Dramatic Moment in "The Crown" Season 2

In the Netflix series The Crown season 2*, one whole episode is devoted to the true story of Lord Altrincham who helped the British monarchy survive by publishing his thoughts on Queen Elizabeth II and openly criticising her and her courtiers of being outdated and irrelevant. Sixty years have passed and the story represented one of the most dramatic moments that influenced the centuries old institution. The monarchy still survives, and the British majority seem to be proud of the coexistence of, and are well aware of the distinction between, the executive who actually administers the country and the Queen who serves only a titular role.

For audience here in Hong Kong, the most dramatic scene in the episode was probably when the Queen candidly arranged herself to meet with Lord Altrincham and to listen to his critical and relentless views against herself. Given it was 60 years ago, the Queen's status was supreme, and she had all the reasons (and power) to ignore any unlikable comments or even to mute them off completely! But the Queen eventually accepted all the "stops" and "starts" proposed by Lord Altrimcham, and created a whole new era in the history of the British monarchy. This story, well documented in the British news archive, demonstrated the magical power of the Queen's willingness to listen to comments, however critical and unwelcome, in winning the hearts of people. Moreover, most of us here would be tempted to compare what would happen to Lord Altrimcham if he were in China or Hong Kong now! Would he be loyal or stupid enough to publish his open comments against the nation's leader even if the comments were for the good of his nation? If he would, his only fate would be to spend the rest of his life behind bars. The reality is that no Lord Altrincham would ever exist in China, and neither would his journal or any media that don't dance to the leader's tune. The root cause, as we can clearly see, is the lack of an effective mutual control and an open accountable system that are necessary for a nation to advance in a world that increasingly shares the values of freedom and democracy.

July 31, 2020

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*The Crown Season 2 – Netflix