Not quite as good as I first thought.

Rating: 7/10 (11 December 2016)

Cunningly put together: real footage spliced with suppositional fictional dialogue and events. Mirren and Cromwell are exceedingly well cast, and convincing, if slightly one-dimensional. It's the way the parts are conceived and written. But Charles, Blair, Cherie, Alistair and Queen Mum, unfortunately come across as little more than cartoon caricatures. This is the problem with the movie as a whole: it seems rather shallow and superficial, as if its subject were really Diana, and not the Queen.
Stephen Frears is nevertheless a subtle, multi-layered director. His early production, "The Hit", is a masterful example. This film, like that one, is certainly memorable, and has a trick of making you reflect and think about the implications of the events taking place. There would appear to be a distinct advantage of having a hereditary figurehead, in effect a President, with no political power, who is brought up and trained to behave in a responsible, representative manner. This is not a position suitably occupied by a ditzy celebrity type of bimbo, going all out to court popular publicity. The alternative to the tradition evolved in the UK over the last thousand years is currently transpiring across the pond. An amusing and telling remark was made, to the effect that Blair's charisma might possibly also one day evaporate.