48:1

The Crown 4×8

Michael Shea: You should know better than to come to me with nonsense like that, Sarah. In the 33 years she's been on the throne, the Queen has never once expressed a point of view about her prime ministers, positive or negative, and never will. Political impartiality and support of her prime minister is an article of faith to her. And we all know how the Queen is… about her faith.

Margaret Thatcher: The Commonwealth. Ridiculous waste of time. Ridiculous organization. Worse. Morally offensive. Why we allow our Queen to fraternize with countries like Uganda, Malawi, Nigeria, Swaziland… Unstable countries. Unstable despotisms with appalling human rights records. And calling them "family"!

Queen Elizabeth II: It is my fervent hope that Britain will join the other countries of the Commonwealth and impose sanctions on an apartheid regime that has no place in the modern world.
Margaret Thatcher: Let us be quite clear about this. Nothing useful can be achieved by sanctions.

Queen Elizabeth II: Might we look at it from the South African point of view?
Margaret Thatcher: I am, ma'am. South Africa is already a disinvestment economy.
Queen Elizabeth II: But Black South Africans want sanctions, so shouldn't we listen to them?
Margaret Thatcher: Black South Africans don't want to inherit a wasteland.
Queen Elizabeth II: They will if they feel it is their wasteland. President Kaunda of Zambia would confirm as much.
Margaret Thatcher: It is not the business of a British prime minister to consult with unelected dictators.
Queen Elizabeth II: But it is a sovereign's duty when they are part of the Commonwealth.
Margaret Thatcher: Yes. The Commonwealth...
Queen Elizabeth II: Yes, the Commonwealth.
Margaret Thatcher: I recognize that for your family, the transition of this nation from empire to comparative supplicancy on the world stage must have come as a greater shock than to the rest of us. But I would argue that the Commonwealth is not the way to fill that gap. There are ways of Britain being great again, and that is through a revitalized economy, not through association with unreliable tribal leaders in eccentric costumes.
Queen Elizabeth II: But isn't that all I am, Prime Minister? A tribal leader in eccentric costume?
Margaret Thatcher: Certainly not. You're head of an evolved constitutional monarchy to William the Conqueror. It's not comparing like with like.
Queen Elizabeth II: Ah, now that's where we differ. You see, I consider myself to be exactly like them. To me, Ghana, Zambia, Malawi are all great sovereign nations with great histories. I am aware you probably don't share that view. To you, the Commonwealth is something of a distraction, a waste of time. But in many ways, I have given my life to it. It was the pledge I made 40 years ago.
Margaret Thatcher: On the wireless? "To our great imperial family…" I remember listening to it as a student at Oxford. But we cannot let the values of the past distract us from the realities of the present, particularly where Britain's economic interests are concerned.

Queen Elizabeth II: Forty-eight countries of the Commonwealth are now preparing a statement condemning the South African regime and recommending tougher sanctions. What they… What I would like you to do is sign that statement.
Margaret Thatcher: If I didn't know better, that sounded very much like a directive.
Queen Elizabeth II: Think of it as a question...

Denis Thatcher: How was it?
Margaret Thatcher: My meeting with the Queen? It was a little testy. Although I must say, I do like the boat.
Denis Thatcher: Yacht.
Margaret Thatcher: It isn't a yacht. It's a great big ship.
Denis Thatcher: And when the sovereign sails in it, historically it's called a yacht.
Margaret Thatcher: Oh, don't be a know-all. It's unbecoming.
Denis Thatcher: Why was it frosty?
Margaret Thatcher: I didn't say "frosty." I said "testy." Although I wish it had been frosty. It's far too hot here.

Queen Elizabeth II: I'm determined to win this battle, Sonny. I don't often get into a fight, but when I do, I want to win.
Sir Sonny Ramphal: You will, ma'am. Remember, you are not alone. It is 48 against one.

Queen Elizabeth II: "Signals"!
Michael Shea: Yes, she agreed to "signals." And among the signals she agreed to are actually several of the sanctions she would never have contemplated had they been called sanctions.

Sir Geoffrey Howe: Well played, Margaret. A victory for common sense.
Margaret Thatcher: Whatever are you talking about?
Sir Geoffrey Howe: The other heads of government will appreciate your willingness to seek a compromise.
Margaret Thatcher: There's a reason the top job has always eluded you, Geoffrey... The absence of the killer instinct.

Journalist: Prime Minister.
Margaret Thatcher: Yes?
Journalist: You have been forced to make significant concessions.
Margaret Thatcher: Not that I noticed.
Journalist: You signed a document prepared by 48 countries who were in conflict with you.
Margaret Thatcher: I did. But the question is, did one person move to the 48, or did 48 move to one? Yes, I agreed to "signals." But as you know, with one simple turn, a signal can soon point in an entirely different direction. Thank you.

Michael Shea: No. If this magnum opus doesn't work, I'll call it a day.
Literary Agent: You could expose it all under an assumed name.
Michael Shea: Mmm. I could. But, sadly, I'm old-fashioned and would never betray those confidences or the people I'm proud to serve.
Literary Agent: I had to try...
Michael Shea: Hmm.
Literary Agent: Was that very grubby of me?
Michael Shea: Mmm. Not grubby. Just quietly heartbreaking.

Queen Elizabeth II: What if I'm not happy with the job she's doing? What if I'd be happy for people to know the displeasure was actually real? That I am personally concerned about her lack of compassion. You know how seriously I take my constitutional responsibility to remain silent, but each of us has our line in the sand. If it were to become public knowledge that there had been an unprecedented rift between sovereign and prime minister, would that really be so bad?
Michael Shea: Well… Um… If… if that really were your intention… And for the record, ma'am, I must say I think that would be... a misjudgment. And risk doing serious and irreparable harm to the relationship between Buckingham Palace and Downing Street. …then Today would not be the newspaper I would go to. I'd go somewhere with more heft, somewhere that also had a clear sense of the unprecedented nature of this, where they understood the rules of the game.

Michael Shea: It's reckless. It's reckless, Martin, and irresponsible.
Martin Charteris: I'm as surprised as you are.
Michael Shea: It goes against my professional advice, and I want my objection noted.
Martin Charteris: Noted?
Michael Shea: Noted, Martin.
Martin Charteris: It's noted. It... It's noted.

Margaret Thatcher: I'm feeling something for the very first time. Something which I never imagined feeling.
Denis Thatcher: What is that?
Margaret Thatcher: Impatience for our next audience...

Margaret Thatcher: Before coming today, I checked with the cabinet secretary, and it turns out that in the seven years I have been prime minister, we have had 164 audiences, always the model of cordiality, productivity, and mutual respect. So it is perhaps not unreasonable to expect an isolated hiccup.
Queen Elizabeth II: What hiccup?
Margaret Thatcher: I was under the impression that Her Majesty never expressed her political views in public.
Queen Elizabeth II: I don't.
Margaret Thatcher: That there was an unbreakable code of silence between sovereign and first minister.
Queen Elizabeth II: If you're referring to the Sunday Times, I've always advised my prime ministers against reading the newspapers.
Margaret Thatcher: I don't, ma'am.
Queen Elizabeth II: They misunderstand, misquote, and misrepresent. Then everybody gets into a fluster.

Queen Elizabeth II: Well, I'm sure a clarification will soon be forthcoming. In the meantime, should we make a start on the business of the week? Only I am mindful of the time.
Margaret Thatcher: This is the business, ma'am. The only business. Margaret Thatcher: I think we have enough respect for one another personally to ask ourselves some of the bigger questions, woman to woman. We are the same age, after all.
Queen Elizabeth II: Really?
Margaret Thatcher: Just six months between us.
Queen Elizabeth II: Oh? And who is the senior?
Margaret Thatcher: I am… ma'am.

Prince Andrew: What was she thinking?
Prince Charles: She did what she's spent her life telling me I cannot do. She opened her mouth and expressed an opinion.
Prince Andrew: And is being slaughtered for it. Bloody thoughtless of her if you ask me.
Prince Charles: You can hardly blame the newspapers for wanting to write about something other than the wedding of a fringe member of the family who'll never be king.
Princess Anne: Ouch!
Prince Charles: Well, it's true, isn't it? Fourth in line now, and by the time William's had children, and his children have had children… Fringe. Shall we?
Prince Andrew: Did he really just say that? On my wedding day?
Prince Edward: That was impressively cunty.

Martin Charteris: And I think we're now going to have to give them something...
Queen Elizabeth II: What?
Martin Charteris: A culprit. To deflect blame from you and to put these flames out ASAP. We need to let them have a name.

Martin Charteris: The fact is that the steps you took were completely unprofessional--
Michael Shea: Martin, stop it.
Martin Charteris: Impugning the integrity of the palace and of the Queen herself.
Michael Shea: We know one another too well. This is madness.
Martin Charteris: I hope we can rely on you… to do the right thing.
Michael Shea: .... Of course.

—
+ Quotes on the IMDb
+ Soundtrack