Well, I'll be darned - I have just found a TV show that actually appeals a lot to me - and I am usually not interested in TV shows at all, because for some reason I refuse to be sucked into a vortex and dislike anything with a hype. But curiosity made me have "just a peek" and now I treat myself with a episode each night, enjoying it thoroughly and even later visiting youtube to see real faces and events described here.
The story is about - guess what - British royal family Windsor and it starts in late 1940s when young princess Elizabeth (Claire Foy) is supposedly still many years from replacing her father on a throne. What nobody knows is that the king is deadly ill with a lung cancer and he hides this from everyone, including his own family - only prime minister Winston Churchill (John Lithgow) knows this, because he is told about everything. We follow courtly intrigues, whispers behind the fans, we witness the animosity and the hostility, court protocols that must be respected and often cumbersome traditions that Elizabeth must overcome while trying to do the right thing and please everybody. The whole show is filmed like the most glamorous MGM extravaganza with seemingly unlimited budget, everything looks genuinely sumptuous and we have pleasure of glancing into completely another world where royals never dress themselves up and even as they talk in private, the servants are here to collect discarded shoes and to help with the clothes - of course, royals don't really do anything, it is the cabinet with ministers who is making decisions while King is duck hunting and even than, servants are carrying and re-filling his gun. Men spend their afternoons drinking and laughing in a gentlemen's clubs, while ladies all look extremely bored and long-suffering under all those pearls and hats. There is a definitely a feeling of a gilded cage and a certain sinister claustrophobia here, because nobody is ever alone and there are no such things as secrets - even when princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby) is phoning her sister for a completely private conversation, Winston Churchill is immediately notified and he is listening on the other side. You see, there is no such thing as privacy - everything Windsors do is of a great national importance and neither Elizabeth, nor her handsome new husband (Matt Smith) can't do whatever they want, they must respect the tradition and listen what the cabinet suggest - Elizabeth will sometimes put her foot down, but most of the time she will find the way to balance both what is expected from her with what she wants.
Sure, I understand this is a fictionalised account and not really exactly what happened but its done with great attention, care and respect towards Windsors - I can't imagine anyone in Buckingham palace being offended with episodes I have seen so far, because family is shown as basically close-knit, strong and powerful. Yes, they privately despise king's older brother Duke of Windsor (Alex Jennings) who abdicated so he could marry commoner Wallis Simpson (Lia Williams) but he is shown as a bitter, vindictive man reduced to beg finances from the family he left behind and accepting embarrassing photo interviews from magazines who are paying for visiting his home - incapable of doing any real work, Duke simply wants money to continue living exclusive high life or as Wallis said to one journalist "we love to entertain". On the other hand, we are also informed how ministers circle around elderly Churchill like vultures but nobody dares to say anything to his face - they find him too old to make any decisions but he is way too clever and powerful figure to just be swept aside. The fact this is a TV show about real, historical characters and the things that actually happened (like great smog of 1952.) makes this hugely attractive and watchable, I am really excited with everything and I think its brilliant. Of course, I understand this should be taken as a real proof that things really happened this way, but it goes a long way to explain at least what happened and it shows Queen Elizabeth as a human who is actually likeable and not just intimidating. (I have seen her once, in real life, when I lived in London).
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