Blair's PR machine still running the show

Rating: 8/10 (5 November 2006)

A screenplay obviously written by Tony Blair's henchman, the film shows how in seven days in September, Downing Street saved the Monarchy from itself. It is true that he read the mood of the country well and, in his early days of premiership, counselled Her Majesty responsibly. But the supposition that he alone was responsible (along with a well-crafted speech from his slimy PR man)for saving the Family from its demise is a little too far-fetched, even if it shows typically how Blair's Government machine works. What he did do, however, is translate the people's considerations into action and that is admirable. The ghastliness of his wife, Cherie Blair, who would like to see the destruction of everything British, is admirably shown and Alastair is excellently portrayed. The Queen Mum comes across as a bit of a drunk, Prince Phillip as a selfish nincompoop (well, that is true to form) but it is the towering performance of Helen Mirren as the Queen herself that gives the viewer the impression that we are indeed seeing the Queen. I remember at the time feeling angry at the Monarchy and thinking that the Royal Household was indeed an anachronism for the 21st Century. I wanted Diana as my Queen and felt that she had breathed a breath of fresh air into the Establishment. But the more Tony Blair's Government has tried insidiously to destroy the wonderfully-performing Institutions of the Country in the guise of modernising them (through his party's resentment of them) the more I feel sorry for the Queen and wish she still had the power to tell him where to go. Helen Mirren performed her job so well I felt that she had embraced all those feelings I felt, and indeed the Queen herself must have felt, at a time when it was seen the Windsors could get nothing right. Let us remember it was public anger at Prince Charles' adultery and the family's treatment of Diana that caused the resentful public feelings and not just the Queen per se. Nobody really came out of the film unscathed (except for the irritating Blair - beautifully played by Mr.Sheen) and indeed it was an expose of what happens when immovable tradition meets current day mores.