The Crown’s Finale Shows Why the Monarchy Is Eternal
I’m going to miss The Crown. At its best, it has been alternately soothing, nostalgic, and educational, and even at its worst, it has always been well acted and gorgeous. Unfortunately, the second half of the sixth and final season is very much The Crown at its worst. These six episodes, released yesterday on Netflix, are an unfocused canter around the paddock of the late 1990s and early 2000s: Prince William turns 18, Prince Charles finally makes an honest woman of Camilla Parker Bowles, Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother die, and Elizabeth II ends the series by being talked out of abdication by the ghosts of her former selves. The final scene has her walking out of an abbey door into bright-white sunlight, which feels like an admission of defeat. How do you sum up a life this long and varied, and end a show with such vaulting ambitions? Guys, what if we make it look vaguely celestial—like she’s passing into history? All we need is a really big lamp. Having watched Elizabeth and …