‘The Crown’ Season 5 Episode 10 Recap: Heavy Is The Head

As series finales go, I think The Crown did the best that it could with what it was working with. It’s been reported that Peter Morgan rewrote the finale after the real Queen’s death to address her passing, and I actually think that, while he provided some moving commentary (laid out by Prince Philip as he tries to convince her not to step down) about Elizabeth’s role as the last great ruler, more suited than any of her successors might be, it was the homage to her as a woman that was the most impactful. Finally allowed some room to be Mummy, to be Granny, she has found some room to breathe after being stifled for so long by, well, the crown.

In his final episode, we’ve jumped to 2005, a year that featured a lot of headlines for the royals: Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles’s marriage, Prince Harry’s ill-advised Nazi costume, and while this episode (“Sleep Dearie, Sleep”) addresses both of those things which caused a bit of controversy, it spends most of its time with the Queen (Imelda Staunton). Not only does she spend much of this final episode facing her own mortality by starting to plan her funeral but, perhaps even worse, she confronts the idea of a life not spent in service as she considers stepping down from the throne.

More than six years after the death of Princess Diana, Charles (Dominic West) has decided that enough time has passed that he can and should marry the love of his life, Camilla (Olivia Williams). But before he can do that, he asks permission from his mother who then seeks the counsel or the high-ranking members of the church. The Queen and Charles have both had a little bit of an image-softening this season, and I can’t help but feel warm inside when she seems to want to permit him this wish, knowing what it means to him. And Charles, who has seemed like a devoted lover (ew) to Camilla for all these years, seems like he’s earned some real happiness.

Before The Queen can ask a group of grumpy white men (priests) for their opinion of Charles’ remarriage though, she’s got to sit with another group of grumpy white men (mostly advisers, plus one Prince Philip) who have started planning her funeral.

She’s a spry 80 years old, and of course we know now that she’d keep living for another 17 years, but 80 seems like a good age to start Swedish death cleaning and taking an inventory of one’s life. (When Philip reminds Elizabeth that he’s been working on his own funeral planning for years, Imelda Staunton’s delivery as she says, “Don’t say that, it’s so sad!” is a real delight, one of her many truly funny moments this season that have helped redeem some of the humanity and personality that Princess Margaret had hinted were in hibernation since the coronation. By the way, Philip’s funeral Hearse, he has decided, will be an old Land Rover – classic dad move.)

The formality and tradition of the Queen’s funeral leave little for her to weigh in on, but there is one aspect over which she has creative control: the music. She asks the bagpiper at Buckingham Palace for his suggestion of a lament to play at the funeral. He suggests “Sleep Dearie, Sleep,” which ultimately was used at the real Queen’s funeral – he plays it for her, and she immediately knows that this is the song, but the gravity of the moment, listening to the music that will one day mark her death, is not lost on her.

In Charles’s appeal to his mother to allow him to marry Camilla, he reminds her that having Prince Philip by her side has always strengthened her and helped her to do her job, and all he wants is that same strength, a partner by his side. That hits her in the heart, so when she does address the clergy, she wants this for him, but they have some concerns. Ultimately, they agree to allow the wedding, though the ceremony will have to be a civil service and a church blessing to follow, which will have a lot of groveling and begging forgiveness for their wicked sins.

The Queen also asks Harry and William for their advice on the marriage, and while Harry is more hotheaded and opposed to a wedding, William, speaking for both of them, says that he just wants his father to be happy, and that maybe a wedding will “shut him up about it all.” (Harry, angry that his brother is playing nice, insults him by calling him a “company man.”)

When Charles receives word that the wedding is approved, he weeps with joy. Harry stews with rage. And Camilla gardens, smoking cigarettes in the greenhouse and presumably ashing all over the English roses.

To let off some steam, Harry and William attend the birthday costume party of a friend, Harry wears a Nazi uniform, it’s a terrible look for him and will tarnish his reputation for a long while after that. (Prince Philip’s anger that his costume was inappropriate because it wasn’t historically accurate is on brand and the best thing to come out of this.) It also seals Harry’s fate; he’ll be headed to the military to straighten himself out and then he’ll eventually write all about all of this in a best-selling book.

With Charles’ wedding approaching and her funeral plans being laid out, Elizabeth’s thoughts turn to her role as Queen. She’s visited by the ghosts of Queens past; first Olivia Colman, who plays the devil on her shoulder, trying to convince her to step down. This is the version who wants Elizabeth to consider how much of herself she has given up as Queen, at the expense of everything else including her children, and she says now would be the time to give this gift, the throne, to Charles.

Later, she’s visited by the ghost of Claire Foy who persuades her otherwise – assuming the role as monarch is a lifetime commitment, her birthright. If you accept it, there’s no turning back, no handing it over. And besides, there’s no way that Elizabeth can be Elizabeth Windsor ever again. “You buried her years ago,” Queen Foy tells Queen Staunton. As the Queen struggles with the decision, she also plans to write a speech for Charles’ wedding, a surprise speech she’s not planning to run past anyone, and everyone starts to think she’s planning an announcement that she’ll be stepping back. (On the one hand, a nice gift, on the other, a huge way to overshadow a man’s wedding day, right?)

The speech that the Queen does give? It’s a banger. One of many speeches this season that has shown wit and sparkle; there are horse jokes, self-deprecating jokes, jokes at Charles’s expense. But it’s also heartfelt and thoughtful. There is also no announcement of succession. Charles can’t be too disappointed though, because in delivering a speech that welcomes Camilla into the family publicly and acknowledges Charles’s feelings and accomplishments.

This is the first time on the show that Elizabeth and Camilla have actually interacted in any way, and even though it’s just eye contact, it serves as some closure, acceptance into the family after a long, difficult trudge getting there. Contrast this with Charles’ wedding to Diana which was a bigger spectacle but fraught with tension, and this event seems a far more celebratory occasion despite it’s “intimate” size.

Even though William stated in the previous episode that Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother were the only people who could truly read Elizabeth’s inner thoughts, Philip assumes that role here: he’s been studying his wife this entire episode, trying to gain some insight into where the rest of her life is headed. Of all the people on this show, he’s always been the one who, once he was finally married into the family, hewed closest to the tradition of the monarchy. So after the wedding, he tells his wife that her decision not to step down was the right one. “You will continue as Queen for as long as you possibly can for one reason,” he tells her. “Because those are the rules,” she says.

“Because those that come after you are not remotely ready to take over,” he corrects her. He’s not wrong. The monarchy is steeped in old-fashioned tradition.(See: Warden of the Swans.) Everyone who will come after this Queen has a more modern take on what it will mean to rule. My colleague Meghan O’Keefe has a much more nuanced and insightful take on this very scene and what it means for the royal family, so I’ll close out this recap, and this series, by acknowledging that this Queen (and this show) were never perfect, but they did perfectly capture the impossibility of the role as ruler. To be divined by God, but still human is equally a burden and a privilege. The weight can be crushing. Indeed, heavy is the head that wears the crown.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.