“THE CROWN” SEASON FOUR: PAST GLORIES,

BLEAK FUTURES
by Andrew Petiprin • December 8, 2020

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Since 2016, The Crown has been the gold standard for television drama. Chronicling the life
of Queen Elizabeth II, the series has appealed not only to fans of the royal family and
consumers of escapist entertainment like Downton Abbey. In her career, as well as in the
lives of her family members and subjects, Queen Elizabeth II represents a complex vision of
the good: sacrifice over selfishness, duty over desire, wisdom over passions. In season one,
we saw a contrast that explained much about the modern world: King Edward VIII abdicated
the throne to marry an American divorcée. His brother King George VI led his people
through World War II and died from the stress of a job not meant for him. His young
daughter, Elizabeth, took over with determination to bear the giant crown with dignity on her
tiny frame. Season three saw a completely new cast, including the superb Olivia Colman as
the Queen, taking us into Her Majesty’s mature years, where we remain in season four,
newly released on Netflix.

We finally meet the iconic first woman prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, as well as the
beautiful, troubled Princess Diana. We also encounter a Britain and a world that looks
increasingly alien to the queen’s throwback virtue; however, Thatcher, played somewhat as a
caricature by Gillian Anderson, is a cold workaholic against whom the queen finally appears
warm and relaxed. The episode when Thatcher and her husband visit the Royal Family at
Balmoral is particularly poignant, especially coupled with the future Princess Diana’s hit
appearance in the same venue. Emma Corrin’s portrayal of Diana is astonishingly authentic
and deeply moving. Her sad story contains some of the most difficult content to watch in
the whole run of The Crown, but it is also some of the very best.

Season four is a riveting story of three powerful, troubled women; but I was most intrigued
by the accompanying story of the queen’s four children: Charles, Ann, Andrew, and Edward.
In them, King Edward VIII’s tragedy of modernity resumes.

All four of Queen Elizabeth II’s children are determined in their own way to play their great
uncle’s role of selfish victim instead of pursuing their mother’s example of servant
leadership. As such, the latest episodes of the Crown present an origin story of today’s
disenchanted world. In episode four, “Favourites,” the Queen has cringe-worthy luncheons
with each of her offspring, including a disturbing conversation with Prince Andrew, who
alludes to the kind of #metoo crimes he is widely alleged to have engaged in years later with
Jeffrey Epstein. Here we see how in one famous and powerful family, strong institutions
can be undermined in a single generation. Or maybe, the seed of decadence long ago
planted finally takes root after a valiant last flowering of virtue. From the queen to her
children, there is a dramatic drop-off from the height of supernatural courage. The queen’s
generation won wars. Her children’s generation wallows in its own comfort.

Josh O’Connor is magnificent as the childishly vain Prince Charles, struggling in many ways
as Prince Philip did in season three, but failing to find the inspiration to embrace his duty as
his father ultimately did. Charles is particularly dangerous because he is so serious in the
face of what he perceives as frivolity. His own wife becomes an object of jealousy, and his
public role is an inconvenience to the private paradise he seeks to build at his new stately
home. If the ordinary world will not understand his adulterous desires, he will keep it at
arm’s length until mores change. In a telling moment at the end of a conversation with
Prince Philip, the queen appears subtly determined to live as long as she can to keep her
wayward son off the throne. Decades later, Prince Charles still awaits his turn to rule in real
life, making do with being part of a group of mediocre figures of yesteryear that want to
dictate my children’s future with a Great Reset. Thanks, but no thanks.

Season four of The Crown follows the series pattern of focusing on peculiar events to use
as backgrounds to tell a larger tale. The Falklands War and the crisis of trying to end
Apartheid in South Africa are two well-known stories. Less memorable but just as
interesting is the story of Michael Fagan, who broke into Buckingham Palace and aired his
grievances to the queen in her bedroom. Likewise, the series depicts Princess Margaret’s
discovery of her mentally disabled, cast-aside cousins. Throughout the new season, as in
the previous ones, writer/creator Peter Morgan displays a storytelling genius that few
working in television today can approach.

For Christians, the message of season four of The Crown is a call to repentance and an
instigation to renewal. The tragic divorces, decadence, and death that await the characters
in the series represent the failure we live with at the top of our society today, in parts of the
Church as much as in the secular world. But alongside the darkness of the 1980s Boomer
ascendency, we find some hope in the next generation—the baby heir to the throne, Prince
William.

We may breathe a sigh of relief in the United States that we have probably elected our last
president born in the 1940s. But we do well to take a peek further back in the past at
ancestors who lived through graver crises than ours today. Prince Charles and the rest of
the ruling elite have messed up good, and we need something else—both ancient and new.
It may take time. As the real-life Queen Elizabeth II said in her Christmas message to the
British people last year:

At the heart of the Christmas story lies the birth of a child: a seemingly
small and insignificant step overlooked by many in Bethlehem. But in time,
through his teaching and by his example, Jesus Christ would show the
world how small steps taken in faith and in hope can overcome long-held
differences and deep-seated divisions to bring harmony and understanding.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Until then, arguably the best TV show of the decade may help us cope.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew Petiprin
Andrew Petiprin is Fellow of Popular Culture at the Word on
Fire Institute. He is an author and former Anglican cleric who
came into full communion with the Catholic Church on
January 1, 2019. He earned an M.Div. from Yale University
and an M.Phil from Oxford University.

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