by Pat Wright

While I am no anglophile, I have to confess that I have become addicted to “The Crown,” currently streaming on Netflix.   We started watching several years ago, and binge-watched the first two seasons but stopped watching when the cast changed between seasons 2 and 3. The director felt the need to change actors to show the characters aging in the storyline.  But come on!  With the miracle of movie magic and great make-up, was that really necessary?  I don’t think so…. But I digress.

We did finally come back to The Crown recently and binged seasons 3 and 4. I fell in love with the new actors and their characters (especially since the memory of the first two seasons had faded somewhat over the years!) They all seem perfect in their roles.

I’ve never been to England, though it is on my bucket list. Still, I find The Crown a fascinating look at history and an insider’s view of the workings of the Monarchy. Watching Winston Churchill and the King, then Winston and the Queen is like eavesdropping on history. It is fascinating.

The relationship between Prince Charles and Princess Diana is painful to watch, especially knowing its awful ending.  But it is nonetheless answering questions I never knew I had. I understand more clearly what happened and why, though I am still sad for everyone involved.

Now that I have come to the end of season 4, I am longing for season 5.  But I have learned that I will have to hold my breath until November 2022!  As it is only the beginning of May, I have quite a while to go on wondering about my now favorite Monarch as well as Prince Charles and Princess Diana.  

Oh sure, I know the real story, but The Crown fleshes out the stories we read in the news and provides plenty of ah-ha moments.  It’s those fly-on-the-wall moments that really give me a greater understanding and make me a great fan of the show.

So, while we’re waiting for season 5 to drop, we’ve started watching Season 1 again, this time with our grandson.  It’s funny, now that I’ve gotten used to the actors in Seasons 3 & 4, I kind of miss them in the first episodes.  Then again, maybe I am just setting myself up for another sea change of actors in season 5.