Having been entirely absent from the show thus far, Prince Charles (as portrayed by Josh O'Connor) leaps into the limelight of "The Crown" in an episode that at least briefly relegates Philip, Elizabeth and Mountbatten to bit-part players. Viewers who have got through the 3 series to this point will by now be realising that this is not "the story of Elizabeth II" or "the story of the British monarchy", nor even "a recent history of the UK" (though it is not so far from that). But it is a series of vignettes in which one point or other is being pressed. This is impressive artistically, permits a measure of licence that audiences seeking "the truth" may not always appreciate, allows us to press on with the story, and ensures that - should they so wish - the makers can go off at a tangent to the extent that there is little or nothing you, I or anything else can do to stop them, except by reaching for the off switch.
It is in on this kind of basis that I watch this show on an episode-by-episode basis, waiting expectantly for some line I may not tolerate to be crossed. Indeed, this episode did play relatively fast and loose as, to push its agenda as regards Prince Charles (and notably to stress some imagined concordance between how England sees (saw) Wales and how Her Majesty saw her heir), the makers here abruptly ditch a loyalty to HMQ that has been near-unquestioning for a great many episodes. Suddenly, "Mummy" is the villain to Charles's hero (clearly a job for Colman more than Foy), even as Lord Mountbatten is rehabilitated (he was about to lead a coup just one episode back!) and Philip suddenly looks kind (though he was doing all kinds of questionable stuff last series).
It's not quite fair to change horses in mid race in this way, but one can forgive a lot for the beauty and poetry of this episode, whose title means "Prince of Wales".
The charm and magic of the show has again and again been that - writ large at least - these "stories" are often so good and incredible that "truth" is stranger than fiction, and you really could NOT make it up. Here (at the urging of PM Harold Wilson), we have a Republican, anti-monarchist Welsh nationalist teaching Charles Welsh at the University of Wales for a couple of months, and - yes - it did indeed happen! Shakespearean actor Mark Lewis Jones works absolute wonders with his role as Dr Tedi Millward, and his scenes with O'Connor are electric and moving. Here at least (and very possibly in life), the two learned from each other, and that is what God hopes for us all. And Charles is given here as someone who has experienced too much loneliness, resentment and outright hostility even as he is just a young and rather naive man (even boy in some sense - he is just 20 here). He hurts and he does not know how to make that hurt go away, yet in his way he is forbearing, long-suffering, patient, humble, studious, well-meaning and willing to work on his own errors and weak points. He is then, to my mind, exactly the Charles we still know today, even though that Charles has only enhanced this thanks to the need to do penitence each day over the loss of his wife.
Charles done by O'Conner is also child-man and man-child, but this is anyway a portrayal that does plenty of favours to His Royal Highness (even as we know the fickle makers of this series will soon be taking most of them away from him again).
But for those of us who respect Charles, or at the very least show him basic human and Christian sympathy and goodwill, the portrayal is just right.
All builds up to the speech in Welsh Charles is to deliver once Her Majesty has presented him to the Principality of Wales as its new Prince - in the famous Investiture ceremony. Unforgiveably - rottenly - the speech quoted here was never actually given by Charles. How could they? However, the real-life speech of July 1st 1969 did indeed express some markedly pro-Welsh sentiments and - while it could not really be faulted for that, could it? - it was indeed interpreted by some as giving succour to Welsh nationalists.
Still nothing in this life is perfect, and "The Crown" has regularly blotted its copybook through its "faction". But here, more than in perhaps any of its episodes, the claim that it is doing this for the sake of art looks fully justified.
The episode is a touching and meaningful masterpiece, and if things weren't QUITE like that, well they certainly ought to have been!!!
It is in on this kind of basis that I watch this show on an episode-by-episode basis, waiting expectantly for some line I may not tolerate to be crossed. Indeed, this episode did play relatively fast and loose as, to push its agenda as regards Prince Charles (and notably to stress some imagined concordance between how England sees (saw) Wales and how Her Majesty saw her heir), the makers here abruptly ditch a loyalty to HMQ that has been near-unquestioning for a great many episodes. Suddenly, "Mummy" is the villain to Charles's hero (clearly a job for Colman more than Foy), even as Lord Mountbatten is rehabilitated (he was about to lead a coup just one episode back!) and Philip suddenly looks kind (though he was doing all kinds of questionable stuff last series).
It's not quite fair to change horses in mid race in this way, but one can forgive a lot for the beauty and poetry of this episode, whose title means "Prince of Wales".
The charm and magic of the show has again and again been that - writ large at least - these "stories" are often so good and incredible that "truth" is stranger than fiction, and you really could NOT make it up. Here (at the urging of PM Harold Wilson), we have a Republican, anti-monarchist Welsh nationalist teaching Charles Welsh at the University of Wales for a couple of months, and - yes - it did indeed happen! Shakespearean actor Mark Lewis Jones works absolute wonders with his role as Dr Tedi Millward, and his scenes with O'Connor are electric and moving. Here at least (and very possibly in life), the two learned from each other, and that is what God hopes for us all. And Charles is given here as someone who has experienced too much loneliness, resentment and outright hostility even as he is just a young and rather naive man (even boy in some sense - he is just 20 here). He hurts and he does not know how to make that hurt go away, yet in his way he is forbearing, long-suffering, patient, humble, studious, well-meaning and willing to work on his own errors and weak points. He is then, to my mind, exactly the Charles we still know today, even though that Charles has only enhanced this thanks to the need to do penitence each day over the loss of his wife.
Charles done by O'Conner is also child-man and man-child, but this is anyway a portrayal that does plenty of favours to His Royal Highness (even as we know the fickle makers of this series will soon be taking most of them away from him again).
But for those of us who respect Charles, or at the very least show him basic human and Christian sympathy and goodwill, the portrayal is just right.
All builds up to the speech in Welsh Charles is to deliver once Her Majesty has presented him to the Principality of Wales as its new Prince - in the famous Investiture ceremony. Unforgiveably - rottenly - the speech quoted here was never actually given by Charles. How could they? However, the real-life speech of July 1st 1969 did indeed express some markedly pro-Welsh sentiments and - while it could not really be faulted for that, could it? - it was indeed interpreted by some as giving succour to Welsh nationalists.
Still nothing in this life is perfect, and "The Crown" has regularly blotted its copybook through its "faction". But here, more than in perhaps any of its episodes, the claim that it is doing this for the sake of art looks fully justified.
The episode is a touching and meaningful masterpiece, and if things weren't QUITE like that, well they certainly ought to have been!!!