But currently, the family’s more quotidian concern is Prince Charles’s troubled romantic life.
Charles finds her intriguing but Sarah seems rather put out that her Charles-obsessed sister has engineered the meeting.
Charles, meanwhile, is off salmon fishing in Iceland where Lord Mountbatten finally reaches him after many attempts.
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As Charles takes those words to heart, he gets no real comfort from his family members.
His grief-stricken father Philip is jealous that Charles replaced him in Dickie’s heart and offers no solace.
Though she’s glib at first, Diana takes the challenge seriously.
Sophie Mutevelian/Netflix
Everything that Thatcher did wrong, Diana does right, acing the Balmoral test in ways big and small.
Reluctant as he’s been, Prince Charles finally pops the question much to Diana’s glee.
But it’s one of the last moments of unrestrained happiness before reality sets in.
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to teach Diana properly.
She suggests Diana’s strict grandmother, Lady Fermoy do it in her stead.
She takes solace in these missives and we see the beginning of her role as the People’s Princess.
Des Willie/Netflix
She leaves a message for the queen that the wedding can’t go ahead.
Diana looks unconvinced and stalks off.
Thinking of her own dashed romance decades earlier, she wonders how they can keep making the same mistake.
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But by both doing their duty, their 42-year marriage stabilized the country and left the monarchy stronger.
Charles looks unconvinced but the wedding day arrives and the country is jubilant.
Diana herself looks tentative as she fingers the prince’s signet ring and dons her soon-to-be-famous wedding gown.
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And in the end, they’re right.
During their weekly meeting, Elizabeth takes her prime minister to task for the abysmal state of the country.
He has not been seen for days in the Algerian desert.
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Philip says that any honest parent would and admits quite quickly that Anne is his (no duh).
Much to her consternation, he leaves before telling her who it is.
Elizabeth is shocked when Anne admits that the rumors about an affair with her protection officer are true.
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Though he’s been thoroughly chastened, he still avoids Diana once the queen leaves.
As Elizabeth prepares for bed, she seems to know deep down that isn’t quite true.
Episode 5: Fagan
Breaking news: A royal ruckus has taken place at Buckingham Palace!
Okay, fine, let’s backtrack a tad, shall we?
On the second attempt, he even scored an impromptu sit down with Her Majesty.
The majority of the episode is dedicated to telling us who this Michael Fagan is.
Three months prior to the break-in, we see Fagan wake up in his dilapidated flat.
So Fagan does just that.
But before we get to the good stuff, here’s what’s been happening with HRH herself.
She also brings up matters of security, believing it should be enhanced around the palace.
Careful what you wish for, queeny!
Okay, let’s get back to it.
One night while traveling home on the bus, Faganpresumably remembering what the snooty M.P.
Don’t worry about it, according to Philip it was just a “ghastly little pink thing.”
Next day, the palace is in a fuss over the home invasion.
Luckily, the queen was at Windsor Castle at the time so wasn’t in any danger.
The guards do have some use; they remembered to lock the window this time.
The queen’s response?
“Morning, Bobo.”
Then he asks her if she has a cigarette.
To which the queen responds, “No, filthy habit.”
The trill of the phone ringing, however, is drowned out by a vacuuming maid.
Some days later, Thatcher comes to see the queen.
Maybe Fagan wasn’t so far off when he suggested Thatcher was after the queen’s job after all.
So off they jet with a baby Prince William in tow, much to the not-so-motherly queen’s confusion.
To her credit, Diana insists on seeing her son before she continues any further with her royal duties.
So, the couple is flown to Woomargama to reconvene.
Wildly enough, the desert air seems to be just what the desperately unhappy duo needed.
They finally open up to one another and, guys, guess what it all comes down to?
Di tells Charles she feels overlooked and unheard, he can’t believe his oversized ears.
This is exactly how he feels too!
He needs his wife to compliment and encourage him on a regular basis.
They resolve to give one another more support going forward.
She tells him he’s gorgeous.
He returns the compliment.
They’ve nailed it already.
On with the tour!
The royal couple heads to Sydney where the crowds go bananas for them.
Apparently, even more people are turning out to see them than for the queen herself back in 1954.
Charles is cringingly gleeful about beating mummy’s numbers.
Nothing has improved as they arrive back in England and head to their separate residences.
The princess tells her mother-in-law that she’s struggling.
She also thinks Diana plays too much to the gallery.
At that, the queen rings her bell to dismiss her daughter-in-law.
It’s super awkward and oh, God, does it seem to last an eternity.
Maybe they should be changing with the times?
To which Margaret adds that if she doesn’t bend, she will break.
Talk about a c block.
Post birthday dinner, Margaret tells her sister she is ready for a new chapter.
She wants to focus on the crown, her position, and her duty as a royal.
Because she always does, the queen has some bad news for her sister.
Since Edward has just turned 21, Margaret’s been demoted.
She needs something to fill her time, she’s desperate for it.
Before long, Prince Charles is dispatched to talk her down.
He tells the princess that he has started seeing a therapist and urges her to try it too.
Back in London, Margaret heeds his advice.
The doctor asks if anyone else has mental health issues in the family.
Margaret has no knowledge of whom she speaks.
He confirms that they do live there along with more cousins of hers who are similarly afflicted.
There are five of them in total.
On a beach in Scotland, the queen mother tries to blame the abdication.
Flabbergasted and disappointed by the whole situation, Margaret goes back to therapy.
There she asks her doctor if she’s destined to be mad too.
What her family did was unforgivable.
She tells him she can’t come become Catholic.
It would cause a national scandal and fear of a second Reformation.
It’s who she is.
Dazzle doesn’t understand.
And with that, Margaret returns to her private island and her drinking.
Episode 8: “48:1”
It’s a bird!
It’s a plane!
It’s Claire Foy once again playing the Queen!
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, a young Margaret Thatcher is listening on the radio.
All of this sets the tone for later events in the episode.
Get out your tiny violins, because it seems no one likes Charles these days.
The winning term comes from the press secretary, who suggests they use the word “signals.”
It’s Charles' 37th birthday, and a radio announcer dubs it “his night.”
Cry us a river, Charles.
He also tells her to expect more stories about the status of Charles and Diana’s increasingly hostile marriage.
Later, he and Diana are forced into a heart-to-heart with the Queen and Philip.
He hated it, as he later tells Anne, but his sister is not totally sympathetic.
The latest chapter in this impending tragedy closes with Charles ominously being informed of the affair.
But we’ll get there soon enough.
At Downing Street, Thatcher is shown crying over what happened.
Charles tells her to “leave it with him,” whatever that means.
After Thatcher officially steps down as prime minister, her and the Queen meet one last time.
Unlike past meetings, however, this one is surprisingly emotional and touching for the two heads of state.
How nice of her.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.
Let’s just say I can’t see it ending well for you.”
