The Crown (TV Series)

Scientia Potentia Est (2016)

Claire Foy: Queen Elizabeth II

Photos 

Quotes 

• Queen Elizabeth II : Shall we make a start?

  Winston Churchill : One item overshadows every other on the agenda this week, Ma'am. The Soviets and their H-bomb. We now have confirmation that they have been testing in the Kazakh Desert. It is vital that we act swiftly to secure peace and vital that we British spearhead the effort. I have always been the person everyone wants in a room with the Russians because Stalin would only talk to me. With him gone, there is a great danger that Eisenhower will take it upon himself to run the show.

  Queen Elizabeth II : And that would be bad?

  Winston Churchill : Oh, a disaster, Ma'am. For all the obvious reasons.

  [coughs] 

  Queen Elizabeth II : Of course. Remind me. Of the obvious reasons.

  Winston Churchill : Russia... is a great old empire which demands and deserves respect. Americans like to wave the big stick and speak with a loud voice. In the matter of world governance, they are not yet ready. They need an experienced and elder power to guide them, school them.

  Queen Elizabeth II : Yes, we could all do with some school.

• Winston Churchill : Your Majesty.

  Queen Elizabeth II : Winston. I am just a young woman, starting out in public service. And I would never presume to give a man, so much my senior, and who has given this country so much, a lecture. However... you were at my Coronation.

  Winston Churchill : I was.

  Queen Elizabeth II : And you therefore heard for yourself as I took the solemn oath to govern the people of my realms according to their respective laws and customs. Now, one of those customs is that their elected Prime Minister should be of reasonably sound body and mind. Not an outrageous expectation, one would've thought.

  Winston Churchill : No.

  Queen Elizabeth II : But it seems that you have not been of sound body and mind these past weeks. And that you chose to withhold that information from me. A decision which feels like a betrayal, not just of the covenant of trust between us and the institutions that we both represent, but of our own personal relationship. In 1867, Walter Bagehot wrote: "There are two elements of the Constitution: the efficient and the dignified." The monarch is the dignified and the government, the efficient. These two institutions only work when they support each other, when they trust one another. Your actions, your breaking of that trust was irresponsible and it might have had serious ramifications for the security of this country. Is your health better now?

  Winston Churchill : It is.

  Queen Elizabeth II : Good. But is it sufficiently better? Fit for office better? I would ask you to consider your response in light of the respect that my rank and my office deserve, not that which my age and gender might suggest.

  Winston Churchill : Ma'am... I look at you now and I realize that the time is fast approaching for me to step down. Not because I am unwell or unfit for office, but because you are ready. And therefore I have discharged my duty to your father. With your blessing and your forgiveness, I shall continue to serve as the leader of Your Majesty's government. Your Majesty.

• Philip, Duke of Edinburgh : You look nice.

  Queen Elizabeth II : Do I?

  Philip, Duke of Edinburgh : Something's different.

  Queen Elizabeth II : What?

  Philip, Duke of Edinburgh : I don't know. You seem...

  Queen Elizabeth II : I advise you to choose your next words very carefully.

  Philip, Duke of Edinburgh : Taller, somehow. Or is it just that I've shrunk?

  Queen Elizabeth II : There's nothing shrunken about you, dearest.

• Lord Salisbury : Ma'am.

  Queen Elizabeth II : It has come to my attention that for a period of time last week, my Prime Minister was incapacitated. And the Foreign Secretary, too. And that you colluded in keeping that information from me.

  Lord Salisbury : Your Maj...

  Queen Elizabeth II : No, it is not my job to govern. But it is my job to ensure proper governance. But how can I do that if my ministers lie and plot and hide the truth from me? You have prevented me from doing my duty. You have hampered and bamboozled the proper functioning of the Crown. How could you? My own late father valued you greatly. He believed the phrase, "History teaches, never trust a Cecil." Deeply unfair. Perhaps not.

  [rings bell] 

  Queen Elizabeth II : You may go.

• Professor Hogg : No.

  Queen Elizabeth II : Yes.

  Professor Hogg : The slippery old so-and-so's.

  Queen Elizabeth II : It's rather worse than slippery, wouldn't you say? Somewhat unconstitutional.

  Professor Hogg : What are you going to do?

  Queen Elizabeth II : Nothing, of course. That's my job. Do nothing and stay silent at all times.

  Professor Hogg : Is it? From memory, and forgive me, Ma'am, it's a while since I read Bagehot, but in circumstances such as these, is it not also your duty to act?

  Queen Elizabeth II : I doubt it. I'd have to check.

  Professor Hogg : I think you know precisely.

  Queen Elizabeth II : Yes, it is. But I can't just summon the brightest, most formidable men in the country and give them a dressing down, like children.

  Professor Hogg : Why? You are in the right, they in the wrong.

  Queen Elizabeth II : Yes, but they're far more intelligent than I am. Any confrontation, they'd out-debate me, out-think me and out-maneuver me.

  Professor Hogg : But this isn't about education or intelligence. This is about integrity and principle. Ma'am, you say you don't have what it takes to do battle with these people. You do. You were drilled for years in the finer points of our Constitution. You know it better than me, better than all of us. You have the only education that matters.

  Queen Elizabeth II : So what would you have me do?

  Professor Hogg : Summon them and give them a good dressing down like children.

  Queen Elizabeth II : Why would they stand for that?

  Professor Hogg : Because they're English, male and upper class. A good dressing down from Nanny is what they most want in life.

  Queen Elizabeth II : Unconventional to the end, Professor.

  [bell rings] 

  Queen Elizabeth II : Thank you, Professor.