I had a lot of downtime the week of Kwanzaa. So what better thing to do than pick a series on Netflix, sit down with my trusty snacks, ice cold drinks, and gorge on it. The one I chose? The Crown!
There are six seasons of the series to watch. Each season has about 10 episodes. And each episode is about an hour long. I knew my week of binge watching was assured. I was a tad like Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, in that as an American, I have very little knowledge of the Royal Family. So I clicked on season 1, episode 1 and began the journey.
Since the Royal Family is a real entity, there are no spoiler alerts in this column. We know who lives and who dies. We pretty much know all that happens with them. But the context came through the laments of the Duke, Prince Harry, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, since leaving Great Britain and becoming, unintentionally, commoners here.
Sorry, Prince Harry, you are not an original suffering Spare. After watching all those episodes, Princess Margaret was the real, true, and genuine original 20th-century Spare. She was the fun-loving, party animal Spare who couldn’t marry the man she loved because of her sister, the Queen. Now that is real drama! Not the illusionary garbage Harry wrote about. And although I haven’t read Prince Harry’s book, Margaret’s life story seems to outshine any of his whines.
Prior to marrying Prince Harry, Meghan should have watched the first two seasons of the show. She would have learned all about protocol and curtsying and a lot of the history of the Royal Family that might have raised the eyebrows of someone who was more than a narcissistic, social climber.
If Black people as an entire group haven’t beat the inequitable system of racism in America, I don’t know how she expected as a single individual to do it within the institution of the Monarchy. Personally, I don’t think the Royal Family is racist. I just think they’re dysfunctional beyond belief because of the institution in which they’re involved.
I did gain a lot of knowledge about the monarchy and what it must possibly be like to be a family member. Protocol, tradition, expectations, etc. are all parts of that life. And when one is the head of the Church of England, there’s even added emphasis on everything a person does.
I think for most Americans we have romanticized King Edward VIII’s decision to abdicate the throne for the woman he loved. Based on the way it was portrayed in The Crown, it wasn’t as romantic as we imagined. Plus, I didn’t know he was such a Nazi sympathizer. Throughout his portion of the series, he had a Black servant named Sydney, whose life story was very interesting.
I never thought the Queen of England would need a tutor. But she was ill-prepared for the kind of world she entered, although she was a walking book of knowledge on how the monarchy and the government works. And although she and her sister did sneak out on VE Day and celebrate, the part about the Black soldiers seems to have been fantasized. However, I did learn about Leslie “Hutch” Hutchinson, a Black cabaret singer who was the darling of British high society.
The series also made me rethink my opinion of Princess Diana. She was definitely whiny and getting on my nerves. After watching a lot of Prince Harry’s current antics, although William got her looks, I see that Harry got his misdirected behavior directly from his mother!
I was also fascinated by Camilla’s role throughout all of this. It reminded me of a friend of mine who always said his greatest illness was that he loved his wife. King Charles truly loved that woman.
I highly recommend watching The Crown.