(6): TV Show review; The crown; United Kingdom from the view of Queen Elizabeth's life.

I've spent quite a significant number of my days reading the memoirs of some iconic historic figures which this world would have the honor of saying they, at one point, stepped on its hard surface. And I must confess, reading them remain unmatched, not because of what comes in learning from what made the people in those pages who they were, but simply because the action involves reading. So many people have tried, but its quite hard to put into words the feeling that comes with reading. The pleasure it gives, and the satisfaction one derives. It is simply sublime. 

But recently, it seems reading has started losing the unrivalled monopolistic edge it has upon its ever-curious minded, history-hungry learners. For now cinematography is showing strong signs of competition to rival books not only in rushing-on faster to make cinematographic elucidation on the triviality in question, but also bring forth the historically significant happenings that occurred somewhere and sometime in the past, or the history of the actors or relevant spectators behind those happenings - what if was in books we simple language call autobiography or memoir, now, as a documentary to the fingertips of watchers.

The untouchable power of reading now evidently resides only in the uniqueness of its form and the undoubtful sophistication, but not the flexibility of learning and shaping perceptions as well as quality knowledge and information delivery. Which seemed to be the case before the advent of the cinema. That, the books are now sharing it with the cinema. Because now, the numbers belong to the cinema. The audience is skewed to the cinema. The attention is set on the cinema. And cinema, is responding very well. Memoirs and journals are getting converted, from rough form of book pages, initially consumable by only those with persevering reading habit, into soft motion pictures, decodable and enjoyable even by the laziest core among the human specie. With style, fun and pleasure, through a new cinematographic dimension that ease the cravings of every history-hungry individual. Now, one could watch what one could read, getting the same information, easier and faster. More comprehensible, with higher chance of it being glued to one's memory.

And among others, is The Crown. The TV series whose plot based around the biography of British Royal family, specifically, Queen Elizabeth the second. The series touched the significant historical aspects of British royal house relative to the British culture and tradition, philosophy and constitution; with much of it relevant to the information it could give the watcher about the main person in question; her royal highness, Queen Elizabeth the second. And every life full or lifeless creature that has to do with that history, concrete or abstract. 

The crown did what it has to do to flower the uniqueness of Britain, its customs and values, its distinguishable lifestyle, its system of governance, its heavenly vast geography, the nature of its people and their trade, the power of its mass media and press, the style of British architecture and science, its literature and politics, and above all, the heat that comes in wearing its crown. The crown covers the pros and cons that comes in having the royal blood flowing through one's veins, and what it means to both the royal blood and the loyal bloods of British empire. The effects it has on anyone that relates with the house directly or indirectly, from both rulers' point of view and the rule’s. The crown touch the meaning that lies in the dedication of an old-school first class servant of an iconic empire, and the conservative professionalism that involves the entire process, as well as the response of whom the functions of the process affect.

The crown breakdown every bit of the touching and unique, yet nerve-racking extreme romantic circle of different form that occurred in the royal house. Which nails the watcher with some unfathomable sacrifice that comes from brotherly and sisterly love, crush-fiancé emotional ties, boyfriend and girlfriend drama, as well as the poetic madness that comes in being husband and wife with someone that totally belongs to another class of person. 

The main lesson in every passing scene of The Crown is to show that the people who rule you are people just like you, only that they're rightly unique and superior because of the fact that every aspect of their existence is dedicated to serve your interest. The crown help to explain that the Brits and Britain are like any other people or country, only that they're more handy, candy and unique in style. Courtesy of early medieval civilization, industrial revolution and the evolvement, ecology and epistemology of British culture that pass across generations. 

The series kicks off at the wedding of princess Elizabeth of York (later Queen Elizabeth the second), the eldest daughter of King George the sixth, and Prince William of Denmark and Greece ( later the Duke of Edinburgh). The groom agreed to forsake his Greek and Danish titles, as well as his family name, to adopt his mother's British lineage of 'Mountbatten'. Prince William was in no position financially to marry the princess that fall in love with him, and his Royal affiliation wasn't so strong as to grant him her hand. As they commonly said, he was a prince without kingdom. And Lord without castle. The prince served in British navy during the second World War. 

The event marks the beginning at which the watcher would start loving the eloquence and political prowess of Sir. Winston Churchill, and his historic, eloquent command of English language. Which the Queen openly commended upon receiving the news of his resignation later in the series. The gentility of George as beloved King to his people. The expansiveness of British conservatism that didn't appreciate the attendance of prince William's sisters at the wedding, because they were married to Nazis in Germany. 

The beauty and eventful-ness of such event happening in any place other than  that place or time can only be imagined. It'll also allow the watcher to learn that there's one specific class of English language reserved only for the royal blood; a kind that's as sexy as damsel, sharp as blade, and liquid as liquor. How their tongues manage to get twisted to pronounce such level of elegance accurately is what's beyond my comprehension.

Then another incisive part; the surgery of Queen's father. King George got ripped open on the watch of cameras, in his royal house, showing how much damage cigarette did to his lungs, and how the doctors ripped one of the lungs out, fixed the king closed, making him breath with one lung for the rest of his life. The king was commonly known for his smoking habit. The condition that many related to him accepting the throne that he never wanted. From his brother, King Edward Albert George [Edward VIII], who decided to abscond the throne so that he'll be eligible to marry a divorcee; a pretty and an exotic woman he loved so much he could give up a throne to marry. Which he did. 

The Buckingham Palace is watcher's place not to allow slip unnoticed. The building is a work of art. Talk less of the decorations. Princess Margaret's beauty and mind-blowing poetry is a decoration and one good TV show on itself. The Queenly command of princess Elizabeth's mother and grand mother, and how the house was ran by the Royal secretary Tommy Lasceless, group captain Peter Townsend and Princess Elizabeth's [before she succeeded the throne] secretary as the rightful heir to the throne, Martin Chateris. Everything is wowing. Lasceless was the most due-process official any watcher could ever watch. Chateris the sweetest, and Peter Townsend the most charming. No wonder Princess Margaret fall madly in love with Townsend, a touching love story capable of making one weeps. Margaret couldn't marry Townsend because he was a divorcee, a rule of royal blood. 

The coronation of Queen Elizabeth subject to the death of her father, a news that reached her while she was on tour in Africa with her husband, was also a significant part of the series. The speech, the attendants and how they got invited, how the event was ran, and everything was beyond words. Before hand, the agony in Queen losing her beloved father wasn't entirely watchable. And the fun fact that the princess [before she was crowned Queen] smiled way too much in Africa during that tour a doctor had to be requested to travel from England, to treat her, because her cheeks and cheekbones started aching. That just couldn't make it any less interesting. 

The drama after coronation because the custom disallowed the Queen to bear her husband's family name, which violates the law, triggering his lineage to talk themselves out of the agony of their name missing out on wearing the Crown. The little disagreements between the Queen and Duke, which triggered her old unconditional love for Destriers; the animals she cater for in her keep, bringing her to contact with her once crush, upsetting the Duke of Edinburgh, triggering his old habit of drinking and hanging out with friends. Their conflict as a husband and wife, and how it got to the attention of British press, making them tail the monarch everywhere. That favors the argument that the press has too much power in England. How could an entity intimidates its monarch like that? But perhaps that's what brought the country to where its today. Etcetera. 

The representation of royal house by Princess Margaret, an assignment she carried out poetically and eloquently well done, with an intent of wowing the crowd into doubting the public prominence of her sister, the Queen, who was clearly lacking in that aspect. A retaliation for, perhaps, sending her beloved Townsend into exile. That gave birth to the question by the Brits on whether they had the wrong daughter of George wearing their Crown. Which abused the conduct of the Royal house for anyone to attempt outshining the queen in any event. That somehow triggered a dispute between the two sisters, which had to be settled later.

The one time discussion between the Queen and Sir. Winston Churchill which put the Queen in her place, in wisdom and diplomacy, settlement and governance, reminding her of the fact that she knew nothing about the matters of state, in fact, about matters of everything apart from language, music, and constitution. Winston was merciless in his approach. He gave the Queen no space to doubt his expertise, neither a breath to think she's anything her father was. That urged her to hire a professor of general studies to teach her personally, before she got to visit the president of United States, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, just four years after her coronation. The Queen might've not received any formal education in the company of her peers, but how quick she learnt from her personal teacher is too much an elasticity. The degree of responsiveness of the quality she displayed at the discussion with Eisenhower was a confirmation that every monarch has a special blessings from the subjects. Because that was the only understandable reason.

Not only about the royal house alone, the political meltdown between Winston Churchill and the people of his parliament who believed he was no longer competent to oversee the office of British Prime minister, and that he was just using his triumph at the second world war, to justify and excuse his incompetence, reiterating that he was still the best man for the job, was so great to watch. The great smog of 1952 that caused disruption in the city of London by reduction visibility, causing thousands of medical conditions. The drawing of Sir. Winston by the famous architect, which blew out the prowess of British artistry and calligraphy. None among that a watcher could willingly skip. 

Apart from the crown and the parliament, the other powerful entity that rule Britain is the Press. Every aspect of Britain is exposed to Press. They do what they want, when they want. Make what they want relevant or irrelevant. Britain can't do without her Press. They've as much power as any democratic or monarchical entity in the kingdom. 

To conclude this sweet of a review, which I had to not because I want to, I'll recommend The Crown to anyone who loves to watch art. For when speaking of cinematographic artistry, The Crown wears the crown. Massive credit should go to the creator and writer of the series, Peter Morgan. And the company that produced the series for Netflix, Sony Pictures Television. The rendition was elite. Such masterpiece is so deserving of the longest serving monarch in the history of Britain, and the longest female monarch in the history of man. But even more credit to the actors and actresses. The delivery was perfect. Imitating the royalty isn't a job for the average. 

For the record, the first season covers the period from Queen Elizabeth's marriage to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1947 to the disintegration of her sister Princess Margaret's engagement to Group Captain Peter Townsend in 1955. The second season covers the period from the Suez Crisis in 1956 through the retirement of the Queen's third prime minister, Harold Macmillan, in 1963 to the birth of Prince Edward in 1964. 

The third season, which sets to show soon, will span the period between 1964 and 1977, including Harold Wilson's two periods as prime minister, while the fourth will include Margaret Thatcher's premiership and introduce Lady Diana Spencer.

Reviewed by:

MA Iliasu, 

Kano State,

Nigeria.