The dude in the background is the man who slapped Lord Altrincham, but I put this in here because I LOVE props, and the back of this newspaper makes me laugh. I want to hear about the HUNT WIDOW. Is she the widow of Mr. Hunt, or someone who was widowed in the course of a hunt gone wrong?!? I must know!
There is a bit where Michael Adeane walks past the palace's official clock man, who is painstakingly cleaning and setting this one. I genuinely think this was only here because later they did a whole montage of clocks striking 9 to mark the beginning of Altrincham's interview. But I now immediately want to talk to The Royal Timekeeper.
I don't totally know why this show has such a BLEAK take on some palace interiors. Also, behold how BORED the Queen and her mother look at all times.
Claire Foy really nailed Liz's hurt and resentment during this interview. Her upper lip was unable to remain totally stiff.
And, oh, NBD, just a stained-glass window in the den. As we all have.
LASCELLES!
I want to talk to the propmaster, also, who has to stock all the bookshelves with what I assume are fake leather-bound books. It is my dream to have an office full of them on shelves, with a library ladder. I would accept fake books if the rest of it could happen.
When Elizabeth gets her new haircut, Claire Foy plays it thusly: She opens her eyes, she seems startled, and then she gives this glassy smile and a warm compliment. I decided she's totally faking it because she's too polite to be like, "WTF DID YOU DO TO ME. I'M STILL YOUNG AND FERTILE."
But then when Philip starts dinging her, she gets defensive and insists she likes the way it looks under her massive pin cushion. Ten seconds later Miss Muffet came by and snatched back her tuffet.
Poor Liz. REGRETS. We've all had them. Never give a dude free rein on your head
In this shot, it's quite clear that it aged her terribly, and that combined with this HIDEOUS speech really messed up her day and made her seem even more remote and out-of-touch than might be accurate.
I never get tired of looking at the stand-in houses. This is Faux Balmoral, and it's wonderful. Not as a replica -- they're ALL hard to replicate -- but just on its own merits.
EVERYTHING about poor QE2 right now feels prematurely old.
But this shot is beautiful. I love the nitty-gritty aspects of the Queen, and how it's always been clear she's happiest puttering around in a cargidan and a kerchief. She IS a Country Mouse at heart.
Lord Altrincham's girlfriend sadly did not get the cardigan budget that Elizabeth did.
See? A much nicer posh twin set. And not for nothing, but ALL OF A SUDDEN her hair is longer and back to its usual style -- although the presence of bizarre Leia-style buns on her neck suggests that maybe she had a rough time teasing it all back out. Ladies, if a man ever tells you he's not going to bang you unless you have hair the way HE likes it, then I hope you dump his ungrateful ass.
Martin Charteris and Patricia Soon-To-Be-Altrincham may actually have gone shopping for cardigans TOGETHER.
The BBC interview set seems so much less intense than it would now. And the table isn't solid in front, so everyone is FORCED to wear pants! The horror.
We spent way more time in a dental waiting room than I expected, that's for sure. I do like the old-timey phone in the foreground on the left. I love proper telephones. I have a nice corded one on my desk that reminds me of many scenes in Clue, although unfortunately most of them ended in MURDER.
I love this, for all the afore-cited reasons about QE2's preferred inner life.
Even Anne has special kilts for Balmoral.
And the sofas are all in plaid. The decor almost feels like when you get a vacation rental that's slightly dated and AGGRESSIVELY furnished in thematic stuff, to the point where you imagine there has to be a store called We Are The Only Place In Town And You WILL Put Wooden Carvings of Ducks On Your Bookshelves, Dammit.
This is the long, winding staircase Altrincham had to climb to get to Martin Charteris's office. Let us all think for a moment how great his legs must be.
For her confrontation with Altrincham, Liz wore Power Red. Baller move.
But for her Christmas address, she picked this Champagne dress, which I think is spectacularly unflattering to her chest. I am sure the sovereign, and particularly THIS sovereign, did not necessarily think about how her boobs looked on camera.
Old TelePrompTers! Again, y'all know I LOVE a prop. This one is really cool.
Claire Foy did a wonderful job starting out with Elizabeth's obvious nerves...
... and showing her turn it on for the cameras. The shoes are perfect. Not because I love them, but because they just feel absolutely CORRECT.
Margaret looks foxy, as usual. That is a gorgeous color.
And Philip looks typically creepy while talking to her. He can never NOT look creepy to me, honestly. Our relationship is not going well.
This is the staging for The Commoners Come To The Palace. Which made Liz and her mother so grossed out. I wonder how they felt about opening Buck House up to tourists.
I do LOVE that they had the corgis charge in during the receiving line. THAT'S how you know you're meeting the real Queen and not her body double.