‘THE CROWN’, the hit Netflix series about Queen ELizabeth II of England, is now on its 4th season and some local folks are all agog because it made fun of former First Lady Imelda Marcos in its 3rd episode.
In it, Princess Margaret (played by Helena Bonham Carter) us shown telling a story about her:
"So there we are in Manila, in the middle of a state banquet, when who barges into the room? None other than Imelda Marcos. She makes a beeline straight for me, saying she’s desperate to show me her… wait for it…”
Princess Anne cut her and said: “Shoe collection.” And she said: “Shell collection.” To which Prince Philip said she must have misheard it as Imelda must be saying “shoe”.
This event told by Princess Margaret really happened in April of 1980 when she visited Manila and yes, photos showed that Mrs. Marcos showed her a collection of shells not shoes. So Princess Margaret is right.
But this is really nothing compared to how “The Crown” Season 2 portrayed the Kennedys, John and Jackie (as played by Michael C. Hall and Jodi Balfour), when they visited Buckingham Palace in June of 1961. The Queen (played by Claire Foy then) gave Jackie a personal and very friendly tour of the palace.
Later on, the Queen is shocked to learn that Jackie badmouthed her, describing her to other folks as “a middle-aged woman so incurious, unintelligent and unremarkable.”
Jackie also insulted Buckingham Palace, calling it “second rate, dilapidated and sad, like a neglected provincial hotel.” Some reliable sources, like British fashion photographer Cecil Beaton and American writer Gore Vidal, verified the veracity of the story.
“The Crown” later showed that Jackie apologized to the Queen for maligning her publicly. She explained that she had been given medication to help her deal with the stresses of her new high-profile lifestyle as First Lady and that made her extra talkative.
And later, after JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, the Queen wrote her a card personally condoling with her.
Now, “The Crown” in its 4th season, deals with the entry of Princess Diana Spencer in the Royal Family. Honestly, we’re not excited any more to see it as it has been dealt with before in the movie “The Queen”, for which Helen Mirren won Oscar best actress.
Also, we don’t really like Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth. Claire Foy was much better in Seasons 1 and 2. We also can’t get over the fact that Colman stole the Oscar from Glenn Close whose acting in “The Wife”, we felt, is so much better than Colman’s portrayal of the lesbian queen in “The Favourite”.
