Recap / The Crown S 2 E 3 Lisbon

To do nothing is often the best course of action, but I know from personal experience how frustrating it can be. History was not made by those who did nothing.

Eden returns from Jamaica, only to discover that the Cabinet has turned against him on the wake of the Suez Crisis. As he resigns and Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister, Tommy Lascelles tries to change Eileen's mind about her divorce. He fails. Elizabeth also tries and fails to convince Eileen not to divorce Mike, but she pushes ahead. When the divorce becomes public knowledge, it's reported on by newspapers all over the world as Mike's infidelity inevitably leads to speculation about his close friend Philip. Mike is forced to resign. Elizabeth flies out to Lisbon to meet Philip on Britannia, where the two privately talk about the state of their marriage. Philip makes it clear he resents Charles outranking him, and wants more respect from both the courtiers and the palace staff. He is therefore made a Prince of the United Kingdom, with the style "His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh".

This episodes contains examples of:

• Artistic Licence – History: A couple of examples.
  • Anthony Eden is shown as returning from Jamaica after Christmas (Elizabeth and Philip's Christmas broadcasts having taken place in the previous episode). In actual fact, he was back in Britain before Christmas 1956; with his health showing no signs of improving and the Cabinet plotting his removal, he eventually resigned in early January 1957. Historical evidence shows that R.A. Butler ("Rab") was actually a bigger mover against Eden than Harold Macmillan.
  • When showing the kids where Philip's going next on the globe, Elizabeth refers to the South Shetland Islands, the Falkland Islands and Ascension Island as "British Overseas Territories". However, in 1957 they were Crown Colonies. They were reclassified as British Overseas Territories in 2002.
  • Probably done for the sake of Rule of Drama ... Mike Parker was not forced to resign the moment news of his wife's intention to divorce him broke. He actually stayed on for a month after the conclusion of his and Philip's world tour, and the decision to quit was most likely his own; Elizabeth and Philip had both expressed their support for him, and he was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) upon his resignation. He remained in touch with Philip for the rest of his life (he died in 2001).
• Association Fallacy: The spectre of Wallis Simpson again raises its ugly head when the newspapers bring it up in relation to rumors of Philip's infidelity, never mind that there's nothing similar about it.
• Back in the Saddle: Having retired in the previous series, Tommy Lascelles is called in to try and stop Eileen from divorcing Mike. It doesn't work, although as Tommy himself points out before approaching her, he's accustomed to getting royals to see the error of their ways, not people on the outside.
• Beardness Protection Program: Averted; Mike is recognised by reporters the moment he steps off the Britannia, regardless of the results of the beard growing contest. Of course, he's in uniform rather than trying to leave incognito.
• Contrived Coincidence: Lascelles happening to be reading on a bench in the same park where Eileen has gone to watch her son play rugby is very much an in-universe example.
• Cool Car: Lascelles has a Rolls Royce and driver as a retirement present that Queen Elizabeth doesn't even remember giving him.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Elizabeth explains to her children that one of the reasons why the royal family must travel around the world is so that colonies "don't get silly ideas like independence".
• Friendship Moment: Philip has to force Mike to resign on the spot, not even waiting a day for decency's sake. Despite this, Philip makes a point of visiting Mike at his home before he leaves for Australia, to let him know how much he valued his friendship.
• Happier Home Movie: A variation with the Royal Family watching the movies that Philip has sent them from his visit to Antarctica.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Philip and Mike. Even after Mike resigned and moved back to Australia (although in Real Life he didn't do the latter until the late 1960s), they kept in touch until Mike died in 2001.
• Humiliation Conga:
  • Eden's is complete when he returns from Jamaica to find that the Cabinet are against him, forcing him to resign as Prime Minister.
    Elizabeth: So, I suppose it's only natural that ambitious men, driven men, want to go down in history.
    Anthony Eden: Or make history by going down.
  • A telegram from the Palace is sent (not to Philip, but to the Admiral commanding the Britannia) instructing Philip on his public meeting with his wife, even down to making him wear a hat purely so he can remove it as a sign of deference. It's this kind of petty humiliation that leads Philip to demand his Rank Up. Being bossed around by the Queen is one thing, but not the 'moustaches' who run the Palace.
• Hypocrite: Having backed Anthony Eden over Suez, Harold Macmillan quickly turns against him once it goes wrong, and uses the political fall-out (and Eden's convenient absence) to force Eden from office and become Prime Minister himself. Eden himself calls him out on this in a Cabinet meeting shortly before resigning. Later, Elizabeth also calls him out on this when he refers to the Suez Crisis as "Eden's war" during his first meeting with her at the palace.
• Important Haircut:
  • Well, shave — Michael Adeane is seen shaving his moustache at the end, after Elizabeth's quiet word with him; in a small way, this is an example of how Philip, now officially a Prince, is becoming more influential in the palace, as he's the one who disparagingly referred to the old guard (which Adeane represents) as "the moustaches".
  • Philip has to shave off his beard after the Palace pulls him back into line.
• Insistent Terminology: When Philip goes to visit him to bid him farewell, Mike insists on addressing his old friend as "Sir", even after Philip tries to insist on a First-Name Basis.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Mike's letters to the Thursday Club bragging about his sexual conquests abroad come back to bite him hard; not only do they cost him his marriage (as his wife has got hold of one and is using it as evidence of his adultery in order to divorce him), but they've also caused a royal scandal by calling Philip's fidelity into question due to their close friendship. Philip is compelled to sack him (well, force him to resign on the spot) for such indiscretion.
• Lie Back and Think of England: Philip has to give Elizabeth more children as his side of the bargain. Mike thinks it will do her good to have children she can love, as Elizabeth has always been a touch cold to Charles; the chosen heir who will succeed the Queen on her death and is therefore a reminder of her mortality.
• Quit Your Whining: Elizabeth makes it clear that divorce is not an option for either of them, so her husband needs to stop complaining and get with the program. However, she asks Philip what he needs to make this bearable. His price is to be made a Prince, so the Queen's retainers will be forced to treat him with respect.
• Rank Up: Philip is made a Prince of the Realm. Arguably, it's a rank back up for him, as he had previously been a royal prince (of Greece and Denmark) but had had to give that title up in order to marry Elizabeth ten years previously.
• Revealing Cover-Up: Averted when the Queen Mother's suggestion that they fly Philip home at once is rejected for this reason. Instead they simply advance the Queen's reuniting with her husband in Lisbon.
• Shout-Out:
  • Philip supposes that his family would rather watch Creature from the Black Lagoon than his home movies.
  • While photographing Prince Philip, Cecil Beaton quotes from Alfred Tennyson's Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington.
• Story Arc: The one that began with Elizabeth and Philip's conversation at the start of "Misadventure" (taking in Philip's solo tour, juxtaposed with the Suez Crisis) is brought to its conclusion; they have the same conversation we saw at the beginning, and arrive at a resolution to their problems.
• Tempting Fate: When usurping Eden, Harold Macmillan says there's no justice in politics. He'll find that out himself when he's blamed for the Profumo scandal.
• Truth in Television: Mike and Philip's rather callous-sounding toast is actually a traditional Royal Navy one.
  Mike: To our wives and sweethearts.
  Philip: May they never meet.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Mike, thanks to those indiscrete letters of his.
• We Used to Be Friends: After Tommy's efforts come to nothing, Elizabeth tries this approach in order to get Eileen to back off. She too fails.