Emma Corrin dazzles as a young Diana Spencer
Well, here it is. The season of The Crown we’ve all been waiting for, and let’s be honest, it’s not really because of Margaret Thatcher, is it? Yes, one of the biggest figures of the 20th century arrives as a political rival for the Queen, but one of the other biggest figures of the 20th century also arrives, and since it’s Diana, Princess of Wales, I think we all know what many are tuning in to see this season.
Luckily, they got an absolute find of a newcomer in Emma Corrin, who embodies the late Princess in spectacular, haunting fashion, finding all the heartbreaking notes in her younger self as she meets Prince Charles and marries into the royal family, an act that altered the course of her life forever and ultimately led to her tragic demise at the age of 36. Corrin resembles young Di physically, but captures her voice and her manner in a way that makes you believe she’s really her, a triumph of a performance that is highly studied yet never distracting. She doesn’t seem to be acting, which is an incredible feat when you’re embodying one of the most famous public figures in modern history, at one point the most recorded and photographed woman in the world. The saga of the fairy tale that wasn’t is so well known and documented that it was impossible that this season of The Crown wouldn’t become the Charles and Diana show, and it does take up a significant portion of the season, with Josh O’Connor matching Corrin in every one of their scenes together. His formerly sympathetic Charles is now a self-pitying, egotistical, selfish narcissist who out villains even his own reputation from this era (no wonder the royals are furious). There’s artistic license of course, but Morgan is firm in conveying the essence of who the bad guy is here- through depicting the royals from the eyes of two major outsiders, there’s no doubt who they are.
Gillian Anderson is a formidable Margaret Thatcher
The other outsider is of course, Thatcher, played by Gillian Anderson in the “biggest” performance I’ve ever seen her give. Through voice, costume and body language, she transforms into the Iron Lady as much as Corrin becomes Diana, but in her case it’s hard to not see the acting happening. She’s commanding and powerful, but was Thatcher really so exaggerated? Perhaps she was. It’s been difficult not to caricature her in history after all. The Crown has always been a blend of historical drama and historical soap- this season we go back and forth seamlessly between the two, through the doomed Wales marriage and the various political events that shaped Thatcher’s tenure as prime minister in the 1980’s. One might feel they’re missing out in some areas (wasn’t there more to do with the IRA and Reagan and the coal miners than they show?) while getting the full gist in others (the Falklands war, South African apartheid, her decimation of the working class), but to Peter Morgan’s credit in a decade spanning season like this one, he never forgets the focus of his series, which always comes back to the Queen herself. Olivia Colman remains wonderful as a middle aged Elizabeth, the sun around which the show’s earth revolves, faced with her dislike of Thatcher and aggravation at Charles’s failings, through an amusing episode in which she ponders which of her four children is her favorite (the odious Andrew gets introduced and properly smacked around almost instantly here via Morgan’s contempt). And she’s surrounded by an impeccable cast that sees Tobias Menzies in perfect form as Prince Phillip, Helena Bonham Carter as the forever suffering Princess Margaret, and Erin Doherty as a throughly bemused and smirking Princess Anne. The pack of them are a tough, damaged, thoroughly cold and resentful bunch, and through Diana’s entry we see just how unfit a match this was for the sensitive, emotional, needy teenager.
You feel a sadness knowing it’s now time to change actors, as Elizabeth Debicki prepares to take over as older Diana, with Imelda Staunton steering Elizabeth into the 90’s and beyond for the final era. But the show remains as engrossing as ever, especially now that we’re into the events that many remember living through. The royals themselves may be pissed, but it’s simply good TV for the rest of us. Really good TV.
Grade: A-
Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin are superb as the ill fated Charles and Diana
