History Recap / TheCrownS2E1Misadventure

Elizabeth and Philip discuss the state of their marriage onboard the royal yacht ''Britannia'' off the Portuguese coast; both acknowledge that divorce is not an option. We then go back to five months earlier. As Philip prepares to embark on his solo tour, Elizabeth becomes convinced he is having an affair after finding a photograph of the ballerina Galina Ulanova in his luggage. Over at Downing Street, Chancellor Harold Macmillan backs Prime Minister Anthony Eden's solution to Egypt's takeover of the Suez Canal. Having learned about what Eden intends to do from a Cabinet minister who's unhappy with the plan, Mountbatten tells Elizabeth about it; after learning that Israel has invaded Sinai, she confronts Eden about it. Eden reveals the Israeli invasion was not only planned but part of a secret agreement between the Israeli, French and British governments to reclaim the Suez Canal without approval from Parliament or the United Nations. Elizabeth reluctantly gives her support, and British forces begin moving into Egypt.

* MrExposition: After Eden withdraws the British and French pilots from the Suez Canal, Philip -- with the help of some cutlery and cruets -- explains why specially-trained pilots are needed on the Suez Canal.

* AndAnotherThing: The Queen pulls this on the Prime Minister, waiting till he's about to leave after informing her that Israel has invaded Egypt and an Anglo-French peacekeeping force will be sent in. She points out that the intelligence reports she has read say that Israel would not declare war without outside support, for fear of being isolated by the rest of the world. Eden is then forced to admit that Britain, Israel and France have cooked up the whole invasion beforehand.

* FailedASpotCheck: By withdrawing British and French pilots from the Suez Canal, Eden hopes that this will prevent any ships from travelling along it, thus forcing Nasser to negotiate. He completely fails to take into account that Nasser could just do a deal with the Soviet Union to provide pilots who can not just do the job, but also train Egyptians to do it in the future.

Elizabeth and Philip discuss the state of their marriage onboard the royal yacht ''Britannia'' off the Portuguese coast; both acknowledge that divorce is not an option. We then go back to five months earlier. As Philip prepares to embark on his solo tour, Elizabeth becomes convinced he is having an affair after finding a photograph of the ballerina Galina Ulanova in his luggage. Over at Downing Street, Chancellor Harold Macmillan backs Prime Minister Eden's solution to Egypt's takeover of the Suez Canal. Having learned about what Eden intends to do from a Cabinet minister who's unhappy with the plan, Mountbatten tells Elizabeth about it; after learning that Israel has invaded Sinai, she confronts Eden about it. Eden reveals the Israeli invasion was not only planned but part of a secret agreement between the Israeli, French and British governments to reclaim the Suez Canal without approval from Parliament or the United Nations. Elizabeth reluctantly gives her support, and British forces begin moving into Egypt.

* DescentIntoAddiction: Eden, whose reliance on painkillers and other medications is ''seriously'' affecting both his judgement and his health. Very much TruthInTelevision, as it's now commonly agreed to have been a part of the reason for his bad judgment during the Suez Crisis. Benzedrine, which was regarded as a harmless stimulant and as such used in a very casual way in the 1950s, actually has serious side effects such as insomnia, restlessness and mood swings, all of which Eden suffered from at that time.

* SensualSlavs: Galina Ulanova, the Russian ballerina. Breathtakingly beautiful? Check. Slavic origins? Check. Sexy enough to entice Phillip to cheat on his wife? Perhaps.

* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: Following her discovery of the photograph Elizabeth attends one of Galina's performances. The ballerina can't help but stare up at Elizabeth in a manner that implies both acknowledgement of her awareness of the implicit affair with Philip.

* AmbiguousSituation: The question of whether Philip was unfaithful to the Queen, which will be something of a running plotline for this series. In this episode, Elizabeth becomes suspicious that he's been carrying on with Galina Ulanova.

Elizabeth and Philip discuss the state of their marriage onboard the royal yacht ''Britannia'' off the Portuguese coast; both acknowledge divorce is not an option. We then go back to five months earlier. As Philip prepares to embark on his royal tour, Elizabeth becomes convinced he is having an affair after finding a photograph of ballerina Galina Ulanova in his briefcase. Over at Downing Street, Chancellor Harold Macmillan challenges Eden's solution to Egypt's takeover of the Suez Canal but ultimately agrees to military intervention. Having learned about it from a Cabinet minister who's unhappy with the plan, Mountbatten tells Elizabeth about it; after learning that Israel has invaded Sinai, she confronts Eden about it. Eden reveals the invasion was not only planned but part of a secret agreement between the Israeli, French and British governments to reclaim the Suez Canal without approval from Parliament or the United Nations. Elizabeth reluctantly gives her support, and British forces begin moving into Egypt.

* AmbiguousSituation: The question of whether Philip was unfaithful to the Queen, which will be something of a running plotline for this series. In this episode, Elizabeth becomes suspicious that he's been carrying on with the ballerina Galina Ulanova.
* AtTheOperaTonight: Well, ballet. Elizabeth goes to check out Galina. Mountbatten, who's not aware of the undertones, is rather jealous when he finds out that she's going.

* TheCameo: Edwina Mountbatten was a complicated woman with both an enormous fortune and a very hectic life, but she's only in this series for about a minute, quite literally.

** The Parkers' marriage is in a very bad way due to Mike spending so much time with Philip.

* DescentIntoAddiction: Eden, whose reliance on painkillers and other medications is ''seriously'' affecting his judgement. And his health, which is sadly ironic given that he's only taking said medications as a result of his botched gall-bladder operation.
* FailedASpotCheck: By withdrawing British and French pilots from the Suez Canal, Eden hopes that this will prevent any ships from travelling along it, thus forcing Nasser to negotiate. He completely fails to take into account that Nasser could just do a deal with the Soviet Union to provide pilots who can train Egyptians to do the job.

* MrExposition: After Eden withdraws the British and French pilots from the Suez Canal, Philip -- with the help of some cutlery and cruets -- explains (or perhaps mansplains) why specially-trained pilots are needed on the Suez Canal.

* FailedASpotCheck: By withdrawing British and French pilots from the Suez Canal, Eden hopes that this will prevent any ships from travelling along it, thus blocking up international trade and forcing Nasser to negotiate. He completely fails to take into account that Nasser could just do a deal with the Soviet Union to provide pilots who can train Egyptians to do the job.

** The Sèvres Protocol between Britain, France, and Israel -- which planned for Israel to attack Egypt and for France and Britain to then intervene to "keep the peace" -- indeed existed. However, whether the Queen approved it, as seen in this episode, is not proven.
* SensualSlavs: Galina Ulanova. Breathtakingly beautiful? Check. Slavic origins? Check. Sexy enough to entice Phillip to cheat on his wife? Perhaps.

-->'''Mike Parker''': I tell you, the idiot that came up with the idea of marriage has a lot to answer for. Well, you know what they say, "Marriage is a wonderful institution". But let's face it, who wants to live in an institution?
* WholeEpisodeFlashback: The ColdOpening is set in February 1957, after Philip's tour and in the aftermath of the Suez Crisis. The rest of the episode shows what happened five months earlier.

In February 1957, Elizabeth and Philip discuss the state of their marriage onboard the royal yacht ''Britannia'' off the Portuguese coast; both acknowledge divorce is not an option. Five months earlier, as Philip prepares to embark on his royal tour, Elizabeth becomes convinced he is having an affair after finding a photograph of ballerina Galina Ulanova in his briefcase. Over at Downing Street, Chancellor Harold Macmillan challenges Eden's solution to Egypt's takeover of the Suez Canal but ultimately agrees to military intervention. Having learned about it from a Cabinet minister who's unhappy with the plan, Mountbatten tells Elizabeth about it; after learning that Israel has invaded Sinai, she confronts Eden about it. Eden reveals the invasion was not only planned but part of a secret agreement between the Israeli, French and British governments to reclaim the Suez Canal without approval from Parliament or the United Nations. Elizabeth reluctantly gives her support, and British forces begin moving into Egypt.

-->'''Mike Parker''': I tell you, the idiot that came up with the idea of marriage has a lot to answer for. Well, you know what they say, "Marriage is a wonderful institution". But let's face it, who wants to live in an institution?

* SensualSlavs: Galina Ulanova. Breathtakingly beautiful? Check. Slavic origins? Check. Sexy enough to entice Phillip to cheat on his wife? Perhaps.