History Characters / TheCrown2016HerMajestysGovernment

Elizabeth's fourth and her second shortest-serving Prime Minister (1963-4) [[note]]his term lasted two days short of a year, but still substantially longer than Lizz Truss at a mere 49 days (less than the shelf life of a head of lettuce) [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_the_United_Kingdom_by_length_of_tenure becoming one the briefest terms in British history]][[/note]], previously Macmillan's Foreign Secretary. Hurriedly chosen in 1963 to succeed Macmillan in the wake of his resignation, his peerage and old-fashioned way of running things allows Harold Wilson to take power.

* TheRival: The Queen is uneasy with him and has a nightmare in which "King Tony" has supplanted her, and her dislike of him is rather palpable. [[note]] Notably, Blair's honours - Knight of the Garter - were delayed for 15 years. Knighthood used to be bestowed regularly upon former prime ministers much sooner, with John Major getting a royal distinction (Order of the Companions of Honour) just
2 years after leaving the office, and becoming a knight after 8 years.[[/note]]

* TheRival: The Queen is uneasy with him and has a nightmare in which "King Tony" has supplanted her, and her dislike of him is rather palpable. [[note]] Tellingly, Blair's honour - Knight of the Garter- were delayed for 15 years. The knighthood has regularly been bestowed upon former prime ministers much sooner.[[/note]]

* RoyalFavorite: Upon his defeat in a LandslideElection won by the ([[InsistentTerminology New]]) Labour Party, the Queen takes the rare step of assuring Major that she finds him calm, forthright and dependable and — in a rare showing of uncharacteristic, unfiltered praise — that she counts him as one of her favourite Prime Ministers.[[note]]Which proved true in RealLife; the series doesn't mention the once-in-a-decade honour of the Queen dining in Number 10 in 1996, for the 80th birthday of former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath, with John Major as host.[[/note]]

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%% While the example below appears to describe real life, it doesn't explain if this applies to his portrayal in the series, especially as the series is chronologically still in the '90s.
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%%* PermanentElectedOfficial: Charles notes that despite his waning popularity, Blair has the ambition to become the first Labour PM to win a third successive term. [[note]] Something he would achieve shortly after Charles' wedding at the end of the show. By the time of Charles III's ascension in late 2022, Blair was the last PM to win three general elections (1997, 2001, 2005), the longest-serving PM of the politically turbulent 21st century, (stepping down voluntarily in 2007 [[PassingTheTorch in favour]] of UsefulNotes/GordonBrown, partially as per their [[Film/TheDeal2003 deal]]), and the ninth historically.[[/note]]

* BewareOfViciousDog: Heath is not an animal person and shrinks away when in his first audience he crosses paths with a pack of the Queen's MisterMuffykins corgis, viewing them as this, which doesn't endear him to her. He even retorts when the Queen tells him they mean no harm.[[note]] To back up Heath's JerkassHasAPoint stance, while in RealLife the Queen's dogs always behaved perfectly around ''her'', an expert, the corgis ''were'' actually known to fight each other with vigor and get nippy to other humans, including royals. While they may have never meant any harm, they were not totally harmless or the most docile breed, either.[[/note]]

* TheGoodChancellor: As the Queen's first Socialist PM, Wilson is met with initial reluctance and has to fight against Elizabeth's distrust, dispelling several [[EvilChancellor assumptions and suspicions]] about him being a KBG spy or leaking criticism about her to the press over her underwhelming response in the Aberfan disaster — criticism initiated by the anti-monarchist elements of his government he struggles to control. Ultimately he is portrayed in a positive light, and his loyalty and adequacy are recognized by the Queen and the people with his return to power following Heath's government.

* BewareOfViciousDog: Heath is not an animal person and shrinks away when in his first audience is slightly confronted with a pack of the Queen's MisterMuffykins corgis, viewing them as this, which doesn't endear him to her. He even retorts when the Queen tells him they mean no harm.

* {{Sleepyhead}}: He dozes off in meetings and audiences.

* PermanentElectedOfficial: Charles notes that despite his waning popularity, Blair has the ambition to become the first Labour PM to win a third successive term. [[note]] Something he would achieve shortly after Charles' wedding at the end of the show. By the time of Charles III's ascension in late 2022, Blair was the last PM to win three general elections (1997, 2001, 2005), the longest-serving PM of the politically turbulent 21st century, (stepping down voluntarily in 2007 [[PassingTheTorch in favour]] of UsefulNotes/GordonBrown, partially as per their [[Film/TheDeal2003 deal]]), and the ninth historically.[[/note]]

* PermanentElectedOfficial: Charles notes that despite his waning popularity, Blair has the ambition to become the first Labour PM to win a third successive term. [[note]] Something he would achieve shortly after Charles' wedding at the end of the show. By the time of Charles III's ascension, Blair was the last PM to win three general elections (1997, 2001, 2005), the longest-serving PM of the politically turbulent 21st century, (stepping down voluntarily in 2007 [[PassingTheTorch in favour]] of UsefulNotes/GordonBrown, partially as per their [[Film/TheDeal2003 deal]]), and the ninth historically.[[/note]]

* PermanentElectedOfficial: Charles notes that despite his waning popularity, Blair has the ambition to become the first Labour PM to win a third successive term. [[note]]Something he would achieve shortly after Charles' wedding at the end of the show. By the time of Charles III's ascension, Blair was the last PM to win three general elections (1997, 2001, 2005), the longest-serving PM of the politically turbulent 21st century (stepping down voluntarily in 2007 [[PassingTheTorch in favour of Gordon Brown]]), and the ninth historically.[[//note]]

%% * PermanentElectedOfficial: Notable in that by the time of Charles III's ascension, Blair was the last PM to win three general elections (1997, 2001, 2005), the longest-serving PM of the politically turbulent 21st century (stepping down in 2007), and the ninth historically.

Elizabeth's eighth Prime Minister (1979-90), a Conservative, and the first woman to hold the office in British history. However, her policies and attitude make her one of the most divisive world leaders of the 20th century.

* BoringReligiousService: Of the 'sin is bad' variety. Upon hearing from the Queen that Charles wishes to wed the previously married, now divorced, Camilla, Archbishop Williams lends his weak approval, but mandates that the services must include heavy passages of contrition and acknowledgment of "sin" from both the bride and groom, which makes for a rather dreary and heavy-going wedding ceremony, which in most cases are supposed to be joyous occasions.

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: He starts his tenure as so wildly popular that one of his nicknames is "King Tony". By the time of the last episode, his newest nickname is "Tony Bliar", owing to his part in the controversial and unpopular Iraq War, and his approval ratings have completely tanked. Interestingly, the members of the royal family ''predicted'' this would happen, having seen almost all of Blair's predecessors go the exact same way.

->[[center:[[Characters/TheCrown2016 Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/TheCrown2016TheBritishRoyalFamily The British Royal Family]] | [[Characters/TheCrown2016RelativesOfTheRoyalFamily Relatives of the Royal Family]] | [[Characters/TheCrown2016FriendsAndAcquaintancesOfTheRoyalFamily Friends & Acquaintances of the Royal Family]] | '''Her Majesty's Government''' | [[Characters/TheCrown2016TheRoyalHousehold The Royal Household]] | [[Characters/TheCrown2016ForeignDignitariesAndLeaders Foreign Dignitaries and Leaders]] | [[Characters/TheCrown2016OtherCharacters Other Characters]]]]

Elizabeth's fourth and her shortest-serving Prime Minister (1963-4) [[note]]his term lasted two days short of a year, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_the_United_Kingdom_by_length_of_tenure becoming one the briefest terms in British history]][[/note]], previously Macmillan's Foreign Secretary. Hurriedly chosen in 1963 to succeed Macmillan in the wake of his resignation, his peerage and old-fashioned way of running things allows Harold Wilson to take power.

* ShortLivedLeadership: His term lasted a couple of days shy of a year. [[note]]However his political career did not end and he became Foreign Secretary for a second time under Edward Heath in 1970, repeating the position he had under [=MacMillan=] and making him the last PM to have served in another PM's Cabinet after the end of his term.[[/note]]

* AlasPoorVillain: As a controversial figure, the show paints Mrs. Thatcher in a polarizing light, antagonistic at times, but she elicits and gets some degree of sympathy when she's being ousted from office, and before that, the treatment she, a public servant, receives at Batmoral from the idle, easily vexed royals is downright callous and uncalled for, making her notably more palatable to the viewer.

* OneHundredPercentAdorationRating: The British public love Churchill, due to his formidable leadership during the Second World War, and he is adored and cheered wherever he goes. In RealLife his legacy persists today. However, whilst the ''public'' may adore him, in-series he has a fairly rancorous relationship with his senior cabinet members behind closed doors and is widely viewed as something of a PerilousOldFool (see below) during his second term as Prime Minister.

* UndyingLoyalty: To the Duke of Windsor. He's the most powerful of Edward's remaining friends and the one who orchestrates the failed comeback of the former king to public service.

-> Amongst the highest-ranking members of Macmillan’s government in his capacity as Foreign Secretary, and a close ally of the Duke of Windsor.