If there is one thing I've learned in fifty-two years of public service, it is that there is no problem so complex, nor crisis so grave, that it cannot be satisfactorily resolved within twenty minutes.
In a flashback to 1936, King Edward VIII abdicates the throne to marry twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. Despite protests from Queen Mary, Edward makes a radio broadcast from Windsor Castle, informing the British people of his reasons for abdicating before declaring his allegiance to his brother, who has become King George VI as a result. In the present, amidst preparations for George's funeral, Edward returns to Britain. Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother both express anger at how his actions caused irreparable damage to the monarchy. Elizabeth meets Churchill to discuss Philip's requests to let Charles and Anne use his surname (Mountbatten) and for the family to continue living at Clarence House rather than move into Buckingham Palace. Churchill is reluctant to agree, especially after he hears that Lord Mountbatten is already celebrating about the British royal family now being the House of Mountbatten. Elizabeth later drops both matters after receiving counsel from Edward. She later learns that her coronation has been set for the following year. Meanwhile, Philip approaches Peter Townsend, the late King's former equerry, and convinces him to give flying lessons, unaware that Townsend, who's on the verge of divorcing his wife, is getting romantically involved with Princess Margaret.
This episode contains examples of:
- Abdicate the Throne: Edward VIII does just that.
- Actually Pretty Funny: Margaret finds Philip's discovery of her purse on Townsend's desk rather amusing.
- All for Nothing: The costly renovations of Clarence House for Elizabeth and Philip, given that they end up moving into Buckingham Palace.
- Artistic Licence – History: A few examples.
- Edward VIII made his radio broadcast the day after his abdication, not on the day itself. He was also not created Duke of Windsor until the following year, and so would not have been introduced as such (he was in fact introduced as "His Royal Highness Prince Edward"). Also, Wallis Simpson was not with him when he made the broadcast.
- Elizabeth accuses Winston Churchill of delaying her coronation by a year for political gain, as the Conservative Party wouldn't dare get rid of him before the coronation. In fact, it is customary for the coronation to take place at least a year after the accession to observe the mourning period for the late monarch. George VI only had five months from his accession to his coronation because it was originally planned for Edward VIII, who abdicated after less than a year into his reign; the planned coronation simply went ahead with a new monarch note .
- Churchill says to Edward that Wallis "has three husbands that still live and breathe". Actually, her first husband, Earl Winfield Spencer Jr., died in 1950; in 1952, her only living husbands would have been Ernest Simpson (her second one) and Edward himself (her third one).
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The former Edward VIII to a tee. He's nice to his estranged relatives to their faces, but rude about them in his letters to Wallis. Later he presents his advice to Elizabeth as his personal opinion when he's already made a deal with Churchill behind her back.
- Blatant Lies: When Peter Townsend gets his divorce papers, Margeret says she's sorry for him. He immediately calls her on the fact that she's not sorry at all, which she acknowledges.
- Butt-Monkey: Prince Ernst of Hanover, a distant relative of the royal family who's come over for a shooting party at Lord Mountbatten's estate. Mountbatten calls him out for using a modified shotgun. When he visits Queen Mary, she's appalled to learn that he enjoyed a sumptuous dinner with champagne so soon after the King's death. It gets worse when Ernst reveals that his host made a toast to "the royal house of Mountbatten", and then admits that he drank to it.
- Call-Back: When Lascelles is talking Elizabeth through her first red box (still marked for The King) she appears to have forgotten her father's advice to turn the contents over and start at the bottom. But she was advised to only do that when there was no-one else in the room, so she's later shown doing just that when Lascelles is absent.
- Cold Opening: This episode sets the tone for (most of) the rest of the first series by starting with a flashback to an event from Elizabeth's childhood which will be of some relevance to the episode itself. For this one, it's the abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII, which led to her father becoming King.
- Decadent Court: Lord Mountbatten thinks little of having a Fancy Dinner while the rest of Britain is still on rationing, excusing it by saying he's helping the local economy.
- Delicious Distraction: Prince Ernst and Queen Mary get distracted gushing over the delights of the Lord Mountbatten's table.
- Foreshadowing:
- Philip's request that Townsend give him flying lessons sets up the sub-plot of "Act of God". The same scene sees Philip tell Townsend that his sister and her family were killed in a plane crash; this will be explored in detail in the series 2 episode "Paterfamilias".
- The business Churchill discusses with the Queen includes the rise of anti-British nationalism in Egypt.
- Gratuitous German: Queen Mary and Prince Ernst engage in this when the latter visits the former to tell her about what happened at Broadlands. Truth in Television, as most royals at the time could speak German note .
- Groin Attack: Mike Parker persuades the young Prince Charles to kick the football at Philip's groin. Which he does.
- Hand Cannon: Ernst's modified shotgun — made specially for his grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm II, who had a withered arm — is essentially one of these; Lord Mountbatten does not approve.Lord Mountbatten: You are a cheat, Hanover!
- I Kiss Your Hand: Churchill kisses the hand of Elizabeth the first time he presents himself to the new queen. Later when Elizabeth starts to assert herself, she presents her hand to show the meeting is over and a visibly thrown Churchill hesitates before accepting it. Likewise, the Duke of Windsor kisses the hand of the Queen Mother but looks thrown for a moment when his niece presents her hand to be kissed.
- Jerkass Has a Point: The cold shoulder that the Duke of Windsor gets from his mother and sister-in-law is presented as petty vindictiveness, but they're not wrong in that his return is motivated by a desire to leach more money off them. He in turn points out to Churchill that cutting off his allowance altogether would give him no other means of support, as he's not supposed to accept commercial contracts.
- Montage: Used to compare and contrast Edward VIII's relationship with the divorced Wallis Simpson, which led to him abdicating in order to marry her, and the growing romance between Princess Margaret and the soon-to-be divorced Peter Townsend; as such, it also counts as Foreshadowing as the latter relationship will encounter some ... difficulties, and will eventually lead to Margaret having to make a similar choice to the one that had previously been faced by her Uncle David.
- The Un-Favourite: Edward, to Queen Mary. She even goes as far as to describe his brother as "the perfect son" in front of him.
- Title Drop: Done quite a few times, given that Windsor is the royal family's surname, and Philip would like this to be changed to Mountbatten (which is his surname, or at least it was after he renounced his foreign titles in 1947). Which doesn't happen note .Queen Elizabeth II: My Lords, I hereby declare my will and pleasure that I and my children shall be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor. And that my descendants, other than female descendants who marry, and their descendants, shall bear the name of Windsor.
- What Could Have Been: In-Universe
- Philip tells Mike that he really wanted to join the RAF, but his Uncle Dickie made him join the Royal Navy because it had better social connections. Mike quips that he wasn't wrong about that, given that Philip's now married to the Queen.
- Elizabeth points out to her uncle that if he hadn't abdicated, she might have had a happy, ordinary life with her family away from the limelight.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Unsurprisingly the Duke of Windsor cops this from his estranged family; his passing the crown to his brother is blamed for the late King's early death, and Elizabeth quietly calls him out on how she's not happy about being thrust into role of sovereign either.
- Elizabeth pulls this on Churchill after he reveals that her coronation won't take place until the summer of 1953 (the following year); she reasons that he's doing this so he can shore up his position as leader of the Conservative Party (and therefore as Prime Minister), as his party won't move to oust him from power before the coronation.
