Ritz

Another boringly slow episode.

It could have filled half the time and we could have had another thread of goings on such as 9/11, Diana's butler being charged with stealing her belongings, Queen's touching amendment to the changing of the guards in memory of the 9/11 tragedy, the Shoe Bomber, Princess Alice's 100th birthday, Northern Ireland assembly problems, the general election, John Prescott's infamous egging and punch and more.

But no. Boring boring. Slow.

And a totally unbelievable basement Ritz scene straight out of only something writers in 2023 could pretend to have happened.

Boring. Slow. Unrealistic.

I fell in love with The Crown when it came out. A young Princess Margaret and her fiery nature and character always grabbed my attention. In my opinion, Vanessa Kirby was the definitive Princess Margaret who brought this exciting person who once lived and thrived to life. We got to relive and see so many moments. I personally felt after season 2, despite big names like Helena Bonham Carter, portraying her, the character saw a decline. Some will argue that was the point, Princess Margaret, had a sad life and often spiraled downwards. Like her downward spiral, I felt the writing and direction for her went downhill. Nevertheless, it was touching and sad to say goodbye to a character (person) we've visually seen portrayed from a young woman and see her life evolve over this series.

I found this episode beautifully written and poignant. It portrayed the complex emotions and relationship between sisters and their love for each other.

I can see that one of the purposes of this series has been to show all the sides of the royal family, warts and all. One underlying theme is the royal family's sense of duty. With this duty there are many obstacles to their public and private lives. This episode digs deeper into Queen Elizabeth's personal relationship with her sister and their life together in the family.

At one moment Princess Margaret is looking for and asking Queen Elizabeth to not forget the side of her that allows herself to enjoy the freedom of simply feeling joy and being true to her own self. This lifelong struggle is evident as we see her begin to lose the small number of people with whom she could be herself and draw strength and comfort. Regardless, Queen Elizabeth perseveres and self reflects on changes she must make in herself and the families image and role in Great Britain.

For a moment i thought I was back in "A Royal Night Out" but upside down with Bel Pawley as the Serious Sister and no surly AWOL airman. And no Chelsea Barracks or Royal Fanboy "Knocking Shop" proprietor. I always suspected that A Royal Night Out was indeed a historical documentary, and now we seem to have a second independent source attesting to the general outlines of the story. If it wasn't really true it clearly should have been, and the two Princesses (or as Bel said: P-1 and P-2) are even wearing the same costumes of pink dress and olive drab uniform. I loved ARNO, and found this little vignette equally lovely and even moving.

But now I wonder: is any of it real?

I really enjoyed this episode - I found the " William " episodes quite boring and in fact dozed off!

I know it's fictionalised - but I'd like to think that this is a close depiction of how Queen Elizabeth and princess Margaret's relationship would have been - Princess Margaret was beautifully played by Lesley. Manville- a fantastic actress And Imelda Staunton - I thought played Queen Elizabeth very well There has been a lot of criticism of this series- mainly because it's not historically correct - but if you have half a brain cell you can just watch it and enjoy I love our history and I'm quite knowledgeable about it - I would like to think that most people know what's real and what's done for dramatic license!