a part
of the Royal family and the stress of marrying a man she didn’t truly know. Princess Margaret, who
had her own history of failed relationships, warns Elizabeth and Philip to stop the marriage, but the
Queen and her Prince persist. And so, Charles and Diana are married in a huge public celebration.
As the years pass, Princess Margaret’s warnings prove to be right, as Charles
and Diana’s relationship deteriorates. Despite now having two children together, William and Harry,
Charles continues to harbor a love for Camilla, while Diana begins an affair with
a man named James Hewitt. Further straining their relationship is Charles’ bitterness
and resentfulness over Diana’s continually growing public popularity. Charles then
decides he wants to end the marriage to be with Camilla, despite Camilla’s very real concerns
of a harsh public backlash. Charles’ parents are then forced into fixing their son’s mess,
with Elizabeth forbidding Charles to go through with a divorce, and Philip convincing Diana to
remain loyal to the Royals. As Diana dreams of a love and life away from the crown,
Philip forebodingly warns her, “Let’s just say, I can’t see it ending well for you.”
What events are you most looking forward to seeing covered in The Crown season 5? Let me
know in the comments below. Thanks so much for watching. I’ll see you in the next one!