Grappling with mental health issues, Margaret seeks help and discovers an appalling secret about estranged relatives of the royal family.Grappling with mental health issues, Margaret seeks help and discovers an appalling secret about estranged relatives of the royal family.Grappling with mental health issues, Margaret seeks help and discovers an appalling secret about estranged relatives of the royal family.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDerek 'Dazzle' Jennings was a senior civil servant in the British Government's Department of the Environment who decided to become a priest at age 38. Jennings remained Margaret's friend and spiritual advisor until the end of his life in 1995, with Margaret visiting his sickbed in his final days.
- GoofsThe institutionalization of the Bowes-Lyon sisters, Katherine (Trudie Emery) and Nerissa (Pauline Hendrickson), had nothing to do with the Crown. John "Jock" Bowes-Lyon, the brother of Elizabeth, future Queen Mother (Marion Bailey), died six years before Edward VIII's abdication, and they were placed in the Royal Earlswood Hospital by their mother Fenella in 1941, five years after King George VI ascended the throne. Princess Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter) played no part in discovering the sisters' existence, nor did she confront her mother on the subject.
- Quotes
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Then the way things suddenly changed for all of us, none of us could have foreseen it.
Princess Margaret: It? What's it?
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Well, the abdication...
Princess Margaret: No! Not everything that is wrong with this family can be explained away by the abdication.
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Well, the abdication *did* change everything. You were too young to understand. Everything. It's complicated.
Princess Margaret: No, it's not! It's wicked, and it's cold-hearted, and it's cruel. And it's entirely in keeping with the ruthlessness I myself have experienced in this family. If you're not first in line, if you're an individual character with individual needs, and God forbid an irregular temperament... If, if you don't fit the perfect mold of... silent, dutiful supplication, then you'll be spat out, or you'll be hidden away, or, worse, declared dead! Darwin had nothing on you lot. Shame on all of you.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards (2021)
- SoundtracksC'est si bon
Music by Henri Betti
French lyrics by André Hornez
English lyrics by Jerry Seelen
Performed by Dean Martin
"The Hereditary Principle" was a big turning point for Margaret character writing-wise on 'The Crown' and made me feel for me for the first time since Season 2. Bonham Carter's interpretation for Margaret improved massively in this episode as well. "The Hereditary Principle" is another great episode and one of the better episodes of a much better than expected Season 4, having seen a lot of criticism for the season and some elements such as Gillian Anderson's Thatcher.
It is true that there is a lot of artistic licence, anybody that has any prior knowledge of the event will find that Margaret's discovery does veer on implausible when taking into account what really happened. But it is also true that like all of 'The Crown' the episode should be judged on its own merits and as a standalone rather than as a piece of history.
As said, Bonham Carter is outstanding here and gives by far her best performance of the show. While Emma Corrin and Josh O'Connor were the best and most consistent actors this season, one of the best performances of the season goes to the truly poignant one of Bonham Carter in "The Hereditary Principle", some of her best moments being the smaller ones. All the acting is great, but this is Bonham Carter's show all the way, and the episode does so well at making Margaret the most interesting and rootable she has been since Season 2 with illuminating character development that made me really feel for her.
Furthermore, as ever the production values are superb. The production and costume design are both classy and sumptuous, but it's the photography that stands out in this regard. The music is not overbearing or low key. The scripting is thought provoking and intriguing, uncompromising yet sensitive in its handling of this subject without descending into melodrama.
Also doing well in showing more than one point of view and in a way where all are understandable. The storytelling continues to advance and while deliberate it is also very absorbing and emotional. The second half did break my heart emotionally.
Really great episode overall. 9/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- May 14, 2023
Details
- Runtime50 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.00 : 1