Decommissioned

The Crown 5×10

Queen Elizabeth II: Speaking of wholesale change, what are we going to do about Hong Kong?
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: The Great Chinese Takeaway?
Prince Edward: Granny.
Princess Margaret: She didn't just say that.
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Why? Hong Kong's ours. The Chinese are taking it away.
Prince Charles: Taking it back.

Prince Charles: Hong Kong is clearly the more significant occasion. Shouldn't you be there? As sovereign?
Prince Philip: A monarch should never attend celebrations when a colony cuts ties. It's undignified. Like attending the wedding of someone you loved and trying to look happy for them.
Prince Charles: Been there, done that.

John Major: It is strange, the... the human capacity for self-deception. Despite all the polls, I still felt I had a chance of winning. Instead, my party has just suffered its worst defeat in memory. I do hope the history books will judge my premiership rather more kindly than the electorate has. Queen Elizabeth II: Whatever the historians make of it, you will always rank highly in my personal table of prime ministers. Very highly. I shall miss your calm, forthright, dependable presence.

Queen Elizabeth II: What do you make of him? Mr. Blair?
John Major: Oh, I shouldn't have done that... Well, the oft-touted criticism is that his leadership style is a triumph of image over substance. Much attention is also paid to his age.
Queen Elizabeth II: Mmm. Forty-three, I checked. The youngest prime minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812.

John Major: It's a funny old business. One day, you're prime minister, arguably the most... Well, the second-most important person in the country, and the next, you lose your job, your car, and you're evicted from your home. All before lunch.

Queen Elizabeth II: They're suggesting the yacht would no longer be Britannia. She would have a new name.
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Go on.
Tony Blair: New Britain.
Prince Charles: I rather like it.
Princess Margaret: Wait, wasn't that Blair's political slogan?

Queen Elizabeth II: I said if those were the terms of the royal yacht's existence, I would sooner it be decommissioned. So that's the decision. Charles' trip to Hong Kong will be her last official trip. After 43 years of service and more than a million nautical miles around the globe... the royal yacht is to be retired.

Tony Blair: Your Royal Highness.
Prince Charles: Look at you... The first prime minister young enough to be the Queen's son... Winston Churchill, who sat in that armchair a great many times, was old enough to be her grandfather. Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, her father. Wilson and Heath, her husbands. Mrs. Thatcher, her twin sister. And you, her son. Which I suppose, by extension, would make us...
Tony Blair: Brothers.
Prince Charles: Yes. Two men of the same age and generation. And, hopefully, of a similar mindset.

Tony Blair: It would be like being trapped for eternity in opposition. I mean, we had 18 years. That was bad enough. He's already had 50. It can't be easy knowing your own mother has the final say on who you can or can't marry. Imagine if your mum had a veto over me...

Prince Charles: My affair, Mummy? I'm an unmarried man.
Queen Elizabeth II: Divorced man whose wife is still alive.
Prince Charles: Are we really having this conversation? Camilla and I are mature, willing adults.
Queen Elizabeth II: No doubting the "willing."
Prince Charles: Who make one another happy.
Queen Elizabeth II: No doubting that either. But isn't it time you asked yourself, what good can ultimately come of it when the public is so against it?
Prince Charles: This is madness.
Queen Elizabeth II: I tend to agree.

Queen Elizabeth II: I don't want to get drawn on Mr. Blair or whether he understands the people better than me or not.
Prince Charles: I'd say he does.
Queen Elizabeth II: But I do want to make clear that the only person in this family to have a direct relationship with the first minister is the sovereign.
Prince Charles: Which will one day be me.
Queen Elizabeth II: One day. But not yet.
Prince Charles: When?
Queen Elizabeth II: You should know the answer better than anyone because, God willing, you will one day take the oath yourself. This job is for life.

Prince Charles: In Hong Kong, I saw how easy it is to dispose of us. Buildings renamed. Your head removed from the stamps. 150 years of living under the Crown, they couldn't have been shot of us more quickly. That's what happens when... we fail to move with the times. You can't be blamed for living a long life--
Queen Elizabeth II: Thank you.
Prince Charles: But you have to accept that your... your values were shaped by Queen Mary.
Queen Elizabeth II: Yes. Proud of it.
Prince Charles: Hers by Queen Victoria.
Queen Elizabeth II: Proud of that too.
Prince Charles: I'm just worried, Mummy, that... if we continue to hold onto these Victorian notions of how the monarchy should look, how it should feel, then the world will move on. And those who come after you will be... will be left with nothing.

—
On the IMDb

Couple 31

The Crown 5×9

Queen Elizabeth II: Dearest Charles. Dearest Diana. I am writing to let you know that everyone is now of one mind. That the termination of your marriage is not only inevitable but preferable...

John Major: I was lost for words. The boy from Brixton who couldn't get a job as a bus conductor being asked to mediate in a royal divorce. By the Queen herself. I... I was tickled by her use of the word "umpire."

Camilla Parker Bowles: ... Or I put my foot to the floor and go for it.
Mark Bolland: For what?
Camilla Parker Bowles: Isn't it obvious? I don't want to spell it out.
Mark Bolland: I think it's vital you spell it out.
Camilla Parker Bowles: Go for official acceptance. Legitimacy.
Mark Bolland: As his wife?
Camilla Parker Bowles: Yes.
Mark Bolland: And therefore, ultimately...
Camilla Parker Bowles: Well, whatever I would be if I were his wife.
Mark Bolland: I believe there's a name for it.
Camilla Parker Bowles: I can't say that word.
Mark Bolland: What word?
Camilla Parker Bowles: The "Q" word.
Mark Bolland: Why?
Camilla Parker Bowles: Because it's unsayable. Because... it's treasonous to even contemplate it.

Prince Charles: The two cornerstones of... any successful relationship. Does your partner make you laugh? And do they make you...
Camilla Parker Bowles: Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
Prince Charles: What?
Camilla Parker Bowles: Never know who's listening.
Prince Charles: No, God. That's true.
Camilla Parker Bowles: Don't want to make that mistake again.
Prince Charles: No. No, we do not.

John Major: In any negotiation, it's worth remembering there are often two languages being spoken. The language of the demands being made and what's actually being said underneath. I prefer to try and ignore the former and speak the latter.

Prince Charles: Well, divorce clearly suits you.
Princess Diana: It suits you, more like. Finally got everything you ever wanted.
Prince Charles: No man whose marriage has failed will ever have everything he wants. He'll forever be like a... vase with a great crack in it.
Princess Diana: Please.

Prince Charles: Some of the things you said in that interview. About me being unfit to be King, knowing the impact that would have on me.
Princess Diana: I only meant that being King would stop you from doing other things. Things that might actually make you happy. That you might be naturally more suited to, that's all.
Prince Charles: I'm not naturally suited to be King?
Princess Diana: That's not what I said.
Prince Charles: The thing I was born to do. I don't think I've ever heard anything... more quietly eviscerating.
Princess Diana: You're twisting my words. Don't get up.
Prince Charles: To say that about our son too. That you wouldn't wish him to inherit his birthright either.
Princess Diana: What caring mother would? Watch him suffer this madness? Just waiting for it to happen. The expectation. Look how miserable it's made you.
Prince Charles: It's not the waiting that made me miserable! It was years spent rotting in a marriage to someone trying to destroy me!

Judge Angel: Couple number 31. Case number 5029 of 96, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales.

—
On the IMDb
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Gunpowder

The Crown 5×8

Prince William: You could get satellite TV... With hundreds of channels from all over the world.
Queen Elizabeth II: What? And abandon the BBC? I can't do that.
Prince William: You wouldn't be abandoning the BBC, Granny.
Queen Elizabeth II: Switching to satellite would be seen as a betrayal of the national broadcaster by the head of state. It would be treason. Like me becoming a Catholic.

Steve Hewlett: Of course, it's November 5th. Guy Fawkes night.
Martin Bashir: The significance of that date was not lost on me either.

Duke Hussey: ...whatever one may think of the royal family, she has been remarkable and doesn't, in my view, get the credit or the gratitude she deserves.
John Birt: And isn't that one of the many things that the BBC's for? To kiss the ring?
Duke Hussey: If you like. I can see it's an unfashionable line to take, but for better or worse, I believe it is part of the British character to have a monarchy. Take that away, huh, what are you left with?
John Birt: An egalitarian, modern republic?
Duke Hussey: But not Britain.
John Birt: A new Britain.
Duke Hussey: A different Britain. Not Great Britain. It's the same with the BBC. Take away the BBC, and what are you left with? A country, but not Britain. In that way, the two institutions, Crown and BBC, are inherently intertwined. Reflected, incidentally, in the fact that we exist thanks to a royal charter.

John Birt: You see the monarchy as part of the architecture of this country.
Duke Hussey: I do.
John Birt: But more and more people have grown to see it simply as part of the furniture. Something they've grown up with but not something that can't be rearranged. Thrown out, if need be, or replaced. And the same goes for the BBC. Poll after poll show that people are crying out for change from the post-war era into something much more--

Duke Hussey: To a crass, commercial, satellite era, controlled by Rupert Murdoch with limitless choice and a thousand different channels, all offering rubbish?

Martin Bashir: I guarantee she will talk to someone if not us. Ask yourself how you would feel if this went out on... CBS. Or ABC. Or ITV. Or Channel 4.
John Birt: Still, we'll be giving a platform to a very hurt, very unstable woman. Who clearly wants to inflict significant damage on the monarchy.
Steve Hewlett: In the end, it's going to be your call, John...

—
On the IMDb
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No Woman's Land

The Crown 5×7

Prince William: What religion?
Prince Charles: Church of England. Which you'll one day be head of.

Princess Diana: I remember visiting the Badshee Mosque.
Hasnat Khan: Badshahi.
Princess Diana: Badshahi. And sitting primly on my little cushion. And my gorgeous, chic headscarf which they gave me to wear.
Hasnat Khan: Dupatta.
Princess Diana: Dupatta. And listening to all the imams talking about interfaith harmony, thinking how happy I could be there if I found myself a nice, handsome Pakistani husband...
Hasnat Khan: It's a nice idea in theory. In practice, you might find traditional Pakistani values a little challenging.
Princess Diana: You think the family I married into is any different? I was instructed to dress modestly. speak in a low voice, and walk one pace behind my husband and address him always as "sir." I was discouraged from expressing opinions or having an education. I had to make a vow that I was a virgin before being considered fit to marry him.

Martin Bashir: ... But would they give you control?
Princess Diana: They might not want to, but I'm good at all that.
Martin Bashir: We would definitely give you control. And you'd be protected by the best brand name in the world when it comes to journalistic integrity. The BBC.

Princess Diana: I'm worried you think I'm this... huge thing. This big, glamorous, celestial thing to be scared of.
Hasnat Khan: You are.
Princess Diana: No, I'm not. I'm no one anymore. Really, I'm no one. I have nothing. No real friends, no purpose, no role. No family. You forget I already had a prince. He broke my heart. I'm just looking for a frog to make me happy.

Martin Bashir: There's an Urdu proverb. Jitne muh utni baatein. "The more mouths, the more talk."

Princess Diana: You don't know what it means to me. To be understood. And finally have someone on my side. For so long, I've wanted people to know the truth about what it's been like to be part of this family. The sheer loneliness of it. But... I didn't know who I could tell. Or who I could trust.
Martin Bashir: You can trust me. And I promise I will protect you every step of the way...

—
On the IMDb
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Ipatiev House

The Crown 5×6

Queen Elizabeth II: I am curious to hear your impressions of Mr. Yeltsin.
John Major: When the coup was launched, he could easily have compromised with the plotters, tried to make a deal with them, but he never wavered, and the people love him for it. That said, I'm not certain I've seen him sober yet.
Queen Elizabeth II: I thought you had spent several days in his company.
John Major: I did.
Queen Elizabeth II: He can't have been drunk all that time.
John Major: I think he might have been. Not least because I think I may have been.

John Major: Once you get used to the table slamming and the profanity... he's straightforward and likable. And it turns out... Mr. Yeltsin is something of an Anglophile.
Queen Elizabeth II: Really?

Boris Yeltsin: Your Majesty. Like to know a secret about the Russian people?
Queen Elizabeth II: Oh, please.
Boris Yeltsin: In our heart of hearts, we are all still monarchists. Even at the height of Stalin's purges, when a Soviet citizen tells a story... we start by saying not "once upon a time...", but "in the good tsarist times..."
Queen Elizabeth II: To the good tsarist times!
Boris Yeltsin: To your health, Comrade!

Boris Yeltsin: We all know the truth. It was in this house that the Romanovs' deaths were sealed. Not the Kremlin. She should be careful. Or she will end up with a bayonet up her arse too.
Queen Elizabeth II: What did he say?
Boris Yeltsin's Interpreter: How thrilled he is to be here.
Queen Elizabeth II: Ah. He's very kind.
Boris Yeltsin: And call this a palace? We have shithouses in St. Petersburg that are bigger.

Queen Elizabeth II: I'm told the best way to identify and authenticate the remains is through DNA. And it turns out, the best, the only place in the world for bone DNA sequencing is here. In England.

Queen Elizabeth II: Apparently, because of the age of the bones, they can only use a particular kind of DNA that passes through the maternal line.
Prince Philip: Mitochondrial.
Queen Elizabeth II: Oh, you knew that?
Prince Philip: Yes.
Queen Elizabeth II: How?
Prince Philip: I read.
Queen Elizabeth II: Mmm.

Prince Philip: Oh, give it time. The great Russian bear is taking its first steps after years in captivity and suffering. Bound to be dysfunction.

Prince Philip: I've been busy.
Queen Elizabeth II: Clearly.
Prince Philip: Exploring, among other things, the grotesque injustices visited upon my relatives by your relatives.
Queen Elizabeth II: Let's not get proprietorial about relatives.
Prince Philip: And reminding myself not only how much I gained but how much I gave up when I married you.
Queen Elizabeth II: Such as?
Prince Philip: My career. My autonomy. My faith. You might recall I was born...
Queen Elizabeth II: Honestly, a convention of genealogists couldn't work out what you were born.
Prince Philip: I was born Orthodox. Just one of our many differences.
Queen Elizabeth II: How else are we different?
Prince Philip: After 47 years of marriage, we might ask ourselves, how are we still alike? We've got different interests. Different passions. Different churches. I'm more energetic.
Queen Elizabeth II: More restless.
Prince Philip: More curious. Your desire for calm, for stability, for silence, not to question, not to probe, not to...
Queen Elizabeth II: Provoke.
Prince Philip: ...interrogate, has sometimes left me...
Queen Elizabeth II: What?
Prince Philip: Lonely.

John Major: I believe Yeltsin is sincere in his desire for democracy. One just wishes he led with greater...
Queen Elizabeth II: Sobriety?
John Major: Authority. Reports out of Russia suggest the landscape is dangerously unstable. And the worry is it will result in the need for hard-line leadership again, and we will be back to square one.
Queen Elizabeth II: Hmm. Except... I prefer to think of square one with Russia as a state of friendship, not enmity. One forgets our two nations, thanks in part to family ties, have been more successful as allies than enemies. Seen like that, the revolution and Cold War are a blip in an otherwise long and happy marriage.

Queen Elizabeth II: Forty-seven years. And counting. You and Mrs. Major?
John Major: Uh... Uh... Twenty-four years this year.
Queen Elizabeth II: We must all be doing something right... What do you suppose that is?
John Major: Mmm... One of the most memorable accounts of a long, successful marriage comes from Dostoevsky's wife, Anna. She and Fyodor were, she said, of... contrasting character. Different temperaments. Entirely opposing views, yet they never tried to change one another. Nor interfere with the other's soul. This, she believed, enabled her and her husband to live in harmony.
Queen Elizabeth II: By having nothing whatsoever in common?
John Major: Hmm. The key to a happy marriage, it seems.

—
On the IMDb

The Way Ahead

The Crown 5×5

Prince Charles: In any other professional sphere, I'd be at the peak of my powers. Instead, what am I? I'm just a... useless ornament, stuck in a waiting room, gathering dust.

Prince Charles: You claim to want to refresh the monarchy. Well, what I'm proposing is precisely that. A new welfare monarchy that's less about... mystery and magic and divine right, and more about our practical role in today's society.

Prince Charles: ...the difficulty stems, I think, from when... when we in the monarchy set ourselves up as a sort of ideal. As husbands or as wives or as... as parents. And very often, the truth is very far from that. The question people have to ask themselves is what do they want in their leaders? Do they want someone who errs, but who learns from their mistakes, who grows, who... who recognizes the need for change, who has a vision? Or someone who is content to continue making the same mistakes and to keep things as they are?

John Major: Reaction to the interview is divided between those that feel the prince has shown himself unfit to be king and should have had the good grace to stay silent, and those that have been... pleasantly surprised by what they saw and heard.
     Interestingly, it was his desire to be defender of faith in general, to... Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Sikhs, Hindus, rather than Defender of the Faith that has won most favor. His words having undeniably connected with whole constituencies that are traditionally left unreached by the monarchy.
Queen Elizabeth II: It is not a monarch's role to campaign or chase constituencies like a politician because the Crown itself is a unifying symbol. It binds together a kingdom of four nations and a worldwide, multi-racial Commonwealth. Symbolically.
     Charles is frustrated because the Crown has many of the functions of an inanimate object. He prefers to be animate. But there's a danger in that. One can end up undoing more than doing.

Princess Anne: For years, I've doubted Charles. That he wasn't strong enough. Tough enough. But look what he's just come through. First that phone recording, subsequent humiliation. Then that interview and subsequent criticism. And it hasn't broken him. The opposite.
     He might be as mad as everyone thinks, but he's not as weak as everyone thinks. The Charles I saw today was strong. Confident. Mature. Not only does he have what it takes for the job, in some ways, he's already begun. ...
     For the past year, possibly more, Charles has been slowly but surely setting up his own court at St James's. His own Camelot. His own advisors, his own... modern, progressive agenda. He knows one day he will be King Charles III. And if we want to know what that will look and feel like... well, he's starting to show us.

—
On the IMDb

Annus Horribilis

The Crown 5×4

Prince Andrew: But there's another one now. A financial adviser, John Bryan.
Queen Elizabeth II: Oh, for heaven's sake.
Prince Andrew: With... more photographs to come.
Queen Elizabeth II: Of what?
Prince Andrew: You don't want to know. In Saint-Tropez. Doing something unmentionable.
Queen Elizabeth II: You're right. I don't want to know.
Prince Andrew: Sucking Sarah's toes, Mummy.

Prince Andrew: People tell me I put my foot in it from time to time. At least I don't put it in someone's mouth. Can you imagine? Her actual foot. If he was that hungry, he could've ordered a sandwich.
Queen Elizabeth II: Or some sole.
Prince Andrew: Sole! That's brilliant.

Prince Andrew: It's... It's just the sheer humiliation of it all. Which is why, this time, I'm left with no option but to, well, mention the D-word.
Queen Elizabeth II: Diplomacy? Détente? Is it asking too much to say "duty"?
Prince Andrew: Divorce, Mummy.

Prince Andrew: She's had enough. And I don't blame her. I blame us.
Queen Elizabeth II: What?
Prince Andrew: We all knew what we were getting into when we brought Sarah into the family. Everyone was so pro. You more than anyone.
Queen Elizabeth II: Yes.
Prince Andrew: She was a breath of fresh air. Modern, relatable, buckets of fun. That laugh. So infectious.
Queen Elizabeth II: Yes.
Prince Andrew: But that's what we do in this family. Destroy anyone that's different. Not at the beginning. First, we tell ourselves how good they'll be for the system. They'll be our salvation, our secret weapon. Make us look more modern. More normal. More... human. And we learn the same painful lessons yet again. That no one with any character, originality, spark, wit, and flare has a place in this system.

Queen Elizabeth II: At my coronation, I took an oath that you will one day take at yours to maintain the laws of God. And God's law is that marriage is for life. And while it is expected for the monarch to be married and produce an heir, being happily married is a preference rather than a requirement.
Prince Charles: You also took a solemn promise to maintain and protect the Crown. Diana won't rest until she's blown the whole thing up. Is that what you want?

Prince Charles: Look at the rates of family breakdown out there, and then look at us. Margaret, divorced. Anne, divorced. Andrew, humiliated and... and heading for divorce. Me, trapped and dreaming of divorce. And you talk about moral examples. If we were an... ordinary family and social services came to visit, they'd have thrown us into care and you into jail!

Queen Elizabeth II: How did it come to this? Our generation was brought up to believe that marriage was an ideal, and divorce was a problem. This generation...

Princess Margaret: You don't think I have reason to burn down my sister's home?

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: You know the three questions we always ask ourselves. Does it need saying? Does it need saying now? Does it need saying by me? And to describe it in this way, annus horribilis? People will remark on it. Not just because of the theatrical deviation into Latin.
Queen Elizabeth II: What's your point?
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: My point, since we're speaking Latin now, is tempus fugit. Time passes. People will move on and forget. Make a statement like this, no one will forget.

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Apology? That word shouldn't be in your vocabulary. Monarchy is the only part of the constitution with an element of the divine. When you wear the crown, you are transfigured. Apologizing sullies not just your dignity but God's, whose will it is that you are who you are. I'm not sure if there's anything to be gained by that.
Prince Philip: Yes, there is. Her peace of mind. She's done God's will about as immaculately as any human for the past 40 years. She's earned the right to say anything she likes. And it's our job to support her. Unconditionally.

—
+ Quotes on the IMDb

Mou Mou

The Crown 5×3

Mohamed Al Fayed: I promise I will be the greatest of fathers. Then together, we will survey the world we have conquered. Together. Father and son. Together. Always. Your name will be... Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena'em Fayed. But I'll call you... Dodi.

Mohamed Al Fayed: British society is the finest in the world. British manners and customs rule the world. With your help, I will become that rare thing, a British gentleman.

Duke of Windsor: Now, there are a dozen writers you have to read if you are ever to understand the English. PG Wodehouse. Rudyard Kipling.
Sydney Johnson: PG Wodehouse. Rudyard Kipling. Charles Dickens.
Duke of Windsor: The Shooting Diaries of Colonel Peter Hawker.

Sydney Johnson: Afternoon tea is not a task to hurry through, Mr. Mohamed, but a ritual to be savored.

Sydney Johnson: You'll be in the doghouse if the duchess catches you pouring tea like that.

Duke of Windsor: For the city, a simple dinner jacket, midnight blue, never black. For the country, jeans and shirts. Freedom and ease. Corduroys and checks for golf. A cerise baseball cap and always... wherever you are... socks. Rolled down every morning, ready to slip on.

Sydney Johnson: As for recreation, to have your own shoot is important.

Mohamed Al Fayed: Harrods is much more than a shop. Sydney.
Sydney Johnson: Harrods is part of the national soul and the very fabric of what it is to be British. Owning Harrods is like owning the Tower of London or Westminster Abbey.
Mohamed Al Fayed: It's the most famous department store in the world. Owning it will give us access and power and legitimacy. We would be at the heart of British society. The royals themselves are customers. Passports and citizenship of the United Kingdom will surely follow.
Dodi Fayed: How much?
Mohamed Al Fayed: Six hundred million pounds.

Mohamed Al Fayed: So, this is a movie set? Where are the girls?
Dodi Fayed: The story's not about girls. It's about a young Jewish man...
Mohamed Al Fayed: A Jew? Couldn't you make a film about something else?
Dodi Fayed: ...who overcomes racial and establishment prejudice, runs the 100 meters in the 1924 Olympics... and wins gold.
Mohamed Al Fayed: Really? That's a movie?
Dodi Fayed: It's an inspirational story. Where the outsider... ends up becoming an insider.

Sydney Johnson: If I may say so... whatever thoughts you might be thinking, I imagine they're no different from the thoughts the duke had about the royal family almost every day he was alive.
Mohamed Al Fayed: What are you talking about? Mohamed Al Fayed just made the Queen of England very happy indeed.

Mohamed Al Fayed: Mohamed. But you must call me Mou Mou.
Princess Diana: Why must I call you Mou Mou?
Mohamed Al Fayed: All my friends do.
Princess Diana: Gosh, we're friends already? That was quick.
Mohamed Fayed: Too quick?
Princess Diana: Mmm... Maybe a little too quick.

Princess Diana: Does everyone in your family say things twice-twice?
Mohamed Al Fayed: No, no.
Princess Diana: I bet they do-do, Mou Mou.

Mohamed Al Fayed: May I present my son, Dodi?
Dodi Fayed: Your Royal Highness.
Princess Diana: Dodi Dodi? Or just Dodi?
Dodi Fayed: What?
Princess Diana: It's a joke, joke.
Mohamed Al Fayed: It's funny, funny.

—
On the IMDb

The System

The Crown 5×2

Queen Elizabeth II: What's that look? I've never seen so many thoughts go on behind someone's eyes.
Prince Philip: Gratitude. Appreciation.
Queen Elizabeth II: What for?
Prince Philip: You make a better person of me.
Queen Elizabeth II: And you of me. Isn't that the point of marriage?

Prince Philip: You know, a long time ago, I lost my favorite sister. Cecile. In an airplane crash. I learned then what grief was. True grief. How it moves through the body. How it inhabits it. How it becomes part of your skin. Your cells. And it makes a home there. A permanent home. But you learn to live with it. And you will be happy again. Though never in the same way as before, but... But that's the point. Hmm? To keep finding... new ways.

Prince Philip: You're not a novice anymore. You're long past the point of thinking of us as a family. That's the mistake people make in the beginning, but you understand, I think, it's a system. And we're all in this system. You, me, the Boss. The cousins, the uncles, the aunts. The lepers. For better or for worse. We're all stuck in it. And we can't just air our grievances and throw bombs in the air as in a normal family, or we end up damaging something much bigger and something much more important. The system.
     So the tip I want to give you is this. I mean, just... just be creative. You can break as many rules as you like. You can do whatever you want. You can make whatever arrangements you need to find your own happiness. As long as you remember the one condition. The one rule. You remain loyal to your husband and loyal to this family in public.
Princess Diana: You mean silent?
Prince Philip: Yes. Don't rock the boat.
Princess Diana: Right.
Prince Philip: Ever. To the grave...

Prince Philip: You're not saying anything.
Princess Diana: I don't think there's anything to say.
Prince Philip: Then I think that's the wisest thing I've ever heard come out of your mouth.

Queen Elizabeth II: Is that the solution, do you think? That husbands and wives should keep secrets from one another?
Prince Philip: Secrets? That's not a very nice word. Queen Elizabeth II: No. Um... No, what I mean is, you know, if people were... well, more considerate, more mature, more... discrete, it can actually be the glue that binds it all together.
You see, I think in a marriage, one should aim to exist without secrets or accommodations.
Prince Philip: Yes, well, that's because you are who you are.
Queen Elizabeth II: And not just because any husband or wife can feel when something is awry, but ultimately, it's not what I know about you or even what you know about me. It's what He knows. About all of us.
Prince Philip: I think He has the night off occasionally.
Queen Elizabeth II: Good night.
Prince Philip: Good night.

—
On the IMDb

Queen Victoria Syndrome

The Crown 5×1

Queen Elizabeth II: I am delighted to join you in Clydebank today for the launch of this, the latest royal yacht. I hope that this brand-new vessel, like your brand-new queen, will prove to be dependable and constant. Capable of weathering any storm. I now take great pride in naming this ship "Britannia." I wish success to her. And to all who sail in her.

Prince Charles: I know the Queen thinks the royal yacht is perfect in every way, but as a... an intimate space for newlyweds, it's like a floating observation tank. Every... awkward silence and stilted conversation between bride and gloom glaringly obvious to each and every one of the 200 crew.
Norton Knatchbull: Did you just say "bride and gloom"?
Prince Charles: Did I? Oh! The irony is, I'm the only person this marriage does make gloomy.

Prince Philip: It's outrageous. She never stops. She never complains. She never puts a foot wrong. She's utterly magnificent, and they print rubbish like this.

Queen Elizabeth II: "Queen Victoria Syndrome"? Yes, I saw that. "An aging monarch, too long on the throne, whose remoteness from the modern world has led people to grow tired not just of her, but of the monarchy itself."

Prince Charles: "Queen Victoria Syndrome." What were your conclusions?
John Major: It's just a poll, sir.
Prince Charles: True. Not a reassuring one.
John Major: Polls come and go.
Prince Charles: Dangerous to ignore them.
John Major: Equally dangerous to be guided by them.

Prince Charles: For almost 60 years, my great-great-grandfather, Edward VII, was kept waiting in the wings. It was said that Queen Victoria had no confidence in him. Thought him dangerous. Free-thinking. He longed to be given responsibilities, but his mother refused. Even forbade him from seeing state papers. And yet, when his time came, he proved his doubters wrong, and his dynamism, his intellect, his popular appeal made his reign a triumph.
John Major: What are you saying, sir?
Prince Charles: I'm saying, what a pity it was. What a waste. That his... voice, his... his presence, his vision wasn't incorporated earlier. It would have been so good. For everybody.

Queen Elizabeth II: What people fail to understand is, I see any similarity with Queen Victoria as a compliment. Attributes people use to describe her, constancy, stability, calm, duty, I would be proud to have describe me.

Queen Elizabeth II: When I came to the throne, all my palaces were inherited. Windsor, Balmoral, Sandringham. They all bear the stamp of my predecessors. Only Britannia have I truly been able to make my own. Perhaps for that reason, the connection between me and the yacht is very much deeper than a mode of transport or even a home. From the design of the hull to the smallest piece of china, she is a floating, seagoing expression of me.

Prince Charles: Sometimes these old things are... They're too costly to keep repairing.

John Major: When you imagine the problems you might be confronted with as prime minister, you imagine... tricky sessions at PMQs. The economy in free fall. Going to war. You never imagine this... The House of Windsor should be binding the nation together. Setting an example of idealized family life. Instead, the senior royals seem dangerously deluded and out of touch. The junior royals, feckless, entitled, and lost. And the Prince of Wales, impatient for a bigger role in public life, fails to appreciate that his one great asset is his wife. It's a situation that can't help but affect the stability of the country. And what makes it worse is, it feels it's all about to erupt. On my watch.

—
On the IMDb
+ Soundtrack

War

The Crown 4×10

Prince Charles: ... So I hope you agree it leaves me no option but to start a formal separation.
Queen Elizabeth II: Oh, Charles!
Prince Charles: I'm wretchedly unhappy, yet there is someone else out there who would make me perfectly happy--
Prince Philip: Quick, switch on the television.
Queen Elizabeth II: Why?
Prince Philip: It's the Ides of March. It's Julius Caesar, or should I say Julia Caesar?
Prince Charles: We're in the middle of an important conversation--
Prince Philip: Shh!

Prince Charles: .... Although I gather you still found time to see… certain other people.
Princess Diana: I think this conversation's gone as far as it can.
Prince Charles: You were the one who insisted on talking. I always said silence was preferable.

Margaret Thatcher: Oh, poor Geoffrey. I'd offered him the position of deputy prime minister, and he seems to have taken it rather the wrong way.
Queen Elizabeth II: In the newspapers, his speech is seen as a direct challenge to your authority.
Margaret Thatcher: I think that all depends on which newspapers you're reading.
Queen Elizabeth II: Not just newspapers. Television too.
Margaret Thatcher: Or watching.

Margaret Thatcher: Oh, those little men! And you want me to get on my knees to them? Never. Have them brought in to me. One by one.

Queen Elizabeth II: Have you consulted Cabinet on this matter?
Margaret Thatcher: I have not, ma'am.
Queen Elizabeth II: Surely that would be the normal course of action?
Margaret Thatcher: With all due respect, the decision to dissolve Parliament is in the gift of the prime minister alone. It is entirely within my power to do this if I see fit.
Queen Elizabeth II: You are correct. Technically, it is within your power to request this. But we must all ask ourselves when to exercise those things that are within our power and when not to.

Queen Elizabeth II: Your first instinct as a person, I think, is often to act. To exercise power.
Margaret Thatcher: Well, that is what people want in a leader. To show conviction and strength. To lead.
Queen Elizabeth II: I'm merely asking the question. Whether it is correct to exercise a power simply because it is yours to use...

Queen Elizabeth II: Power is nothing without authority. And at this moment, your Cabinet is against you. Your party is against you. And if the polls are to be believed, if you were to call a general election today, you would not win. Which suggests the country is against you. Perhaps the time has come for you to try doing nothing for once.
Margaret Thatcher: The difference is… you have power… in doing nothing. I… will have nothing.
Queen Elizabeth II: You will have your dignity.
Margaret Thatcher: There is no dignity in the wilderness.
Queen Elizabeth II: Then might I suggest you don't think of it as that. Think of it as an opportunity to pursue other passions.
Margaret Thatcher: I have other loves. My husband, my children… But this job is my only true passion. And to have it taken from me… stolen from me so cruelly…

Margaret Thatcher: What hurts the most is that we had come so far. And now to have the opportunity to finish the job snatched away at the very last…

Camilla Parker Bowles: I'm an old woman. I'm a married woman. Nowhere near as pretty, nowhere near as radiant. Someone who looks like me has no place in a fairy tale. That's all people want, is a fairy tale.
Prince Charles: If they knew the truth about our feelings for one another, they'd have their fairy tale.
Camilla Parker Bowles: No! To be the protagonist of a fairy tale, you must first be wronged. A victim. Which, if we were to become public, we would make her. In the narrative laws of fairy tales versus reality… the fairy tale always prevails.

Camilla Parker Bowles: She will… always defeat me in the court of public opinion.
Prince Charles: What is all this, my darling? What's got into you today?
Camilla Parker Bowles: It's reality, sir. She's the Princess of Wales. She's a future queen, the mother to a future king. And I'm just...
Prince Charles: My one… true love.
Camilla Parker Bowles: A mistress. Mistress to the Prince of Wales, just like my great-grandmother Alice Keppel was the mistress to the Prince of Wales, your great-great-grandfather.
Prince Charles: And he loved her till the end.

Queen Elizabeth II: When I ascended the throne… I was just a girl. Twenty-five years old. And I was surrounded by stuffy, rather patronizing gray-haired men everywhere telling me what to do. And I wanted to say… the way you dealt with all your stuffy, rather patronizing gray-haired men throughout your time in office and saw them all off…
Margaret Thatcher: Well, they've had their revenge now.
Queen Elizabeth II: I was shocked by the way in which you were forced to leave office. And I wanted to offer my sympathy. Not just as Queen to prime minister… but woman to woman.

Queen Elizabeth II: Throughout the time we worked together, people tended to focus on our many differences. Which was lazy and misleading, I think. And overlooked the many things we do have in common... Our generation. Our Christianity. Our work ethic. Our sense of duty. But above all… our devotion to this country that we both love. So with that in mind…

Queen Elizabeth II: The Order of Merit… is not awarded by some faceless committee. It comes at the personal discretion of the sovereign and is in recognition of exceptionally meritorious service. It is limited to just 24 recipients, no matter their background. You could be the daughter of a duke. Or a greengrocer. What matters… is your accomplishments. And nobody can deny… that this is a very different country now to the one inherited by our first woman prime minister.
     Now, it's normally handed over in the box. But if you would allow me… Congratulations.

Prince Philip: We can be a rough bunch in this family. And I'm sure, on occasion, to a sensitive creature like you, it must feel like… Well, let me ask. What does it feel like?
Princess Diana: A cold, frozen tundra.
Prince Philip: Right. Like that, then.
Princess Diana: An icy, dark, loveless cave… with no light… no hope… anywhere. Not even the faintest crack.

Prince Philip: You're right to call me an outsider. I was an outsider the day that I met the… the 13-year-old princess who would one day become my wife. And after all these years… I still am. We all are. Everyone… in this system… is a lost… lonely… irrelevant outsider… apart from the one person, the only person, that matters. She is the oxygen we all breathe. The essence of all our duty. Your problem, if I may say… is you seem to be confused about who that person is.

—
On the IMDb
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Avalanche

The Crown 4×9

Prince Charles: What were you thinking?!
Princess Diana: I was trying to make you happy.
Prince Charles: That grotesque, mortifying display had nothing to do with me or my happiness. Eight minutes they were on their feet, cheering you! Tomorrow the newspapers will be about nothing other than you.
Princess Diana: People will see it was about my feelings for you.
Prince Charles: If you had any feelings for me, if you had… any understanding of me… if you had anything between your ears other than self-obsession, you would know public displays like that horrify me.

Prince Philip: Why did you never do that for me?
Queen Elizabeth II: Dance on your birthday?
Prince Philip: Yes. Like Salome.
Queen Elizabeth II: Because, if memory serves, you had your own ballerinas for that.
Prince Philip: Honestly. The rubbish you talk sometimes...

Martin Charteris: Um… We have contingency plans in place for all members of the royal family. "Menai Bridge" is no exception... It's the code name for the death of the Prince of Wales.

Prince Philip: Why bridges?
Queen Elizabeth II: We're all bridges. I'm London Bridge. Mummy's Tay Bridge. You're Forth Bridge. The choice of name… was to suggest a link between this life and… and the next.

Queen Elizabeth II: As his sister and confidante, I thought you might throw some light on a subject about which I've been ostriching, rather. The true state of Charles's marriage.
Princess Anne: You don't want to know.
Queen Elizabeth II: Actually, I do.

Princess Anne: The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Queen Elizabeth II: Please.
Princess Anne: All right. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl who fell madly in love with a handsome prince. Unfortunately, the prince was already in love with someone else, who was herself in love with someone else, and they all lived unhappily ever after. That's it, in a nutshell. Do you need more?
Queen Elizabeth II: A little.

Princess Anne: There comes a point in any failing marriage, and here I speak with some experience, when you realize there's no point in trying anymore, and it's easier to just let the current take you away.

Princess Anne: Unfortunately, the Wales marriage is a rare example of something that is actually worse than the newspapers report.

Queen Elizabeth II: I asked you here today because word has reached me about the difficulties you're experiencing. But something as important as the marriage of the future monarch simply cannot be allowed to fail. Your marriage, all our marriages, are a reflection on the integrity of the Crown. And if they show cracks… that they cannot be relied upon, then the constancy and stability that the monarchy is supposed to represent is called into question too. So I would like to ask one fundamental question of you both... Does either of you no longer want this marriage to work?

Queen Elizabeth II: And do you understand what it takes to make a marriage work? The respect one must show the other party. The blind eyes one needs to turn. The arrangements both of you must come to. The freedoms both of you must respect. And the rules you must abide by.
Princess Diana: I am ready… to commit… to anything. To go to any lengths. And I want to say to you… that I'm sorry… for my part… in everything.
Queen Elizabeth II: Good. Well, that's that, then.
Prince Charles: What? Do I get a chance to speak?
Prince Philip: And say what? What else is there to say?

Edward Adeane: As a matter of fact, the Princess of Wales made a point of requesting you be in Highgrove that weekend. She said she had something specific in mind.

Princess Anne: The majority of marriages survive because the majority of people aren't fantasists. They are realists and accept the imperfect reality of being human.

Prince Charles: You're lying.
Princess Anne: No, I'm not. I'm trying to protect you.
Prince Charles: I come here seeking comfort from my sibling, and what do I get?
Princess Anne: The unvarnished truth.
Prince Charles: What does one have to do to get some kindness in this family?

—
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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.

—
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The Hereditary Principle

The Crown 4×7

Dazzle Jennings: This is a huge secret! It's virtually a state secret...

Princess Margaret: Love is a tender kiss for most people. For me, she saves her sharpest ax.

Princess Margaret: Well, I am ready for a new chapter… without men, without… cigarettes, without…

Princess Margaret: I'm finally ready… to focus on the one thing that won't let me down.
Queen Elizabeth II: What's that?
Princess Margaret: Us. My position as a royal. My duty. So I come on bended knee with a familiar request. Give me as much responsibility as you can. As many jobs, as much work. What your sister needs to stay afloat… is a sense of meaning.

Princess Margaret: It's outrageous that I, an HRH, should travel to see her.
Anne Tennant: I gather it's part of the process, that the patient accept that they are a patient. Apparently, the healing cannot start until the grandiosity is diminished.
Princess Margaret: What grandiosity? I'm so far down the royal pecking order these days, I'm virtually an untouchable.

Princess Margaret: I had therapy once before. ... The problem we face is I'm… Well, I'm so opposed to all of this. I find it pathetic. It violates everything I was brought up to believe.
Penelope Carter: What were you brought up to believe?
Princess Margaret: Self-pity won't get you very far. You've just got to get on with it.
Penelope Carter: Well, that's a very common attitude. It's also quite old-fashioned.
Princess Margaret: Did you just call me common? And old? Because that would not be a good way to start.

Princess Margaret: Five, Mummy! Five members of our close family locked up and neglected!
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: What do you expect us to do?
Princess Margaret: Behave like human beings.
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Oh, don't be so naive. We had no choice...

Princess Margaret: It's wicked, and it's cold-hearted, and it's cruel. And it's entirely in keeping with the ruthlessness I myself have experienced in this family. If you're not first in line, if you're an individual character with individual needs, and God forbid an irregular temperament… If you don't fit the perfect mold of… silent, dutiful supplication, then you'll be spat out, or you'll be hidden away, or, worse, declared dead! Darwin had nothing on you lot. Shame on all of you.

Princess Margaret: Why?
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Because… their illness… their imbecility--
Princess Margaret: Don't use those words.
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Their professionally diagnosed idiocy and imbecility… would make people question the integrity of the bloodline.
Princess Margaret: What?
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Can you imagine the headlines if it were to get out? What people would say? The hereditary principle already hangs by such a precarious thread. Throw in mental illness… and it's over. The idea that… one family alone has the automatic birthright to the Crown is already so hard to justify. The gene pool of that family… had better have 100% purity.

Princess Margaret: It's all a family disease, isn't it? When they… they tell you you can't marry. When they strip away your official role. When they side with your husband as your marriage falls apart. And now this. This final… insult. That every diminishment, every… rotten… misfortune… is written… is written in my blood. So… without… tiptoeing to protect me or dressing things up, tell me the truth. As well as being born second… am I destined to be mad, too?

Dazzle Jennings: One cannot fully receive God until one has submitted to something larger, and the moment I did...
Princess Margaret: Don't tell me. The lights went on, you found happiness?
Dazzle Jennings: More than happiness. Ecstasy. And the gloom we talked about so many times… the emptiness… has gone.

Dazzle Jennings: So come over.
Princess Margaret: I would, but in case you hadn't noticed, Dazzle, I've already submitted to something larger. The royal family of the United Kingdom. If I became Catholic, it would be a national scandal. There'd be talk of betrayal, second Reformation. And they'd make me give up my title and kick me out.
Dazzle Jennings: Would that be so bad? To free yourself once and for all? To find happiness?
Princess Margaret: Why would I? The title, my seniority, the proximity to the Crown is my happiness. It's who I am. I don't expect you to understand.
Dazzle Jennings: No, I don't understand! You've just discovered terrible things about your family. A system that ignored five members of its own to protect itself. Will that same system protect you? No! It doesn't protect anything except the center. Those away from the center...
Princess Margaret: But I am in the center! I am in the very center. I am the Queen's sister, daughter to a king-emperor, and I will always be in the center.

—
On the IMDb
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Terra Nullius

The Crown 4×6

Princess Margaret: She's struggling to cope, apparently. Wretched in the marriage. And… if rumors are to be believed, she's, uh… doing things to herself.
Queen Elizabeth II: What things?
Princess Margaret: People do the strangest things when they're unhappy...

Edward Adeane: I'm busy, ma'am. What is your point?
Princess Diana: My point is that this child is not just beautiful. This child is perfect in every single way. So why should you expect me, as his mother, to be without him for one second, let alone two weeks?
Edward Adeane: Because you married the Prince of Wales, ma'am. And that is an act of service to the Crown and to the country, which you signed up to willingly and with open eyes, and you are the Princess of Wales.
Princess Diana: Then the greatest act of service that I can give to the Crown as princess is not to be some meek little wife following the great prince around like some smiling doll, but to be a living, breathing, present mother, bringing up this child in the hopes that the boy that will one day become king still has a vestige of humanity in him. God knows he's not going to be getting it from any of his courtiers.

Princess Diana: I think this might be the most important conversation we've ever had.
Prince Charles: Yes.
Princess Diana: And the solution is so simple. Any time either of us feels we're not getting what we need, we simply need to give that very thing to the other. If you learned anything from today... We both need the same as each other. To be encouraged.
Prince Charles: To be supported.
Princess Diana: And to be…
Prince Charles: ...appreciated.
Princess Diana: To be loved.
Prince Charles: Yes.

Bob Hawke: Let's face it. She's made us both look like chumps.
Prince Charles: I… don't understand.
Bob Hawke: Terra nullius. That's what your ancestor King George III called us when the Brits first arrived. "Nobody's country." Well, by God, we were somebody's country then, and… we're our own country now. When you arrived, I thought… your visit might inspire Australia to finally… throw off the shackles and stand on her own two feet, and… no offense, but if it'd just been you, you know, I might've got my wishes! But then, you know… she comes along. The perfect wife, the perfect princess, and the whole place goes nuts. It's the power of fairy tales. That superstar may have just set back the cause of republicanism in Australia for the foreseeable future.

Queen Elizabeth II: Welcome back.
Princess Diana: Thank you, Mama... You said I should always call you that.
Queen Elizabeth II: Of course.

Queen Elizabeth II: I struggle to understand Charles too. I think that's no secret. But us sitting here sticking knives into him isn't helpful either. Is it also possible there is a part of you that is enjoying your own success too much?
Princess Diana: What is "too much"? A smile? A moment's happiness?
Queen Elizabeth II: Overstepping the mark is too much. I think we do all know when we've played to the gallery excessively. We know.

Princess Diana: All I want is to play for the team.
Queen Elizabeth II: You're the Princess of Wales. So of course you're part of the team.
Princess Diana: Then show me. This whole thing, it starts and stops with you. You're the captain of the team. If you show me love, approval, and acceptance, everyone else will follow.
Queen Elizabeth II: ... I think we've gone as far as we can for now. We can continue another time.
Princess Diana: Don't dismiss me, please. Don't push me away.
Queen Elizabeth II: What?
Princess Diana: Mama… That's all I want. It's all any of us want from you. Is it too much to ask?

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: A hug?
Queen Elizabeth II: Yes.
Princess Margaret: What kind of hug?
Queen Elizabeth II: A tight, rather desperate hug.

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Diana… is an immature little girl who, in time, will give up her struggles, give up her fight, and bend, as Philip did. As they all do. And when she bends, she will fit.
Queen Elizabeth II: And if she doesn't bend, what then?
Princess Margaret: She will break.

—
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Fagan

The Crown 4×5

Queen Elizabeth II: The prime minister came to see me today.
Prince Philip: I hope you rolled out the red carpet.
Queen Elizabeth II: Why would I do that?
Prince Philip: Everyone was against us going to the Falklands, but she believed we could pull it off, and now victory's within sight. Her victory. She's finally doing what we've been waiting years for someone to do.
Queen Elizabeth II: Which is?
Prince Philip: Lead this country firmly and decisively after years of incompetence and mismanagement.

Queen Elizabeth II: Who are you?
Michael Fagan: My name is Michael.
Queen Elizabeth II: Out! Get out!
Michael Fagan: You have nothing to fear from me.
Queen Elizabeth II: There is an armed policeman outside this door.
Michael Fagan: No, there isn't.

Queen Elizabeth II: What do you want? If it's money...
Michael Fagan: I don't want money. I don't want anything. I just wanna talk to you, that's all, to tell you what's going on in the country. 'Cause either you don't know, or you don't care.
Queen Elizabeth II: Of course I care. I care very deeply indeed. What a thing to say.

Michael Fagan: Just… gimme a minute, will ya? I'll sort myself out, I'll say what I gotta say, and then I'll go! You don't have a cigarette handy, do ya?
Queen Elizabeth II: No. Filthy habit.
Michael Fagan: I know, I know.

Michael Fagan: I just thought it might be good for you to meet someone normal who can tell it to you, you know, as it is.
Queen Elizabeth II: I meet normal people all the time.
Michael Fagan: No, you don't. Everyone you meet's on best behavior. Bowing and scraping. That's not normal.
Queen Elizabeth II: And this is normal?
Michael Fagan: It could be, if I ever calm down.

Michael Fagan: The richest woman in the world, but look, it's not even electric!
Queen Elizabeth II: What?
Michael Fagan: Your toothbrush. That's the thing about this place. It's even posher than you'd think and yet more rundown.
Queen Elizabeth II: Rundown?
Michael Fagan: Oh yeah. Corridors and state rooms? Shocking. Chipped paint, peeling wallpaper, stains. Decorator. Can't help noticing.
Queen Elizabeth II: Is that what you do?
Michael Fagan: Painter-decorator. You should hire me. You might need a glazier too. I broke a window this time.

Queen Elizabeth II: What is the matter with you? This is private property.
Michael Fagan: No, it's not. It's state property.
Queen Elizabeth II: Either way, you're trespassing.
Michael Fagan: Which isn't a crime. Not if I don't steal anything.
Queen Elizabeth II: You stole a bottle of wine last time.
Michael Fagan: Only to work up the courage to speak to you.

Michael Fagan: I've tried everything else. Writing letters, speaking to my MP. Fat lot of good any of that did. Mirage of democracy. So I've come to you, the head of state. You're my last resort. Someone who can actually do something.
Queen Elizabeth II: What is it you'd like me to do?
Michael Fagan: Save us all from her.
Queen Elizabeth II: Who?
Michael Fagan: Thatcher. She's destroying the country.

Michael Fagan: We've got more than three million unemployed. More than at any time since the Great Depression. Doesn't that bother you?
Queen Elizabeth II: Yes, it bothers me greatly. But there's nothing I can do about it. When you've been in my position as long as I have, you see how quickly and how often a nation's fortunes can change. Joblessness, recession, crises, war. All these things have a way of correcting themselves. Countries bounce back. People do. Because they simply have to.
Michael Fagan: That's what I thought. That I'd bounce back... And then I didn't. First the work dried up, then my confidence dried up. Then… the love in my wife's eyes dried up. And then you begin to wonder, you know, where's it gone?

Michael Fagan: You may think you're off the hook, but she's got her eye on your job, too. You'll be out of work soon.
Queen Elizabeth II: Let me assure you, Mrs. Thatcher is an all-too-committed monarchist.
Michael Fagan: She has an appetite for power which is presidential, and in this country, a president and a head of state cannot coexist. Mark my words, she's put us out of work. She's quietly putting you out of work.

Queen Elizabeth II: Is there anything else you'd like to say to me?
Michael Fagan: No. Thank you.
Queen Elizabeth II: I do hope they don't make things too difficult for you in light of this.
Michael Fagan: Thank you. Well, goodbye.

Queen Elizabeth II: I shall bear in mind what you've said. Now perhaps that cup of tea.

Queen Elizabeth II: While he may be a troubled soul, I don't think he's entirely to blame for his troubles, being a victim of unemployment, which is now more than twice what it was when you came into office just three years ago.
Margaret Thatcher: If unemployment is temporarily high, ma'am, then it is a necessary side effect of the medicine we are administering to the British economy.
Queen Elizabeth II: Shouldn't we be careful that this medicine, like some dreadful chemotherapy, doesn't kill the very patient it is intended to heal?

Queen Elizabeth II: If people like Mr. Fagan are struggling, do we not have a collective duty to help them? What of our moral economy?
Margaret Thatcher: If we are to turn this country around… we really must abandon outdated and misguided notions of collective duty. There are individual men and women, and there are families. Self-interested people who are trying to better themselves. That is the engine that fires a nation.

Margaret Thatcher: My father didn't have the state to rely on should his business fail. It was the risk of ruin and his duty to his family that drove him to succeed.
Queen Elizabeth II: Perhaps not everyone is as remarkable as your father.
Margaret Thatcher: Oh, you see, that is where you and I differ. I say they have it within them to be.

Margaret Thatcher: Now, if you will excuse me, I really must go.
Queen Elizabeth II: Where to?
Margaret Thatcher: To the victory parade at the City of London.
Queen Elizabeth II: A victory parade?
Margaret Thatcher: Yes, ma'am. We have just won a war.

Prince Philip: Well, she's trying to protect you.
Queen Elizabeth II: From what?
Prince Philip: From lunatics.
Queen Elizabeth II: Normal people. My subjects.
Prince Philip: Come on. That man was clearly a lunatic. And a fool.
Queen Elizabeth II: Yes, but in the best sense, like Lear's fool.
Prince Philip: Don't get all… Shakespearean with me.

—
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