S05.E05: The Way Ahead

[truthful]

I find it fascinating how Charles is so hated by some people (or maybe most people. I don't know, am unsure of his popularity) that any positivity towards him, no matter how small, on the show is seen as completely wrong and that obviously the producers were probably paid quite a bit of money to portray him as a complex human rather than the one dimensional monster he was meant to be in real life.

Edited November 22, 2022 by truthful

[foxfreakinmulder]

What a discussing phone conversation, tampons really!? That would be gross if a teenage boy said that to his girlfriend but a grown man saying it to a woman. If some guy told me he wanted to be a tampon so he could be inside of me, I would say WTF that's gross I wouldn't laugh and giggle and go on with it. And then they don't want to hang up, you hang up, no you hang up, no you, stop you look like you're in your fifties not preteen years.

I'm tired of the Charles and Diana show, I want a show about the queen.

[smartymarty]

On 11/19/2022 at 12:08 PM, jeansheridan said:

I imagine Charles had confidence up to a point but he was never a gorgeous man.

I recall him being featured as most eligible bachelor back in the 70s and looking quite handsome. He seemed to be with woman after woman (in the tabloids). Called them Charlie's Angels.

https://www.tatler.com/gallery/prince-charles-ex-girlfriends

[mmecorday]

Tonight on a very special episode of The Crown, two middle aged frumps struggle to say goodbye to each other over the phone.

The fact that the tabloid ran the whole taped conversation between Camilla and Charles is disgusting. If Camilla did indeed have that conversation in her home while her husband and children were in another room, that's pretty foul too.

[Lorna Mae]

On 11/27/2022 at 9:14 PM, foxfreakinmulder said:

 If some guy told me he wanted to be a tampon so he could be inside of me, I would say WTF that's gross I wouldn't laugh and giggle and go on with it. 

He said not a tampon. He said he wanted to live inside her trousers, but with his luck, he’d be a tampon instead, and get flushed away: not desirable.

Also, IRL, according to the transcript, Andrew P-B was not home that night. He was away on business, and C + C talked about how they wished the job would last a long, long time. Dunno about the kids.

Anyway, that was a heck of a cold open! I never gave much thought to how that phone convo was recorded.

[Ohiopirate02]

1 hour ago, Lorna Mae said:

He said not a tampon. He said he wanted to live inside her trousers, but with his luck, he’d be a tampon instead, and get flushed away: not desirable.

Also, IRL, according to the transcript, Andrew P-B was not home that night. He was away on business, and C + C talked about how they wished the job would last a long, long time. Dunno about the kids.

Anyway, that was a heck of a cold open! I never gave much thought to how that phone convo was recorded.

Tom PB was 15 at the time and attended Eton.  I don't know if their daughter boarded at her school.  It's possible Camilla was home alone on the night of that phone call.  Or the call happened after Lora went to bed.  She was 11 at the time.

Yeah, the cordless phones of 1989 were hella unsecure.  I remember my sister's baby monitor could pick up our neighbor's calls around the same time.  Her cordless phone was apparently on the same radio frequency as the baby monitor until my dad fixed it on our end.

[Razzberry]

To me the tampongate is actually kind of funny now - not as kinky as I remembered.   Charles having a sense of humor, and such a low-brow one, is more surprising.  And Camilla, with her "Oh darling" is pretty funny herself.  This will go down in the history books.  It won't be easy to take these two adulterers seriously as head of the monarchy, will it?

[qtpye]

On 11/29/2022 at 9:57 AM, smartymarty said:

I recall him being featured as most eligible bachelor back in the 70s and looking quite handsome. He seemed to be with woman after woman (in the tabloids). Called them Charlie's Angels.

https://www.tatler.com/gallery/prince-charles-ex-girlfriends

On 11/21/2022 at 7:51 PM, truthful said:

I find it fascinating how Charles is so hated by some people (or maybe most people. I don't know, am unsure of his popularity) that any positivity towards him, no matter how small, on the show is seen as completely wrong and that obviously the producers were probably paid quite a bit of money to portray him as a complex human rather than the one dimensional monster he was meant to be in real life.

There has been much talk about how Dominic is much too handsome to play Charles.

It should be noted that the actor that played him before, Josh O'Connor, is also quite a good-looking guy.

I just think Josh's portrayal is much more nuanced than Dominic's version.

[andromeda331]

On 12/5/2022 at 12:52 PM, qtpye said:

There has been much talk about how Dominic is much too handsome to play Charles.

It should be noted that the actor that played him before, Josh O'Connor, is also quite a good-looking guy.

I just think Josh's portrayal is much more nuanced than Dominic's version.

I agree. Josh O'Conner is good looking but he also made me think he was Charles every time he was on screen between his acting and mannerisms. Dominic West just doesn't.

[ombelico]

On 11/14/2022 at 10:53 PM, qtpye said:

To me, Diana is coming off as awkward and strange. Though in all fairness, perhaps this is what she was at this time of her life. The actress does not have the "Diana Sparkle" or star power.

It's unfortunate for Elizabeth Debicki because there's not much she can do about it, but being a 6'3" woman just lends a general air of awkwardness. Diana was tall but not as unusually tall as Debicki.

On 11/19/2022 at 10:18 PM, Blakeston said:

I was a teenager when the infamous transcripts were released, and all I knew about it was brief coverage in the news, and maybe some jokes from late night talk show hosts. I actually thought the content was significantly worse than it was. 

Up until now I was under the impression that Charles was saying that he had a specific sexual fantasy about being her tampon - as opposed to him saying that he wanted to be inside her, and then joking with her about tampons.

Having an intimate private phone conversation leaked for the whole world to read is bad enough, but I appreciated that the show largely kept the conversation as it was in real life since it actually makes it clear that Charles didn't "wish to be Camilla's tampon" as is often the mischaracterization that continues to spread even today. 

Overall I think Dominic West did a decent job portraying Charles. Perhaps he has a bit too much natural confidence and swagger but I think it works in portraying the contradiction of how Charles at this point in his life was a man in full, and in many other professions would have been at or approaching his peak time of productivity and authority. However, because of the nature of his role of Prince of Wales, he was continually waiting in the wings, which would naturally be frustrating. It's to his credit that he came up with the Prince's Trust as something that he could actively be involved with rather than just sitting around waiting for his mother to die so that his "real job" could begin.

[Scarlett45]

I did feel bad for both Charles and Camilla here. I have always loved how this show portrayed the sibling relationship between Anne & Charles, Anne brought him some cold medicine and told him straight. Yes- as if none of these journalists had never spoken to a lover over the phone. It wasn’t anything criminal or involving National Security. 

On 12/6/2022 at 10:26 PM, andromeda331 said:

I agree. Josh O'Conner is good looking but he also made me think he was Charles every time he was on screen between his acting and mannerisms. Dominic West just doesn't.

I agree with this and original post @qtpye .

 

On 11/20/2022 at 8:28 PM, Camera One said:

Having a private conversation like that leaked would have been deeply embarrassing, and this episode did a good job of making that clear.  People are good at judging celebrities, and some revel in it forgetting they are actual people with feelings living a situation that is more complex with details we are not privy to.  

Anne and Charles' conversations were nice.  She was frank with him but also sympathized with him. 

Yes. It’s one thing to judge celebrities for public conduct or how they perform their job (performing or something), private conversations between two adults, in a private home, that aren’t threatening or abusive….yeah that’s not my business. 
 

I also have noticed many of the people who scream from the roof tops about adultery, sexual infidelity etc are it’s biggest offenders. As far as the “revenge dress”, Diana looked great (she has a lovely figure for the fashions of that era) but how was it “revenge”?- it looked like a black cocktail dress that she would’ve worn regardless! I didn’t think it was particularly sexy or revealing. It looked like an on period black cocktail dress (I personally think navy would’ve suited her coloring better but black cocktail dresses are standard). 
 

Continuing on my shallow bus- I love the mustard pocket square and striped tie with Charles’ brown suit. (My camera doesn’t do it justice)

[Scarlett45]

On 11/10/2022 at 9:36 AM, Dejana said:

Charles really did breakdance with the youths, but in 1985, so the show should have done that scene with Josh O'Connor last season:

And the fact that he did it in a suit! No stretch or give in that fabric. 

[andromeda331]

On 3/4/2023 at 4:16 PM, Scarlett45 said:

I also have noticed many of the people who scream from the roof tops about adultery, sexual infidelity etc are it’s biggest offenders. As far as the “revenge dress”, Diana looked great (she has a lovely figure for the fashions of that era) but how was it “revenge”?- it looked like a black cocktail dress that she would’ve worn regardless! I didn’t think it was particularly sexy or revealing. It looked like an on period black cocktail dress (I personally think navy would’ve suited her coloring better but black cocktail dresses are standard). 

I've never understood how it was "revenge" either. I don't think it works that way when your husband's been with another woman for the bulk of your marriage. How's her looking great in a black cocktail dress going to do anything? I think it was just a dress she was wearing for what she was going too.

[Notabug]

1 hour ago, andromeda331 said:

I've never understood how it was "revenge" either. I don't think it works that way when your husband's been with another woman for the bulk of your marriage. How's her looking great in a black cocktail dress going to do anything? I think it was just a dress she was wearing for what she was going too.

It also makes no sense because Diana was a stylish woman who loved fashion, looked great in almost anything and wore plenty of eye-catching looks while she was married to Chaz.  It wasn't like she'd been some sort of frump who never wore form-fitting dresses before.  And, it isn't like her marriage ended because Charles took up with a younger, more attractive and stylish woman.

[kassygreene]

It was revenge because it was not in the royal dress code.  

[Notabug]

1 hour ago, kassygreene said:

It was revenge because it was not in the royal dress code.  

I thought it was because she happened to wear it on the same night that Charles gave the infamous TV interview admitting to having cheated on Diana with Camilla during the marriage.

The royal dress code seems more myth than reality from what I've seen.

[Quickbeam]

On 11/16/2022 at 9:43 AM, kassa said:

I guess people know the actress playing Diana from somewhere else. I don't, and I'm too distracted by the height. 

It’s like she’s 9 feet tall! She towers over all the other actors. Maybe if they had her stand in a ditch but yeah, it’s distracting.