The queen has returned to leave now. The crown says goodbye and also says goodbye to its Queen Elizabeth II. Seven years have passed since the premiere and now the farewell is expected on a grand scale. A lot has changed in this series since November 4, 2016, in fiction in general and of course in its representation, in its subject of investigation and its success: the British royal family. After five and a half seasons, after the sixth was divided into two parts, the final six chapters of British fiction (on Netflix since last Thursday) return once again to everything that has given it shine over the years: the silence, the reflection , the conversations with double and triple intent, the emotions, the look forward while looking back, the arguments and its eternal protagonist with all her duplicity: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England.
While the first four chapters were almost an obligatory contribution to clarifying the well-known and sad fate of Diana of Wales and were painted with a slightly thicker brush than the finesse of Peter Morgan and Co. is used to, this time it is the case with the author regained the elegance that characterizes it and presents the viewer with the following challenge: what will happen to the queen? When the series began, Elizabeth II had just turned 90, had been on the throne for six decades and was still surprisingly active. Today the panorama is different. The ruler died at Balmoral Castle in September 2022, 15 months before the end of the series, precisely during the filming of this sixth and final season, temporarily paralyzed as a sign of mourning. Although this sixth season focuses on the late 1990s and reaches the mid-2000s, this inevitable future, which Elizabeth II had very much in mind, floats throughout the season and is resolved (in a final chapter from which it is much better is to get out completely). blindly, without even knowing the plot) in a very Petermorganesque way, very The Crown.
More information
This entire final season tastes like a farewell. It's a look into the future. It's difficult to even focus on the present when you see the inevitable departures of some of its protagonists. These are not spoilers; After all, it is based on real events that happened just two decades ago. Therefore, the future is no longer Carlos, but William. The final season gives him a role very similar to the real world: a focused boy without being sassy or condescending; closer to his grandmother than his father; with Diana present and Kate Middleton as the target. As always in The Crown and with Morgan, we will never know what is completely true and what is an illusion, how much reality there is in the fiction, but the Guillermo you see fits in quite well with the what you can know about the current heir to the throne. What perhaps most surprises the uninitiated in the plot's depths of the Windsors are the events surrounding Carole Middleton, his girlfriend's mother, which are reminiscent of those of Mohamed Al Fayed last season and raise questions – to what extent? Did the family of the current Princess of Wales maneuver so that she could have a chance with William? – which again can never be clarified.
Meg Bellamy and Ed McVey as the Princes of Wales William and Kate during their college years. Justin Downing/Netflix
The one who comes out the worst, as in real life, is Enrique. His character flies through the season, only having a small storyline at the end, but feeling uncomfortable in all episodes; That is, something similar actually happens to him in “The Firm” (the company, as the British royal family is called in the United Kingdom). Enrique responds well to the name he gave to his controversial memoir “Spare” (“In the Shadow” in Spanish), which means “spare” or “spare part,” published a year ago. Sometimes it's even a parody: it's lame, simple-minded, disrespectful and even rude. Elizabeth II even asks William to be patient with his little brother; Being second is more complicated and has a more diluted purpose. However, Enrique here is not the terribly nice guy that many saw in the nineties, he is more of a directionless mess, the image he conveys is more of what we have of him today than that of England back then Favorite was Orphan. William even tells his brother not to dare compare himself to Diana of Wales: “Because of what she went through, she had it much worse.” Another thing is on him, his grandmother or his father to pay attention.
The British royal family in the final season of “The Crow.”
This season, the heir seems more liberated, less tormented, now without Diana and less dependent on the characters Isabel and Philip of Edinburgh. Imelda Staunton is the soul of the season in her portrait of the Queen, along with Dominic West as Charles and Elizabeth Debicki in her copy of the Princess of Wales. All three are nominated for the Golden Globes, and in addition to the Emmys, the series is also up for the award in the “Best Drama” category. It's the final touch, the final accolades the series will receive.
The popular B-side of the monarchy is also present in this season: Elizabeth II on horseback or pursued by her worries and daydreams – noteworthy is the one with which the second chapter of the series begins, in which she introduces herself, Tony to be dethroned Blair – to the Caribbean adventures of Princess Margaret, who also has her own exciting episode this season. As the monarch says in one episode, “People don't come to a palace to see what they have at home.” No. People want to see from home what is happening in the other houses, which are the palaces. For 60 chapters, Morgan has given us a glimpse of his living rooms and kitchens, his toilets and his stables, and here, as promised, he concludes his work. A seventh season, as many have wanted, to examine the last decades of the world's most famous and fascinating monarchy, seems unlikely. Not now. He has already given it a well-rounded ending.
You can follow EL PAÍS Television on X or sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
Get the TV newsletter
All the latest news from broadcasters and platforms, with interviews, news and analyses, as well as recommendations and reviews from our journalists
LOG IN
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_