The Crown

Yes.

Ah, there you are. Come in.

I'm practicing for the big day tomorrow and I need an Archbishop.

Will you do me the honour? From here.

"Is Your Majesty willing to take the oath?"

I am...

willing.

"Will you maintain and preserve in...

invi..."

Ah. Inviolably.

It means... to make a promise you can... you can never break.

A very sacred promise indeed.

Yes!

- We're ready for you, sir. - Oh, not yet, Tommy.

We haven't even reached the anointing.

You have to anoint me, otherwise, I can't...

be King.

Do you understand?

When the holy oil touches me,

I am tr... I am transformed.

Brought into direct contact with the divine.

For... forever changed.

Bound to God.

It is the most important part of the entire ceremony.

So we had better practice, hadn't we, archbishop?

"Be thy hands, anointed, with holy oil.

Be thy breast, anointed, with holy oil.

Be thy head, anointed, with holy oil.

As kings, priests and prophets were anointed."

- Goodness. That's very heavy indeed. - Five pounds, sir.

Not to mention the, uh, symbolic weight, hm?

There's a sight I hoped I'd never see.

It's not as easy as it looks.

That's exactly what the King said.

I remember.

Do you suppose I could borrow it for a couple of days?

Just to practice.

Borrow it, ma'am? From whom?

If it's not yours, whose is it?

Be quiet, Anne.

Ready?

Close your eyes, and don't open them until I say so.

- Oh, any idea where the Duke is? - His Royal Highness went flying, ma'am.

Daddy?

Again?

So when's the big day?

Pilot's exam? Two weeks.

- Are you still on track for the record? - I am. Just.

- If I do nothing else. - Oh, then you'll hate me.

Why?

There was something I wanted you to help me with.

It would've to be jolly important to distract me

from getting my wings faster than anyone in British aviation history.

It is. I'd like you to come aboard my Coronation Committee.

- In which capacity? - As Chairman.

But you already have one. Bernard.

I'd ask the Duke of Norfolk to make room for you.

I want to make a public declaration of my trust in you.

- There's no need to matronize me. - I'm not matronizing you.

Yes, you are. You're taking pity on me

and giving me a job, for appearance's sake.

No, it's not that.

I was just thinking how I'd like us to spend more time together.

What are you talking about? We spend all our time together.

No, we don't. You're always off flying, or lunching with strange men.

A few hours a week, darling. Anyway, what else am I supposed to do?

Sit around and wait for you while you're Queening?

- Queening? - Yes. Queening.

Maybe I'd like your help with the Queening.

Oh, in the same flattering way you asked me to redecorate Clarence House?

- Well, you did that jolly well. - I felt like a sissy.

Fussing about curtain fabrics and paint charts.

Honestly, it's just queening of another sort.

What would it entail?

Well, the Duke of Norfolk will run the show

from an organizational perspective, look after the seating,

the root of the procession, but as Chairman of the Committee,

you would have an input on ideas, inspire everyone, lead them.

They won't listen to me. The grey, old men?

The men with moustaches? They hate me.

- They do not hate you. - They do.

They treat me as an outsider.

An irrelevance. Everyone does.

Total control or nothing at all. Those are my terms.

All right.

But don't go mad.

- What does that mean? - It means just don't go mad.

It's the Coronation.

A service which goes back a thousand years.

- Some things can't be changed. - Yes, yes, yes, alright.

When did you move in?

The City of Paris owns the property, you know,

and happily the city very kindly let us take the house

for a small amount of rent.

So we moved in by summer's end.

Miss...?

You must have been thrilled, Your Highness.

- Not Your Highness. - Oh.

- Sore point. - Just a Duchess.

Not H.R.H. So, "Ma'am."

- Ma'am? - Or, "Your Grace".

What made you choose this particular house?

It has a two-acre park, which gives us privacy.

And its size means the Duke and I can finally entertain properly

and we very much enjoy entertaining.

The Duchess is so very good at it.

I believe our editor agreed as part of the deal

that you would give our readers some tips for entertaining?

- Did we agree that? - We did, darling, yes. They paid extra.

Hmm.

Okay. Big smiles.

Perfect.

But having had a naval background,

I don't much care for fussy things or smells,

but I do like a good, well-milled soap.

What sartorial tips would you give the young men of today?

No matter what the fashion, a well-cut suit in a beautiful fabric

will take you anywhere.

Is that the sort of thing you're looking for?

You're very fortunate.

He lets no one in here, it's his private room. Full of secrets.

Not secrets, darling. Memories, precious memories.

I come in here for a few moments every day

to meditate and remember.

- Goodness. Bagpipes, too? - Yes, I play.

When he gets homesick.

My favourite armchair.

- And the briefcase? - Box.

As Monarch, one receives a daily red box from the government.

State papers, business of the day. Matters requiring royal assent.

That was the final box I received as King. It contained my abdication papers.

And all these photographs of you as King, there are none with the crown.

- Why is that? - Well, I never made it that far.

I never had a coronation.

I forgot to mention, I had a call today from Sir John Weir.

- Who? - My mother's doctor.

Telling me that, in his opinion, she was in her final days now,

and my sister and I should make our way over.

With me?

Probably best without.

Even if she dies?

Let's hope she does.

Couldn't bear to go over twice.

I shall have to be brave.

My darling one.

And go without you.

To cold London.

Brutal London.

Hellish London.

Shall we fuck?

The Lord Great Chamberlain, the Lord Chamberlain,

the Marshall of the Diplomatic Corp and the Comptroller, Your Majesty.

I have asked you to join me because I have made a decision

regarding the Coronation Committee,

which is that I would like my husband to be the Chairman of that Committee.

That's impossible, ma'am. There can only be one Chairman.

As far as I'm aware, I only have one husband.

And the Duke of Norfolk will be expecting it to be him.

- He is the Earl Marshall. - That may be.

And the Chief Butler of England,

he would be the 16th Duke of Norfolk to do it.

He ran your father's coronation, his father ran your grandfather's.

And running the coronation, it's what the Norfolks do.

- Couldn't you give Philip some other job? - Like what?

Arrange the photographer?

The chairmanship is what he wants. With full autonomy.

Therefore, it is what I want.

- Norfolk can be vice-chair. - Why don't you think about it?

I have, and my decision stands.

Thank you.

Of course, the Duke of Norfolk will be furious.

Yes, and Bernard does fury so well.

What would Your Majesty suggest?

I will throw my hat in with Bernard and sanity will prevail.

The Queen is young.

And has to learn what any young general has to learn.

Namely?

Which battles to fight and which to leave.

- Let me know what you want me to do. - The same as always, Tommy.

Exactly as I tell you.

Now, I've spoken to the Archbishop of Canterbury

who's agreed to help us with our other delicate matter.

The Duke of Windsor.

- When does he arrive? - This afternoon, I believe.

God help us.

- And when will you meet him? - We thought tomorrow, ma'am.

Good. Sooner the better.

- Be sure to be firm, Tommy. - Yes, ma'am.

That one's like mercury. He'll slip through the tiniest crack.

Good afternoon.

I have returned to London to visit my mother, Queen Mary,

who I'm delighted to say has made such good improvement in recent days.

Thank you very much.

My dearest, darling one...

London is as awful and hellish

and as full of my smug, stinking relations as ever.

Each day I call on Mama in the afternoon,

and although she doesn't look quite as bad as the doctors warned me,

she'll never again be able to leave her rooms,

far less go out in public.