Recap / The Crown S 3 E 1 Olding

• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: When Churchill falls asleep during her visit, the Queen kisses him on the forehead.
• Artistic License – History: Blunt confessed to having been a Soviet spy in April 1964 and the Queen was informed of this at the time, which was several months before the general election which resulted in Harold Wilson becoming Prime Minister.
• Awful Wedded Life: Margaret and Anton are barely interacting with each other, with him buried in his work and her drunk half the time.
• Bait-and-Switch: Rumors are rife about Harold Wilson being a KGB agent, so when the Director of MI5 comes to inform her about The Mole at the top of the British establishment she assumes it's him. Turns out it's Sir Anthony Blunt, an employee of the Palace.
• Brutal Honesty:
  • When her courtiers dance around the subject of how she's not as young as she used to be, the Queen states that "old bat" is the word they're looking for.
  • Wilson is equally blunt as to the reasons that Labour have been returned to power after the repeated failures of the Conservatives. In the end, his honesty is used to contrast with Blunt's suave deceptions.
• Conspiracy Theorist: A member of Prince Philip's lunch club has spread the rumor that the KGB poisoned Hugh Gaitskell in order to clear the way for Harold Wilson, allegedly a KGB asset codenamed "Olding". When the Queen raises the subject with the Director of MI5, he explains that while the KGB made efforts to recruit Wilson when he visited Russia there's no evidence that they succeeded. As for Gaitskell, he died of lupus and even if the KGB was behind it, the most likely man to replace him at the time would have been George Brown, not Wilson.
• Dramatic Irony: Queen Elizabeth discusses the rumours that Harold Wilson is a KGB agent with Sir Anthony Blunt, who actually did work for the KGB as one of the Cambridge Five. Blunt doesn't miss the chance to stir the pot a little.
• End of an Era: Winston Churchill dies and is given a state funeral, right when a new Labor government with an anti-monarchist bent comes to power.
• The Generic Guy: Elizabeth is baffled that unlike all her previous Prime Ministers, there seems to be absolutely nothing notable about Harold Wilson's appearance or personality.
• Improperly Paranoid: Things such as Wilson working for the Board of Trade in Russia, his socialist policies and his youthful left-wing inclinations; even his nondescript manner—all fuel the belief that he's a KGB spy so that even the Queen comes to believe them. To her credit, she makes an effort to reconcile with the new PM after realising she's grossly misjudged him.
• Karma Houdini: Blunt not only gets immunity from prosecution despite passing secrets to the KGB for years, but he's also allowed to maintain his position in the Palace until he retires (though he would later be publicly exposed by Prime Minister Thatcher, whereupon he was stripped of his knighthood).
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Queen Elizabeth approving her image on the stamps, and the discussion on how she's gotten older, is used for the transition to the older Olivia Colman playing her.
• Multitasked Conversation: Queen Elizabeth has to proceed with the art exhibition organised by Blunt, knowing that the man she's speaking in praise of is a traitor. She uses the opportunity to get in a few jabs at Blunt while he in turn tries to justify himself, all while ostensibly discussing art.
• Shame If Something Happened: Prince Philip is disgusted over how Blunt has been given immunity and threatens to expose him publicly if he steps out of line. Blunt however reveals that he was the one that the Palace entrusted to track down the sketches that Stephen Ward did of the Prince, and it would be a shame if the Profumo scandal were to be linked to him.
• Treachery Cover-Up: Blunt is allowed to get away with his freedom and reputation intact to prevent embarrassment to British Intelligence for having been undetected for so long. As it turns out, the Palace also has things they need to hide.