Gelignite

The Crown 1×6

Bill Mattheson: It's Princess Margaret.
Newspaper Editor: What about her?
Bill Mattheson: Leaving the Abbey on the day of the coronation, I saw her picking a piece of fluff off a man's uniform.
Newspaper Editor: Fluff?
Bill Mattheson: Yes. Fluff.
Newspaper Editor: Jesus, Bill, I thought we did serious reporting here.
Bill Mattheson: This is serious because the man in question, her father's former equerry, Group Captain Peter Townsend, is a commoner, and wait for it, a divorced commoner. Historically, when this lot brush up against divorce you end up with either reformation or abdication. Will church and state clash again? It's a big story.

Bill Mattheson: Let me write it up, chief. I've got a feeling about this one.
Newspaper Editor: Based on what?.. What are you doing, man?!
Bill Mattheson: Picking fluff off a man's jacket that's a gesture as intimate as a kiss, more intimate, since it suggests the kiss has already happened.

Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: So, what's the guest list for tonight?
Queen Elizabeth II: No one. Just you, me, Margaret and, oh, Peter.
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: What? Townsend Peter? Why on earth did we have to dress up?
Queen Elizabeth II: She insisted. She wanted to make it a special occasion.
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: With him? Isn't that a contradiction in terms?

Princess Margaret: So... do I have your permission? As Sovereign?

Newspaper Proprietor: This is not just inflammatory, it breaks all the rules!
Newspaper Editor: What rules, sir?
Newspaper Proprietor: The unspoken rules of deference and respect shown by the media to the Royal family.
Newspaper Editor: But surely those rules changed the moment they invited television into the coronation.

Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: Not to mention the fact he's dull.
Queen Elizabeth II: He's not dull.
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: Desperately dull. I'm confident I've met more interesting plants. Not to mention it's a terrible thing to do to you.
Queen Elizabeth II: Why?
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: Because of the position it puts you in as a sister and as a Queen. Has everyone forgotten the catastrophe that was your uncle already?
Queen Elizabeth II: The situation's different.
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: One party divorced? The other Royal? Sounds pretty similar to me.
Queen Elizabeth II: That was 17 years ago. The world has changed.
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: The rest of the world has. Nothing changes in the Court of St. James.

Queen Elizabeth II: We have a son and heir. There's no realistic prospect of Margaret becoming queen. And one can see the attraction.
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: In Peter?
Queen Elizabeth II: Yes. He's a handsome war hero.
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: Divorced war hero.
Queen Elizabeth II: And blameless in that divorce.
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh: No. There's no such thing as a blameless party in a divorce.

Tommy Lascelles: Let's be quite clear. If Margaret were to marry Peter, it would be a scandal. Don't mistake your current popularity for long-term security. Your uncle's affair and abdication almost destroyed the monarchy. This could too.
Queen Elizabeth II: Tommy?
Tommy Lascelles: Ma'am, what do you know about the Royal Marriages Act of 1772?
Queen Elizabeth II: George II?
Tommy Lascelles: Third, ma'am. He had two younger brothers, William and Henry. Both of whom, I'm assuming, made undesirable marriages. One to an illegitimate shrew, the other to a disreputable jade, which caused an outrage in parliament and the church. Now in response, George III asked his Prime Minister, Lord North, to rush through a Royal Marriages Act to prevent any future wilful young prince or princess from making an ill-advised or disadvantageous match which might threaten the integrity of the Royal house. It decrees that until the age of 25, any member of the Royal family must secure the sovereign's permission to marry.
Queen Elizabeth II: But?
Tommy Lascelles: But, not thereafter.

Queen Elizabeth II: I gave her my word!
Tommy Lascelles: Well, sometimes best intentions need to be reconsidered, Your Majesty. You can always blame it on me...

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