When viewers settle into an episode of The Crown, they expect Royal doppelgangers, scandalous secrets from the Firm that have never seen the light of day, and occasionally, a smidgeon of historical accuracy.
What often passes us by, though, is the quality of Peter Morgan’s scripts. It’s no mean feat to take real-life moments and weave imagined dialogue throughout without veering into fan fiction.
It may not be as instantly quotable as the likes of Succession or Peep Show but the scripts are packed throughout the six series. Here are some of the absolute best lines from all seasons of The Crown, to celebrate the release of the second part of season six, which is landing on Netflix on Thursday.
“What else am I supposed to do, sit around about wait for you while you’re queening?”
- Philip, to Queen Elizabeth, season one.
“We had a nice game of five-a-side… that’s football.”
- Tony Blair to Queen Elizabeth, season six.
"The trouble is, I have the sort of face that if I'm not smiling, then everyone says, 'Oh, isn't she cross?"
- Queen Elizabeth, season one.
"Unfortunately, the Wales marriage is a rare example of something that is actually worse than the newspapers report."
- Princess Anne, season four.
“And it's the flat edge, remember?”
- Queen Elizabeth to Margaret while she is giving her a rather aggressive pretend knighthood, season one.
“Not me I’m afraid, I’m ‘darling’ or ‘cabbage’, ‘sweetie’ is someone else.”
- Queen Elizabeth when Philip is calling for someone called "sweetie" (it's Anne), season three.
"I would ask you to consider your response in light of the respect that my rank and office deserve, not that which my age and gender might suggest."
- Queen Elizabeth to Winston Churchill, season one.
“She’s run out of tonic?”
- Philip, after Elizabeth says Margaret has an "issue".
"Prostitutes and Australians. Isn't that who lives in Earl's Court?"
- Margaret, after finding out Diana lives in Earl's Court, season four.
“No! Not everything that is wrong with this family can be explained away by the abdication.”
- Margaret, season four.
“I care about her! Morning, noon and night I care about her?”
- Charles talking about Camilla, season four.
“Because if memory serves, you had your own ballerinas for that.”
- Queen Elizabeth, after Philip asks why she won't dance for him like Diana does for Charles, season four.
“Honestly, there’s nothing more exhausting than putting on a kind face. I never realized how much scaffolding a smile required.”
- Charles, talking to Anne about pretending to enjoy a birthday gift from Diana.
“The greatest act of service that I can give to the crown as Princess is not to be some meek little wife following the great Prince around like some smiling doll, but to be a living, breathing, present mother, bringing up this child in the hopes that the boy that will one day become king still has a vestige of humanity in him, because god knows he’s not going to be getting it from any of his courtiers.”
- Diana, after she's asked to leave Prince William for a two-week long trip, season four.
'My face was on the tea towels, so I didn't really have a choice."
- Diana talking about how she wanted to skip out on her wedding, season six.
