Rocking the Foundations of the House of Windsor

Rating: 7/10 (19 March 2007)

During the week following the death of the Princess of Wales, Queen Elizabeth II and her family struggle to come to terms with their own reaction, that of the new Government and that of the British public.
Frears and Morgan offer up a speculative view of the private dynamics between Royal Family members and between Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Queen. Mixing documentary footage and fictionalised dialogues, director and writer build a fascinating portrayal of a monarch faced with a set of circumstances her whole life and reign has never prepared her for, and the clash between age-old establishment and newly minted modern populist government. However she may have felt about previous Prime Ministers (here we only get a sense of her feelings towards her first, Winston Churchill), we are left without any doubt of her disdain towards Blair, and the ensuing events resulting from her former daughter-in-law's death only serve to heighten this apparent contempt. However, regardless of her innate sense of tradition and duty, she is slowly forced to question and reconsider what at first seems the Monarchy's obvious and natural response to Diana's death. Despite the opinions of both the Queen Mother and Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth begrudgingly takes her Prime Minister's advice and thus seemingly avoids a constitutional crisis.
Much praise has been heaped upon The Queen and especially Mirren's portrayal of the British monarch, and for the most part, this is well deserved. Mirren is indeed superb as the embattled Queen, creating an at once believable depiction of someone whose life and purpose have been moulded and crafted as something fixed, unwavering and unquestioning. The economy with which she allows us to witness Elizabeth's distress over her own unprecedented situation is quite wonderful  her face behind the wheel of the Land Rover prior to arrival at the river crossing is sublime. Further economies of play show us the nature of her relationship with her son (witness their scene at the young Princes' bedroom door). Indeed, Jennings is equally superb as Charles, creating a quiet portrait of dignity and desire for distance despite the apparent grief and bewilderment. Further kudos to Sheen as Blair, although he only just manages to avoid caricature, and Sims' delightful depiction of The Queen Mother, a lovely mix of rigid institutionalism and wry humour.
Good bits? Mirren, Jennings, Sims, Sheen, large tracts of clever, sparkling and witty script, some wonderful set pieces (the river crossing, the telephone exchanges between Queen and PM, the concluding meeting between Mr. Blair and Elizabeth), and the nod to Blair's journey as somehow being the equal and opposite to the Queen's (just as she accepts the need for change, so he respectfully realises the enormity of what this represents to her).
Bad bits? Horrible 'two dimensional' portrayals of Cherie Blair, Prince Philip and Alistair Campbell (not the fault of the actors, rather the clumsy shortcomings of an at times very clunky script), an occasional tendency for the script to adopt a mocking tone (the cheap Gordon Brown joke, pretty much every sentence uttered by Campbell and Cherie) and a general sneering quality towards the British Government generally.
In conclusion, a wickedly funny and terribly sad exploration of what could have been happening within the House of Windsor during the first week of September 1997, and certainly Mirren and Frears deserve every trophy they have garnered. Not quite so sure about the same praise showered on Morgan's script however.