What I’m Watching: The Crown

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 7 “Matrimonium” (B+)

There are two characters on this show who are both regal entities that are technically described by this show’s title, even though Queen Elizabeth is rightly the focus most of the time. Philip and Margaret are both portrayed as extremely selfish, relegated in their behavior by strict rules yet not gifted the same power as the queen to do what they want. Granted, Elizabeth must do plenty that she doesn’t want to and greets her responsibilities with far more maturity, but it is easy to understand where the resentment comes from for both of them. Margaret getting a letter that Peter was getting married prompted her to make a suggestion to Tony that led to them having the opportunity to steal his thunder and beat him to the punch. Margaret making Elizabeth promise that she wouldn’t do anything to stand in the way of them getting married made sense given earlier events, and if only her pregnancy being bigger and more important news had been the extent of her objection. Finding out that he had so many affairs going on was devastating for Elizabeth, who really didn’t want to disappoint her sister, and their exchange in which she didn’t share nearly as much as she could have with Margaret was pretty unpleasant. In a rare display of uncouth flirtation that we saw hinted at for the first time at the end of the last episode, Philip telling Elizabeth that her toes are the second best thing about her after something that’s really two things led to a very unexpected mimicking of milking that hardly seems befitting of the queen.