"Oh, I’m sure everyone will carry on, pretending all is well. But the party’s over."
Tropes
- Artistic Licence – History: A few examples.
- The scenes in which Elizabeth and the committee discuss the arrangements for her eventual death and funeral play out as if this is the first time Operation London Bridge has ever been discussed. By this point in time, though, Elizabeth had already reigned longer than her father, uncle, grandfatherd great-grandfather combined, making it unlikely the Royal Household would wait half a century before planning the state funeral of someone who, in their own words, would likely end up being the longest reigning monarch in British history. The plans had in fact been under discussion since the 1960s and were periodically updated as needed.
- If Prince Harry's ghost-written memoir Spare is to be believed, Harry himself was uneasy with the "natives and colonials" theme of the fancy dress party, and Kate encouraged him to wear the Nazi uniform. Here, by contrast, it's William who thinks the theme is somewhat tasteless (and is chastised by Harry for doing so), and the Nazi uniform is Harry's idea, with Kate expressing concerns about the swastika armband.
- After the fallout from the Nazi uniform, Prince Charles actually had Harry meet with the Chief Rabbi note . Given this, it seems unusual that his punishment in the show is shown to be cleaning a pigsty.
- An in-universe example: Philip is entirely correct when he points out that the costume shop got the German uniform wrong, as it's clearly meant to be an Afrika Korps uniform, which in reality never included a swastika armband (which was only worn by Nazi Party officials, not regular soldiers).
- Elizabeth is shown to be considering announcing her abdication during her speech at Charles and Camilla's wedding reception, only to change her mind at the last moment. Various members of the Royal Family speculate on the contents of the speech and conclude that she will do this. Never once in her entire life did it seem that Elizabeth would ever consider abdication (although there were occasionally unfounded rumours in the press that she would use one of her Christmas messages to announce her intention to do so, especially in her later years). In the event, the speech that she gave at the wedding reception was only notable for its sentimentality, coming as it did from an otherwise very (publicly) formal woman.
- The scene at the end appears to conflate the Queen's (eventual) funeral at Westminster Abbey with the (subsequent) committal service at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, given that she hears the "Sleep, Dearie Sleep" lament being played while having a vision of her coffin in the latter, whereas it was actually played during the former.
- Audience Surrogate: Philip, when he tells Elizabeth that none of her successors are ready to take over and will likely make a mess of it when they do, but he and Elizabeth should not mind about that, as by then, they'll be dead.
- Back for the Finale: For the final episode, the two other actors who played Elizabeth in this show (Claire Foy and Olivia Colman) return to debate with the older Elizabeth about whether she should abdicate.
- Bait-and-Switch: Just before her speech, Elizabeth is given a piece of paper by an aide. She begins her speech with "an important announcement" and proceeds to read out the information on that piece of paper. Which consists of the results of the Grand National, which did indeed take place on the same day as the wedding. Many a Real Life post-wedding speech has used this trick, with the "important announcement" invariably being the results of sporting fixtures from earlier that day.
- Bookends: The show began with Elizabeth marrying Philip back in 1947. Sixty episodes later, it's 2005, and the show ends with Charles marrying Camilla.
- Boring Religious Service: On the advice of Archbishop Williams, the blessing service that follows Charles and Camilla's wedding includes passages of contrition and acknowledgment of "sin" and "wickedness" from both the bride and groom, which makes it a rather dreary and heavy-going occasion, for the congregation as well as the happy couple.
- Call-Back: Philip's characteristically gruff instructions to the photographer mirror those of the younger Philip expressing similar impatience with the time it took to arrange a family group photograph at the end of the second series.
- Do Wrong, Right: Prince Philip doesn't yell at the costume shop for renting Wehrmacht uniform — given he fought in World War II, he may hate it, but it's still legal — but he does yell at them for renting an incorrect Wehrmacht uniform.
- Drag Queen: An unusual instance of a man dressing as an actual queen in the case of Harry's friend Pelly, who goes to the fancy dress party as Elizabeth.
- Foregone Conclusion: Much time (and the re-appearance of the versions of Elizabeth as depicted in earlier series of the show) is taken up by the question of whether the Queen should abdicate; she toys with announcing her intention to do so in her speech at Charles and Camilla's wedding, but eventually decides not to. Given that she obviously did not do so in Real Life (and reigned for a further 17 years), the fact that she does not do so here should not surprise anyone.
- Foreshadowing: Elizabeth and Philip get involved in the planning of their own funerals, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. This includes a bit of Real Life Writes the Plot — Philip is keen for his coffin to be borne by a modified Land Rover, while Elizabeth wants the piper's lament "Sleep, Dearie Sleep" to be played at hers. Both of these actually happened. We later see Elizabeth get a vision of her own coffin, covered by the Royal Standard and with the royal regalia on top.
- High Priest: All of the Church of England's bishops are brought into the Palace to consult with the Queen on whether Charles and Camilla should be allowed to marry (or rather, how they can get married without undermining the monarchy). The senior of them, the Archbishop of Canterbury, later presides over the post-ceremony blessing. He's Rowan Williams, the 104th holder of that office.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Elizabeth tells Charles that throughout her long reign, Philip has been her "strength and stay". Charles responds by saying that Camilla is his strength and stay, which prompts Elizabeth to give the green light for their marriage.
- Refuge in Audacity: Pelly doesn't just go to the party dressed as the Queen, he gets on stage and joins the band in singing a Queen song. Also counts as an example of Rule of Symbolism, given that the song he sings is "I Want To Break Free", and Elizabeth is considering abdicating.
- Shout-Out to Shakespeare: As the Royal family prepares to have their photograph taken after the wedding, the photographer quotes Prospero's speech from Act IV Scene I of The Tempest ("Our revels now are ended..."). Which, funnily enough, was also quoted in the final episode of Endeavour, which was also broadcast in 2023.
- Time Skip: For the last episode, we shift forward three years, from 2002 to 2005.
- Title Drop: "Sleep, Dearie Sleep" is indeed the name of the piper's lament that was played at the Queen's funeral.
- Wedding/Death Juxtaposition: Following Charles and Camilla's wedding, Elizabeth walks out of the church into a white light, something clearly meant to symbolize her passing, even though it wouldn't be for another 17 years.
- Wedding Episode: Charles and Camilla finally marry, but not before a compromise is made by which they do so in a civil ceremony (which the Queen does not attend) followed by a church blessing in which they must express their atonement for previous sins (ie. the fact that they both committed adultery in their first marriages).
