That actually felt quite poignant to me. It was a moment of reflection on a lifelong commitment to service where, as she pointed out to herself, she had given up being ‘Elizabeth Windsor’ and couldn’t possibly return. It somehow felt quite appropriate even if it was simply for dramatic effect. I’m sure there were many times she privately wondered if it was all worth it, she was still a human being after all.
For some reason, it’s funny to think that even Darth Vader could die as Anakin Skywalker, but Queen Elizabeth II had utterly and unreservedly snuffed out Elizabeth Windsor.
I finally finished it last night. Once Diana is gone, the season was pretty good. What I liked:
Ed McCey as Prince William. I thought he was super in this role and conveyed so much with his facial expressions. Not to mention the physical resemblance to the real thing.
Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret. It can’t be easy to play someone having a stroke but she was quite convincing. They seemed to mirror the Elizabeth-Margaret relationship with that of William-Harry.
Elizabeth Debicki as Diana. Great performance on her part though the season dwelled far too long on her character.
Meg Bellamy as Katherine. Loved her performance and the way they brought her character into the series starting with a chance meeting with William on the street.
What I didn’t like:
Dominic West as Charles. Good performance but his lack of resemblance to the real person preventing me from suspending my sense of disbelief.
Luther Ford as Harry. Harry was a little shit and he played it well- but I kept thinking “What is TinTin doing in this series?”
Dead Diana appearing as a ghost. Come on, if I want supernatural I’ll watch a Stephen King adaptation. Would have been better to keep it realistic.
Elizabeth talking to her younger selves. More supernatural stuff we didn’t need. But it was nice to see Claire Foy.
I wish they had covered Philip’s death, that would have been a great episode.
Elizabeth being jealous of Tony Blair. Come on, by the time he came along she was pretty assured of herself regardless of who was PM.
I can remember when Blair came to power, there was a lot of chat in the press about his ‘presidential style’, I suspect it was a nod to that. Getting too big for his boots! He was also massively popular at the one time her popularity took a steep dip (death of Diana), so I’m not surprised they hinted at jealousy, even if it’s rubbish.
You know, characters having imaginary conversations with people who aren’t there is a time-honored literary device, not to mention something people actually do in real life. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.
In Richard III, Richard’s tent was absolutely crowded with ghosts the night before Bosworth Field.
True, but it can be jarring when an established series suddenly starts using those tropes late in it’s run.
I didn’t think for an instant that either of those things were supernatural or meant to be supernatural. They were symbolic of the other character’s inner thoughts and memories. I didn’t like it and thought it didn’t fit the series but there was nothing supernatural about it.