Repeated History
Episode 8 showcases what creator and writer Peter Morgan does so well- that is, holding two separate events up to each other and thereby fleshing them out to better and more interesting detail. Princess Margaret’s visit with LBJ and the financial bailout; Philip’s mid-life crisis and the moon landing; and with “Dangling Man,” we see the budding romance between Charles and Camilla told in tandem with the Duke of Windsor’s final days and efforts toward redemption.
The episode opens with the Duke of Windsor coughing up blood, mirroring the opening scene of the series in which we see his brother, the late King, suffering the same affliction. David stares down in horror at the irrefutable evidence of his mortality. Doctors confirm his suspicions and tell him and his stricken wife, Wallis Simpson, to make the most of his final days. For the Duke of Windsor, that means doing everything possible to restore his shattered reputation, including a visit from the Japanese Emperor and a television interview with the BBC.
David’s motivations have always been perplexing. On the one hand, he presents himself as a man who, when he was king, simply wished to modernize the monarchy and do that with the woman he loved by his side. However, other sources confirmed for Elizabeth his “individualistic” tendencies could be much more sinister. Was his abdication of the throne a stand for principle or a selfish betrayal? With a season full of pentimenti, or pictures layered on top of pictures, could it be both? Could David fully embody all the characteristics we’ve seen him display, or does that make him false in one way or another?
Prince Philip, the Queen Mum, and Lord Mountbatten all make their opinions clear through active loathing and verbal indictments. But Elizabeth, alerted to her uncle being near the end, is not quite ready to totally write him off. And Charles is on the other side of the spectrum entirely, but more on that later.
Derek Jacobi takes on the role of the Duke of Windsor in Season 3, and it’s certainly fitting he should have that line from Othello about one’s reputation being “oft got without merit and oft lost without deserving,” as I believe he’s appeared in every Shakespeare production known to man. But, I have to say I was missing Alex Jennings. With the character appearing only in one episode, I wonder why they couldn’t keep the same actor and age him up as they did with Churchill in episode 1?
At the end of his life, living in beautiful Parisian splendor, the Duke still pines for his homeland and the throne he gave away. Charles tells Mountbatten that his uncle’s house is like “some bizarre monarchy museum.” When Elizabeth visits, her eyes immediately land on the red leather box embossed in gold with “THE KING.” His reverence for the crown is further emphasized when he learns the Queen is coming to visit and he insists on getting out of his deathbed to be dressed and ready to bow to her when she arrives.
When he tells Elizabeth to take the letters Charles has written to him (more on that later), he does so for the sake of the crown and the future monarch. As Charles will later talk about at his dinner with Camilla, humans have a great need for meaning in their lives, and for the Duke, that meaning has been elusive since the abdication.
He tells Elizabeth that he, like everyone else, underestimated her. He calls her “dear Lillibet,” but Elizabeth counters at once with “Shirley Temple,” reminding him and the viewer that with his flattery and charm there is also a nastier streak.
Before she leaves, the Duke asks Elizabeth, in all sincerity, to forgive him for “all of it.” Elizabeth’s response reveals why she does not harbor resentment toward him, and that is because she has settled into her role as Queen. She tells him “it’s not always a curse…more and more the older I get I consider it to be a blessing.” When she looks up, her uncle has fallen asleep, much like her other mentor Churchill during their final goodbye. The last men of her father’s generation are falling away. It is a new world for Elizabeth.
As the Duke and Duchess of Windsor’s love story comes to a close, so begins another star-crossed romance- that of Prince Charles and Camilla Shand. It’s a shame really that no more time could be devoted to this storyline, especially given the longterm effects it will have on Charles, his future marriage with Diana, and the monarchy in general. Neither this episode nor the next delves deeply into why Camilla captured Charles’s heart so strongly or what Camilla loved so much about Charles.
But what we do get sure is entertaining, starting with the full context of Camilla’s long-established relationship with Andrew Parker Bowles. The romantic quadrangle of Camilla, Andrew, Charles and Anne is worthy of a Shakespearean comedy, and it’s all true! Apparently this wasn’t too out of the ordinary for the British aristocracy.
Andrew tells Anne that he and Camilla are like “deadly currents that can pull one under.” They [Camilla and Andrew] love to play games with each other, but they’re also mad for each other. Anne, being as “tough” as she is, is under no illusions about him or their affair; she’s clearly in it for her own personal amusement and is able to emotionally detach from it.
Charles, on the other hand, in the words of his father, is “a horse of a very different color.” He gleefully tells his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, that Camilla has broken with Andrew and now he would like to “snatch her up.” As he meticulously checks that everything is just right for their dinner together, Frankie Valli’s “Beggin’” plays in the background. His “prank” at the table is painfully awkward, but thankfully Camilla is amused, or at least makes a darn good effort at seeming amused, and Charles’s heart, despite barely knowing her, is lost.
With this prank, Charles laughs off his preceding monologue as all part of the joke. But we know better. Charles reflects on what it’s like being Prince of Wales: “…because until she dies, I cannot be fully alive nor can I be the thing for which I’ve been born. One is condemned to this frightful business of waiting.”
In reference to Saul Bellow’s Dangling Man, Charles describes seeing himself in the main character who “wants to be drafted, because it will give his life meaning.” Camilla asks, “even though he might be killed?” Charles: “Yes, that’s how much humans need meaning.”
In the final moments of the episode, as the Duke of Windsor dies in his bed, Elizabeth reads one of Charles’s letters to his uncle. Charles, in voiceover, says how he sees himself in the Duke. He proclaims that he will “not be denied what you have been denied” -that is, reigning with the woman of his choice- that if he should wear the crown, he “shall do so on [his own terms].”
There is so much one could say here, mainly because he has about fifty more years ahead of him of wrestling with what kind of king he will be. If you are at all interested in the life of Prince Charles, I highly recommend his biography by Sally Bedell Smith. Speaking for myself, he’s a much more fascinating character than one assumes, and it really explores how his views towards his family, kingship, and philanthropy have evolved over the years, in addition to delving deeper into the more personal saga of his relationships with Camilla and Diana.
With that confident proclamation, Charles is in love and has found “the one.” But is Camilla on board? When Anne visits her brother to ask how his dinner was, she tells him she’s not so sure Andrew can be considered an “ex.” She also tells her brother to make sure he doesn’t lose himself in what she is sure is just a game for Camilla and Andrew. When Charles presses her to explain, she gives her typical smirk and leaves the room. That “more aggressive game” his uncle-Lord Mountbatten- told him he needed may be just as elusive for Charles as finding that “full meaning” in his life.
Odds and Ends
Memorable Soundtrack Moment:
Memorable Lines:
Oh come on, none of this is normal!
Camilla to Charles, speaking for all of us. Something Charles reportedly loved about Camilla was her unassuming air. She didn’t care about fashion or trappings; she genuinely loved to have fun, and most importantly, she made Charles feel “seen” and “heard” and valued.
“It’s far too early for that [finding a wife]. Now is the time to sow your oats…play the field.”
Lord Mountbatten to Charles, an actual real life quotation. The show touches on their relationship but it cannot be understated how close “Uncle Dickie” and Charles were. He was a father figure and a person to whom Charles could confide and seek advice. Mountbatten’s advice, and later his tragic passing, will have significant repercussions in Charles’s life.
Introduction of Edward Heath as the new Prime Minister played by Michael Maloney:
His face looked so familiar to me, and then I finally figured out- he was Laertes in Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet. It’s a line-by-line adaptation so we used to view parts of it when I taught the play.
And guess who else was in that adaptation as Claudius??
Sometimes that British pool of actors seems very small!
MGC 