Charlie Fenton’s Reviews > The Crown: The Official Companion, Volume 1: Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill, and the Making of a Young Queen > Status Update

‘It was the Duke of Edinburgh who came speeding out of the chalet first, followed by his tennis racquet and shoes. Then came the Queen in hot pursuit of her husband and shouting furiously at hime to come back inside, as if she had already realised that someone might be watching. The royal tantrum depicted in Episode 8 of The Crown actually happened - on Sunday 7th March 1954’

‘In the end, it was agreed that the cameras would look away from the sacred moments of her anointing and her taking of Communion, and there would be no close-ups of her face at any time. But television would present live, on-the-spot coverage of virtually everything else.‘ - filming the Coronation

‘when they returned to London it was to move into Buckingham Palace - only a few days after the proclamation that had affirmed the enduring primacy of the House of Windsor. In the course of a few months, the Duke of Edinburgh had lost three of his young life’s most cherished components - his naval career, his family home and his family name. It did not make for a happy husband.’

‘George V’s widow Queen Mary, an inveterate smoker, died of lung cancer in 1953 at the age of 83, and Princess Margaret, who smoked 30 cigarettes a day for many years and suffered from migraines, laryngitis, bronchitis, hepatitis and pneumonia, died of a heart attack aged 71... At her son’s suggestion, Queen Elizabeth II cancelled the supply of all smoking products to the royal households.’

‘The list of over 1,500 wedding gifts displayed extraordinary generosity from ordinary members of the public, with many women saving up their ration coupons to send the Princess the most coveted feminine asset of the times: ‘351 - Mrs David Mudd: a pair of nylon stockings. 352 - Miss Ethel Newcombe: a piece of old lace. 353 - Mrs E. Klarood: a pair of nylon stockings.’’