The Crown Season 5 Review

The Crown renewed for a 5th Season and it was nothing short of enlightening. The Crown Season 5 takes us on a journey through the late eighties and into the late nineties. It is, like every other time, a tumultuous time for Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage, where things get out of hand and the Waleses go into all-out war.

The Crown Season 5 Review and Summary

This post is both a review and a summary of The Crown Season 5. That is to say, it may contain spoilers.

Holding on to the Past

The Crown Season 5 kicks off with Queen Elizabeth II’s intent to have the UK government finance the repairs of her beloved Royal Yacht, The Britannia. The yacht, in many ways, is a symbol of her own leadership, character, and personality as sovereign and she feels that similar to how it’s aging, she too is slowly becoming a relic of the past. As such, the Queen, played by Imelda Staunton, tries her best to ensure that it is repaired and that it stays on as her official royal yacht, despite its already 40 years at sea.

Unlikely Alliances

Prince Philip, on his part, is aging as well and has developed new interests away from his favorite pastime, Polo. He is invigorated by carriage driving and when his godson loses his daughter, Philip goes to comfort him and kindles an unlikely friendship with his wife Penny. The Crown also now talks about cancer for the first time as it is the disease that kills the little girl. Philip, played by Jonathan Pryce, introduces Penny to carriage driving, and the two kindle an unlikely alliance of interests, thoughts, and hobbies.

The Al Fayed Family

The Crown Season 5 also introduces us to the Al Fayed family. Mohamed Al Fayed is inspired when he comes across the abdicated King Edward. He becomes very wealthy later in life and develops a keen intent to integrate into British society.

Mohamed Al Fayed Buys the Ritz in Paris

Al Fayed, played by Salim Daw, and his son Dodi Fayed, played by Khalid Abdalla, buy the Ritz and the late King Edward’s castle in Paris. They gift the Queen some of its prized possessions and on an equestrian event, Al Fayed gets to meet Princess Diana (after being snubbed by the Queen) and the two become good friends. Like Princess Margaret, played by Lesley Manville, puts it “Out of the acorn of a simple kindness, an oak tree of happiness will grow”.

“Out of the acorn of a simple kindness, an oak tree of happiness will grow.” ~ Princess Margaret, The Crown Season 5

The Windsor Fire and Burnt Down Marriages

1992 is pretty terrible for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as it is the year a fire breaks out in Windsor Castle and burns down a significant part of it. It is also the year that things start boiling over with Princess Diana and the Prince of Wales’s marriage and the two, despite a second honeymoon earlier where they seemed fine, decide to separate.

Annus Horribilis

One of Queen Elizabeth’s other sons, Prince Edward also now chooses to file for divorce as his marriage tumbles as well. The year is terrible for the Queen and she describes it as “annus horribilis”, in her address during the celebration of her then-forty years on the throne.

Embarrassing Phone Taps for Prince Charles

Season 5 of The Crown also features an incident where an amateur radio communications enthusiast stumbles on an eerily intimate conversation on the radio that was a phone call between Prince Charles and his mistress Camilla Parker-Bowles, played by Olivia Williams.

The “Tampongate” Scandal

The man sells the tape to the Daily Mirror, which keeps it on file until after the separation of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. They then drop it and the consequent outfall is damning and very embarrassing for Prince Charles and the monarchy. The scandal came to be known as the “Tampongate” scandal. Reason being that Charles in the phone call says he envies Camilla’s tampon and wishes he was one of hers. It was a very nasty phone sex type of conversation between the two that leaked to the press.

Russian Democracy

It is a new age in Russia with President Yeltsin eager to impress Queen Elizabeth and forge new cooperation between the two nations. These efforts, however, hit a snag when the Queen asks Yeltsin to give a proper burial to her murdered relative, the Tsar of Russia Nicholas II, who was cousin to her grandfather, King George V.

Yeltsin, despite the disappointment, agrees and the bodies of the murdered emperor and his family are exhumed. After a lengthy DNA profiling process, they are buried in a dignified way. At the same time, the Queen feels a parting of ways with her husband, who admits that he sought intellectual companionship elsewhere i.e with Lady Romsey (Penny).

The Explosive BBC Panorama Interview

BBC Panorama journalist Martin Bashir, played by Prasanna Puwanarajah, moves heaven and earth to get an interview with Princess Diana, played by Elizabeth Debicki. He coerces her brother Lord Spenser with fake bank statements where he alleges that the security services are spying on her. Diana has felt that she was being spied on for a while, and Bashir suggests that she comes out with her side of the story, via a BBC Panorama interview.

When she agrees, Martin Bashir and his boss loop in the Director General of the BBC, who agrees after the Chairman of the Board Dukey, irks him. Bashir and his crew pull off the interview on Guy Fawkes’ night, as everyone is away from Kensington Palace enjoying the fireworks. As you can expect, the blowback is major. In some ways, it also ends her short fling/relationship with heart surgeon, Dr. Hasnat Khan.

The Aftermath of the Tell-All BBC Panorama Interview by Princess Diana

Princess Diana’s BBC Panorama interview brings a huge blowback to her. She and Prince Charles, played by Dominic West, get a letter from the Queen approving their divorce, something that is against all Her Majesty’s beliefs and the two now go into divorce proceedings. The interview is also very damning for Prince Charles, especially on the question of his relationship with Camilla, who the public now hates even more.

The Divorce of Prince Charles and Princess Diana

Diana and Charles hire lawyers to finalize their divorce, and after agreeing on the settlements and joint custody of the children, their marriage is legally nullified. Princess Diana is finally a free woman and Prince Charles can now finally enjoy his love for Camilla. He even visits Diana to kind of apologize for not being as good a husband as he could be, but only ends up upsetting her even more.

Decommissioned

With the end of John Major’s premiership and the onset of a new UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, the Royal Yacht Britannia is set to be decommissioned. The ship takes its final voyage to Hong Kong, where Prince Charles is sent by Her Majesty to hand over the City to the Chinese government. There, he sets up a meeting with Tony Blair with who he forges an alliance. The two seek change and the modernization and protection of Britain and the Monarchy, with a keen focus on embracing the future.

Queen Victoria Syndrome

The Queen is devastated that nothing can be done to save her beloved Britannia and asks for a chance to say farewell. She visits the ship and strolls about within it while taking in a final glance and remembering all the wonderful memories made there. Like the ship’s time coming to an end, her reign is slowly but surely coming to an end as she realizes that the future is within reach.

Prince Charles is sure to tell her as much as he says that the monarchy must modernize or the world will “move on”. That is why the Queen had been blamed of suffering from Queen Victoria Syndrome, for holding on to the throne for too long like Queen Victoria did.

Our Rating

The Crown Season 5 is beyond exciting. It brings a very in-depth view into the occurrences within the British Royal Family for over a decade, at a crucial time when the world was going into the new millennium. Like always, the writing and cast are fluid, bringing us lifelike entertainment right into our homes. Season 5 of The Crown is a must-watch and we rate it 9.5/10. Do enjoy!

FAQ

Will there be a Season 6 of The Crown?

Yes. There will be a Season 6 of The Crown. Netflix is yet to announce an official release date for The Crown Season 6 but we can expect it to be released late this year or earlier next year, i.e December 2023/January 2024. Season 6 of The Crown is also expected to be the Final Season of the TV Series.

Why is The Crown Ending in Season 6?

The Crown Season 6 will be the Final Season after it was extended for another season beyond Season 5. The reason for this was to “do justice to the richness and complexity of the story”, according to Peter Morgan, Writer and Creator of The Crown.

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