The episode about the Balmoral Test was meant to be ironic, I think. Thatcher failed the test, then-Lady Diana passed with flying colors. But in the end, who gave the Queen more grief -- Thatcher or Diana?
I also found it interesting that during Diana's test she seemed to be putting on a bit of a front. I love Diana, but it turned out later in the season that she didn't actually like the country or hunting, which caused a further rift between her and Charles. Thatcher was one hundred percent herself the entire trip and visibly hated it. You knew what you were gonna get with Thatcher at all times.
To be fair, Diana came from upper class. In fact, she was related to Charles. Which made it easier for her to fit into the snob and classist environment the Royal family appreciate. She was, in fact, different from all of them. She was a far kinder and tender soul, but she knew the rules of the game, which gave her the upper hand, unlike Thatcher who only find out about the test at the last moment.
That’s the point, the out of touch monarch inspired Thatcher fired her cabinet for changes later on 😂 like princess Margaret told her: it give her perspective
Gillian Anderson was a terrible choice. She plays Thatcher like she was some sort of withering sparrow with none of the strength and vigor that Maggie possessed.
I think Anderson did the best she could with the way the character was written, but Thatcher was only 53 when elected PM, and yet the way Anderson played her, she came across like a creaky 75 year old.
@@deathbecomeshim5262 I was so frustrated watching this episode, as the circumstances made me feel bad for her. The concept of which made me angry itself.
I know a lot of this is drama and the accuracy is questionable but if they really did treat Thatcher in such a snobbish and unfriendly way at Balmoral then 'The Crown' has done something that I never thought would happen - it actually made me feel sorry for Thatcher.
There's no evidence that Thatcher was treated badly by the royal family. She still hated her visits to Balmoral though because she considered it a waste of time.
i met thatcher when i was 5yo, my grandmother would take me leafleting for her constituency and she had a get together after her second election thanking all the local volunteers. all i remember is her being really nice however one thing that stuck in my mind was how all the adults i met would bendover or lean in the try and talk to me at eye level, but she didnt. i have the photo of the event but annoyingly the person who took the photo cut me out the frame, so my arm has a photo with thatcher but not me. lol
@@maestroclassico5801 MT was a package, like all people. She had a soft, womanly body and face, and a soothing (when she wanted it to be) voice which made her irresistible. Millions of British men were utterly seduced by that Nanny voice! And I'm not even British! Women of the mid-1920s (like the Queen, for instance), were just sexy as Hell. Gillian, on the other hand, 43 years younger, is angular and spare, and her voice is more modern. They had to strain like Holy Hell to make her LOOK like MT (probably 10 cans of hair-spray per take), and so, given a choice, I would take the REAL MT any day of the week! They did a very good job of making Gillian look the part, and she is attractive in her own way, but she is not Margaret.
"Women, in general, are not suited for high office". What an unexpected phrase as two female leaders talk. As a woman I found that interesting. (Of course I disagree but I think all women are not suited to lead similar to how not all men are not suited to lead)
You know what’s interesting, the communication styles of men and women IS different but that shouldn’t suggest weakness on anyone’s part. Thatcher Especially.
Well if we look at the two dismal Failures we have just had, maybe Their right. I'm the biggest fan of Maggie's, she had true leadership. Not like those spineless Eton educated Snobs with their country estates.
Well, despite everything she'd been through, Thatcher was raised and living in a time where such mislead views were still deep rooted in the society/people's minds.
Poor Margaret. I watched that episode with her at Balmor. I felt so bad for her by the end of it. 😅😅Mostly because it reminded me of when i stopped going to events at school because i just didn't fit it.
She had mummy issues really bad she loved her father and hated her mother for being a housewife.She has a history of being negative towards women in real life.
@@ljllob4740don't forget that in this show, she favored her son over her daughter & even admitted it to her. I'm surprised the daughter just didn't leave & cut ties with the mom, at least. Not sure how she felt about her dad.
I'm tired of everyone that plays Thatcher portraying her as an old fool. She was smart and sharp during her term as PM, yet they make her look incompetent. Just awful how they need to ruin her legacy's
Idk if this was true or not but there's a lot to be said of how the monarchy treated Thatcher in the show. They clearly tried to embarrass her because she was from a working class background and didn't understand their world while most prime Ministers come from a background with some peerage. But what's sad is they didn't realize Thatcher could have been their biggest ally as she loved English tradition while Wilson and previous Ministers treated royals as a necessary evil in governance.
I do admire her strength in her convictions. But ultimately it was her obstinacy and unwillingness to compromise that brought her down. She's comfortable with having enemies, yes, even if it's her own cabinet ministers. But she overestimated their loyalty and how far they're willing to go with her radical right wing agenda.
I had sympathies for the royal family after Harry and Meghan fiasco but after watching this, I think the royal family absolutely deserves Harry and Meghan.
It’s so weird seeing all of these people here talking about how relatable M. Thatcher was. She was a piece of sh*t. And Gillian Anderson portrayed that beautifully.
@@DarkAngel459 Lol It's weird because Margaret Thatcher was an elitist g@rbage person who couldn't stand working class people. So... not really relatable unless you're also an elitist bigot. But yes, anyone who doesn't get that is entitled to that opinion, regardless of how dumb they are.
@@DarkAngel459 Well, it IS weird, buddy. Because M Thatcher was notoriously a sack of sh1t. Just a d3spicable person. Sometimes... Lol "Dark Angel," people's opinions are demonstrably wrong. They are entitled to those opinions, deep thinker. That doesn't make them immune from having it pointed out how wrong those opinions are. And if you'd like to talk about whether or not M Thatcher was a huge POS based on the evidence, I'm happy to do that.
Neither one of them was, to put it mildly, particularly good in this role, although Merely Streep undoubtedly did a better job because at least she was able to convey late PM’s vigor, with her being exceptionally determined, educated and energetic woman, bulldozing through extremely male-dominated environment. On the other hand there was more Margaret Thatcher in Streep’s performance than there was in the real life Iron Lady, which was more of a caricature than acting at that point, a first class impersonation, she just took it too far. Gillian did the opposite thing. I was so excited to hear she was going to play this character, she’s been one of my favorite public figures for years, I think she’s incredibly talented and beautiful, and I really did my best to love her in the role of MT, but… she took office at 54, stepping down at 65, not exactly what one would call old age, and Gillian came onboard when she was barely 50, but somehow managed to look like a frail old lady recovering from a massive stroke throughout the season. And she did have a distinctive voice, high pitched with a hint of raspy, but did not sound anything like someone dying from laryngeal cancer as Anderson did in her role, she was actually quite well spoken, and I regret to say it, but the way she was brought to life in this performance was just a mess and a total flop.
@@Neurosis_Cordis eloquently put. i like gillian but i think a lot of people calling this performance accurate haven't watched any footage of the actual thatcher.
Phil I respect you for the fact that you are speaking what MILLIONS of us are thinking. Please give me a business email, I have some friends who agree wholeheartedly that the Wii Music is a fucking plague.
When I watched the actual clip of this particular scene here on RU-vid, someone said that they believe that Thatcher didn't want to have her guard brought down so she made sure to not get it wrong which then made the game not fun for the royals. They basically wanted her to get stripped mentally to see the real her or something like that.
I’m anti Thatcher. Severely anti thatcher as I’m a firm believer in abolishing the royal family, an independent Scotland, I live in Glasgow and my great grandfather worked as a ship builder when she essentially put them all out of work and stopped children’s free milk at school. She’s an evil cow of a woman. Or was. However….I love this series and I love the fictional representation of the old steel bat. That’s when you know a show’s got it right.