“Family,” declares Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) at the close of this ominous episode, “is the rock upon which any enduring marriage must surely be founded.” Which if nothing else explains the chequered marital histories of the Windsor clan. We’ll have to wait until next year and the fourth series for Diana and Fergie; in the meantime, there are the relationship statuses of Princes and Prime Minsters to consider.
The penultimate episode of the series, Imbroglio, begins with the reheated leftovers of the previous episode, as the Duke of Windsor (Derek Jacobi) is buried and Wallis Simpson (Geraldine Chaplin) offers Charles (Josh O'Connor) some pointed advice (“Never turn your back on true love… Watch out for your family”).
No sooner have these words been uttered than the Windsors start closing ranks against the heir to the throne in a grim tableau reminiscent of Succession’s Roy family.
Charles is duly sent to join the Navy in Dartmouth to take his mind off Camilla Shand (Emerald Fennell). “It’ll be the making of you,” reckons Mountbatten (Charles Dance), still laboring under the misapprehension that Camilla is, or was ever, “a bit of fun”.
It takes another sit-down for the penny to drop, after months of anguished long-distance phone calls for Charles (“I love thinking”) if not so much for Camilla (“I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with you,” as a half-naked Andrew Buchan as Andrew Parker Bowles hovers in the background).
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbHLnp6rmaCde6S7ja6iaKeeYrGmucCnm2hoX5i%2FsMPNZqqemaOku25%2FjJ6noqufmbJuhYyipJuqn5y5qruMq5yvoZWseqWxy6KaoqelqLm6edGip55llqS%2Fpq7OnaCnn18%3D