The Crown

And then I swing you around there.

Darling!

A bit smoother, and then very, very close together.

The Duke and Duchess of York, Your Majesty.

I won't see her. Just my brother.

I gather you've made your decision.

I have.

I'm afraid you won't thank me for it.

- Is she really worth it? - I love her with all my heart.

Of course, but more than your own... country?

Hmm?

More than your own family? More than your own brother?

Yes.

You'll be fine.

You have a wife by your side and heirs to spare.

My daughters.

This will... crush them.

If you stand down, I shall want you and that woman gone for good.

Brother has indeed turned against brother.

Pay me to, brother...

and I'll be gone forever.

Ms. McDonald. His Majesty has asked to see the two princesses.

Right. Come along, girls.

Lilibet.

Margaret.

Your uncle has let us all down.

He put love before family.

Now I want you to promise me one thing...

that you will never put anyone or anything

before one another.

You are sisters above all else.

And must never let one another down.

Understood?

Never.

Never.

- Happy birthday, Margaret. - Thank you.

So, I've done what you all asked and waited two years,

but now that I am 25,

and free to decide for myself whom I will marry,

it is with great pleasure...

Thank you.

Great pleasure and pride, that I say I am still committed to Peter.

I've kept my side of the bargain.

- Now I'm hoping you'll keep yours. - Of course.

- Happy birthday! - Thank you!

- Afternoon, Ma'am. - Yes, thank you, Michael.

One or two bits and pieces.

A request from our neighbor, Captain Farquharson,

wanting to lease a few acres of Balmoral grouse land

in exchange for the acres which we leased from him last year.

Now, I spoke to the head keeper

and he advised checking nest stocks before responding.

Yes, that seems very sensible.

And a card from the Mayor of Easter Ross, whose 70th it is this year.

Yes, he's not been well, has he?

A stroke, earlier in the year, but he'll mend now, I'm happy to say.

Good.

That's everything from me, Ma'am. Anything from you?

Yes. An instruction to put things in motion,

as regards Group Captain Townsend's return to the country.

- Ma'am? - As you know,

my sister is now free

from the constraints of the Royal Marriages Act

and no longer requires my consent to marry.

Yes.

What is it that you're not saying, Michael?

Well, there is still the other hurdle.

The second part of the Royal Marriages Act.

The fact that Her Royal Highness has turned 25

merely means that she has reached an age

where she can give notice of her intention to marry.

Not that she is free to marry.

What?

Well, if both Houses of Parliament approve,

only then, after 12 months have expired, can the marriage take place

and any marriage contracted in defiance of these rules

would be void.

Why did no one tell me this at the time?

To which I hope you replied...

"It's always been there, Ma'am, in black and white."

Yes, but no one drew my attention to it or said anything.

This is going to be very difficult.

I'm sorry.

I do feel that we've left her in a difficult spot.

T he Queen Mother always believed that two years'

separation would be long enough for Princess Margaret

to lose interest in the Group Captain

and the whole thing to go away. But she hasn't, and it hasn't.

And if anything, the Queen's dilemma

at the heart of it all is only more acute.

Either she puts her foot down and forbids the marriage...

That turns sister against sister and splits the Royal house down the middle.

Or she permits the marriage, setting a collision course

with the Church of which she herself is the Head.

Well, let me give it some more thought. We'll speak in the morning.

- Good night, Michael. - Thank you, sir.

Take a worm.

- What? - A worm.

With your fingers, go on. They won't bite, they're worms, boy!

That's it! Good boy.

- It's wriggling. - Of course it's wriggling, it's a worm.

It'll stop wriggling once you put it on the hook.

So, I was thinking about a week on Monday.

What for?

To make the announcement. The engagement.

Would you mind holding off? Just a moment longer?

Everything's fine, don't worry. There's just been a slight wrinkle.

What's a wrinkle?

Oh, no, a formality, which no one told me about.

It will take a little longer than expected.

Well, how much longer? We've waited two years already.

- I understand. - And Peter's been through hell.

- I know. - Waiting like a martyr.

- Locking himself away... - I know.

Seeing no one. Speaking to no one.

I've been crying into my pillow at night, counting the days.

Why? Why? Because we were doing you a favor...

- I'm aware of that! - To spare you your blushes.

To make your life easier.

I know, and I'm going to take care of it.

Look, I probably shouldn't have said a thing.

We're going to go up in three, OK? One, two, three... cast!

Come on. Let's try again. Hold this, please.

- I'm trying! - Yeah, well, try harder.

- It's difficult, Daddy. - No, it's not difficult.

Come on. If you don't try again, you'll never catch a fish.

He dominates that poor boy.

He can be very kind, too.

Watch what I do.

And he's wonderful with Anne.

And here, then back to here, and cast...

I still think he's too hard on him.

Taking out his own frustrations on an innocent child.

I had lunch with Tommy Lascelles last week and we both agreed

that Philip still hasn't settled and struggles with life in your shadow.

Come on, Charles. Let's do this. Let's have another go.

Tommy came up with an interesting notion.

Hey, there you go!

- Mummy, I caught one! - Well done!

Have you noticed something about our children?

- They're the wrong way round. - What?

Well, our daughter's a boy and our son is, God bless him, a girl.

- Don't be silly. He's just sensitive. - Have you seen him fish?

A girl.

What's the matter? You seem preoccupied.

I am. I've got problems with Margaret, and Mummy's been interfering.

- Surprise, surprise. - Along with everything else.

Would you hate the idea of going to Australia?

- What for? - To open the Olympic Games.

The Olympics are in November, aren't they?

You can't go in November.

Oh, no, I didn't mean with me, I meant alone. In my name.

Right. Whose idea was that?

Does it matter?

- Would you agree to it? - No, I'd be gone months.

- Weeks. - Away from you. Away from the children.

- Yes, but would you do it? - No.

Oh, please. Everyone just wants you to be happy.

Nobody gives a fig about my happiness.

Yes, they do. They want you to be stable and fulfilled.

Everybody wants you happy, stable and fulfilled. They wish I'd just disappear.

No, they just think you'd benefit from the attention.

- And preferably never come back. - No, just come back...

What?

What? Say it.

Say it. A different man?

No, not that.

What, then?

Say it, pick the adjective.

All right, yes.

Changed.

Princess Margaret, third in line for the throne of Britain,

now, 25 and legally in control of her own destiny.

Pressmen and sightseers throng the lanes, undeterred by the official statement

that no announcement is contemplated at present about the Princess' future.

Meanwhile, the new Prime Minister, fresh off the plane from Cairo,

travels to Scotland to brief the Queen

on the latest development with Colonel Nasser...

Mr. Eden! Have you come to discuss Princess Margaret's marriage?

- Margaret! - Oh, hello.

Where are you going? Prime Minister's just arrived.

Taking to my bed.

I intend to remain in sulk for at least a week.

- Oh, dear. Don't tell me, my wife? - Yes.

- Your tie. - Thank you.

It's not easy. I'm a little fed up with her myself, truth be told.

Why? What's she done to you?

Don't get me started.

Is she making life difficult for you and Peter?

- Yes, she wants to delay the engagement. - Well, it serves you right quite frankly.

You both seem far too happy and far too in love.

- Do we? - Yes.

It's easy to be in love with someone who's not here, isn't it?

Yes. Perhaps that's why she's sending me away. Chin up!

- Thank you. - Thank you.

Would you excuse me?

- The Prime Minister, Your Majesty. - Yes.

I've just been reading about your difficulty with Colonel Nasser.

Have the newspapers exaggerated it terribly?

To a very significant degree, yes.