Covering more than a decade during a turbulent period in UK history, The Crown’s fourth season begins with Margaret Thatcher’s (Gillian Anderson) election as Britain’s first female Prime Minister in 1979. A time of great turmoil both domestically and abroad, multiple challenges and scandals threaten the status quo. The arrival of Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) ushers in a new era of tabloid rumors that reshape the popularity of the Windsor clan, and Princess Diana’s sensational 1992 tell-all — covering this unhappy union with Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) — is a wealth of information.
It is impossible for The Crown creator Peter Morgan to cover every single major personal and professional story that impacted Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) and her family in the ‘80s, but this season did have a few weeks left on the shooting schedule before production was halted in March, due to the global pandemic. Rather than wait until an unspecified date when they could finish, Morgan decided to work with what he already had in the can. “The truth is, yes, we are missing at least two weeks of filming. I just hope you can’t tell where,” Morgan told Vanity Fair in September. While this is perhaps the strongest season so far, there are definitely events — both public and private — that are absent from the narrative.
Morgan hopes viewers won’t notice the missing jigsaw piece, but this doesn’t mean we can’t speculate about the noticeable gaps. Of course, major scenarios have been overlooked in the past, including Princess Anne foiling her own kidnapping attempt — why this made-for-TV real-life incident was skipped is still mind-boggling. Knowing there were scenes to be shot gives us a creative license to ruminate about the missing script pages. Furthermore, episodes are not shot in sequence, which suggests the material could be from any juncture during the ‘80s. From Diana’s vital AIDS awareness work and support for the LGBTQ community to Thatcher’s political maneuvers, below are 10 notable events that are absent, how they would fit into the narrative, and whether this plot has been covered elsewhere in the series.
[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 4 finale of The Crown, "War."]
Brighton Bombing (1984)
The first episode opens with a call to “Spill more blood, so that the Crown leaves Ireland forever.” What follows in “Gold Stick” is an IRA attack on Lord “Dickie” Mountbatten’s (Charles Dance) boat, which saw the Queen’s cousin killed in the bombing. This is the first time The Crown has directly addressed the Troubles — some criticism was leveled at the lack of Irish context in Season 3 — but it is limited to this one episode. In 1984, the IRA bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton, which was hosting the Conservative Party annual conference at the time. Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet were the intended targets, and while the PM survived the assassination attempt, the bomb killed five (including Conservative MP and Chief Deputy Whip, Sir Anthony Berry) and injured 34. Maybe Morgan thought he had covered this topic, but this conflict requires more than one episode of material.
Miners’ Strike (1984-1985)
When Michael Fagan (Tom Brooke) breaks into Buckingham Palace (not once but twice) in the fifth episode, this portrayal of the unconventional 1982 private meeting with the Queen takes a step outside the privileged walls of Royal life to reveal how Thatcher’s policies have ravaged Britain. Despite unemployment figures soaring, Thatcher was reelected the following year — victory in the Falklands gave the PM a popularity boost. One sector ravaged by Thatcherism was mining, which led to major industrial action in 1984. This was the biggest general strike since 1926 and lasted a few days shy of one year. What is curious about this season is that the first five episodes only cover a three year period, which means the rest of the decade is truncated. Events like the Miners’ Strike and the protestors who marched on London probably didn’t impact the Windsors, but it is an integral factor in the rising inequality bolstered by Thatcher’s policies.
A Very Special Relationship
President Kennedy (Michael C. Hall) descended on Buckingham Palace in a drug-induced state in Season 2 and Princess Margaret (Helena Bonham Carter) regaled President Johnson (Clancy Brown) in last year’s “Margaretology.” Considering Thatcher’s close bond with Ronald Reagan — they were described as “political soulmates” — it is surprising to see Morgan skip this unique partnership. Maybe he wanted Thatcher to stand alone, but the pair are ideologically linked and were allies during the final throes of the Cold War. Last season did feature a Soviet spy in “Olding” but this conflict (including the fall of the Berlin Wall) is also left off the Crown timeline. In 1987, Thatcher made a historic visit to Moscow where she met with Mikhail Gorbachev during this period of political transparency known as “Glasnost,” but international events in Season 4 focus on South Africa.
Wallis Simpson’s Death and Jewelry Auction (1986/1987)
The end of the season is in such a rush to get to Margaret Thatcher’s forced resignation that there are a lot of mid-80s events left by the wayside. Previously, the Duke of Windsor’s final days played a pivotal role in how his nephew Charles viewed the tension between duty and desire. His wife, Wallis lived for another 14 years, but her demise does not allow for this level of introspection (or bear a mention). The latter is hardly surprising considering the blame laid at her feet — and how ruthless the Windsors are when pretending relatives do not exist. Nevertheless, Wallis’ death did lead to a record-breaking jewelry auction at Sotheby's in Geneva in 1987. Attracting celebrity buyers including Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Collins, the opulent gifts from her husband fetched $50 million (six times the expected amount). This broke records for a collection by one owner, and the reaction around the Windsor breakfast table to this news would have been a brief (but gossip-worthy) scene to film.
Dancing at the White House (1985)
Reagan’s relationship with Thatcher is far from the only Washington DC reference that could have slotted into Season 4. In 1985, Princess Diana attended a state dinner at the White House with Prince Charles, but a different dance partner set off flashbulbs. The now-iconic photo of Diana wowing the crowd in an ink blue velvet Victor Edelstein dress pulling out some ballroom moves with John Travolta is a celebrity-meets-royalty dream scenario. Sure, it is a little corny that “You’re the One that I Want” was the song of choice, but TV embraces cheesy soundtrack moments. “I think you enjoyed it, didn't you, darling? Be an idiot if she didn't enjoy dancing with John Travolta, wouldn't she?" Charles commented on the matter. Considering how he reacts to other public displays by his wife, it is easy to imagine O’Connor’s terse line reading. Occurring a month before the “Uptown Girl” performance depicted in the penultimate episode, it might have been considered repetitive to have two public displays of dancing frivolity.
Clubbing with Freddie Mercury
Princess Diana’s isolation is a thread that runs throughout the season, which sees her indulge in solo dance classes and roller skating in Buckingham Palace. Pop music accompanies these youthful activities, and the interest she has in contemporary arts is in contrast to Charles’ fondness for the classics — the “Uptown Girl” routine performed with Wayne Sleep in Episode 9 is indicative of this. Diana did have famous pop star friends including Elton John, but it is an anecdote featuring Freddie Mercury that is a missed opportunity for levity this season. Actress Clea Rocos wrote, in her memoir The Power of Positive Drinking, about an early ‘80s daytime hangout that turned into a noteworthy evening, in which Princess Diana dressed in drag so she could “pass for a rather eccentrically dressed gay male model.” The reason for the subterfuge? So she could go to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern gay bar to carry on the party with Mercury, Rocos, and comedian Kenny Everett without stirring up a tabloid scandal. The GIFs alone would’ve been gag-worthy.
Opening an HIV/AIDS Unit in the UK (1987)
The final episode of the season shows Diana’s successful solo tour to New York City in 1989, including a visit to a Harlem hospital. Here, Morgan displays the level of empathy the princess showed toward the sick, which made her beloved across the globe. When Diana asks why people don’t want to adopt these kids, the doctor explains it is “Because of the stigma. The fear of the disease.” In front of the cameras, Diana embraces the young boy and is met with gasps making it seem like the first time she has done this, but this is far from the case. In April 1987, she opened the first purpose-built HIV/AIDS ward at the London Middlesex Hospital, and her lack of apprehension was noted by the media. She didn’t wear gloves and was photographed shaking the hands of a patient, a simple gesture that had a huge impact. It does a disservice to Diana and the LGBTQ community that Season 4 ignores this landmark moment that shifted public perception. It should be noted that she also hugged patients in Harlem, but it was far from the first time.
It’s a Royal Knockout (1987)
The push/pull between how much access the press is granted has been a constant source of tension since Prince Phillip first suggested the coronation should be televised. Last season cameras were allowed into the palace to film the royals in their natural habitat and the subsequent 110-minute documentary was a critical flop that made the privileged clan seem even more out of touch. The last time it aired was in 1972 and it remains an elusive piece of film to this day. Perhaps Morgan didn’t want to go over old ground but the lack of The Grand Knockout Tournament (aka It’s a Royal Knockout) is disappointing. This one-off charity televised event hosted by Prince Edward was viewed by 400 million people worldwide and is considered another embarrassing endeavor. Wearing costumes fit for dinner at Medieval Times, siblings Anne, Edward, Andrew, and his wife Sarah Ferguson (aka Fergie) each captained a team of celebrities and competed in various slapstick challenges. "Why doesn't Edward let the TV people get on with it and just turn up to accept the cheques? He's making us look foolish," Prince Phillip told a BBC executive. No doubt, Tobias Menzies’ would have given this line the perfect level of sneering annoyance at his children’s televised antics. Unlike the documentary, it is easy to find the two-hour special in all its cringe-y glory.
Friendship with Fergie
Similar to how the press now discuss Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle’s relationship, Diana and Fergie’s sister-in-law dynamic was picked apart by the tabloids. From besties to rivals, it was a turbulent trajectory that was not helped by palace sources spilling all to the media. Morgan told Vanity Fair that he didn’t purposefully address the current Prince Andrew scandal, saying “If you draw too many intentional parallels, it actually becomes quite ugly.” It is unclear whether this impacted the amount of Fergie screen time, but actress Jessica Aquilina only exists in the background as Di’s sister-in-law. Before rumors and comparisons poisoned this well, the pair had a fast friendship, and Diana acted as a royal protocol guide to the newest Windsor. Again, Diana’s isolation is a big part of her trajectory but this season could have benefitted from this bond — including play fighting in the snow while on a skiing vacation, dressing in police uniforms for Fergie’s bachelorette party (and locking Andrew out of Buckingham Palace), and riding on a quad bike in evening gowns. Where is the Royals Gone Wild sequence?
Diana’s Mental Health
Released in 1992, Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words was originally purported to be an unauthorized tome. The details revealed within were too specific and it was clear the princess was the source. In the book, Diana shocked the world by admitting to struggling with an eating disorder (which is depicted this season), but other information about multiple suicide attempts — including purposefully falling down the stairs when she was pregnant — are absent. These are not rumors, but Morgan might have considered the bulimia scenes (there are trigger warnings before episodes with this storyline) as enough context for the other acts of self-harm during this period. Andrew Morton’s cloak-and-dagger methods of interviewing the princess without palace courtiers discovering the explosive book that was in development will no doubt feature in Season 5.
The Crown Season 4 is streaming now on Netflix.