Recently Netflix released a new original series called The Crown. It revolves primarily around Queen Elizabeth and also includes things about people who have been and are still around her. Right now there is one season of ten one hours episodes, but there is already plans for more seasons to be added. The Crown starts out with Queen Elizabeth’s father, King George as king. For those who might not know the very successful movie, The Kings Speech is about King George and his struggles in rising to power as King. It then goes on as she has to take The Crown earlier then she expected, and as she has to figure out her position as a young twenty-five year old woman in a political world strongly dominated by men. The show is done very well. It is classy, dramatic and entertaining all in one. It supposedly is based on real life situations that happened in the royal family in the 20th century, however for many of them the only person who could verify if they are absolutely true would be Queen Elizabeth herself.
The Crown makes the Queen human and relatable. For many people who are living today Queen Elizabeth the second has been the Queen of England for our whole lives. She is the longest reigning monarch of Britain of all time. For many we see her as the elderly Queen she is now. Watching The Crown makes the viewer realize that she has not always been as she is now. She had family problems, relationship issues, and even trouble figuring out how to be Queen.
Prince Phillip is by far the best character of The Crown. Matt Smith does a great job and is also quite handsome. Phillip is not Prince Phillip yet; he is the Duke of Edinburgh. He does not receive the Prince title for a while. Through out the show he always provides the witty, snarky and sarcastic comments. He also seems to be a great dad. So far there is a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne in the show. This season takes place primarily in the fifties with some flashbacks, so Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillips other children have not been born yet.
There is lots of information one will learn about the royal family that they might not know or are too young to know. Princess Margaret is a key character in the show as she is Queen Elizabeth’s younger sister and only sibling. As she died a while back younger people might not know much about her. She is very much the Prince Harry to Queen Elizabeth’s Prince William. Prince Edward, King George’s brother, also has a part in the show. In his time Prince Edward was a very controversial figure of the royal family.
Almost all parts of the show seem very accurate to real life. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillips children are in the show quite a bit at the beginning, but as it goes along we rarely see them. It seems, as Queen Elizabeth becomes a better Queen she becomes a worse mom. Now maybe this is just because it is hard to have child actors. However, it might be like this because it was how it happened in real life. Almost all aspects of the show are realistic, so it seems that this one would be. Also, almost always when we see the children they are with staff members or their father.
The world the royal family lives in is quite glamorous, but also quite troubling. They have hundreds of staff members working for them, but they also have what seems like hundreds of laws and rules to abide by. At times it seems like they are restricted from living their life to the fullest and being their happiest.
The Crown is a very entertaining shows that all should check out. It would be a great show to watch on Thanksgiving break. It deserves five stars for sure.
