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Hyde Park Corner   Episode Summary   Cast and Characters    


I have seen three great monarchies brought down through their failure to separate personal indulgences from duty. You must not allow yourself to make similar mistakes.

Queen Mary's letter to Elizabeth


Hyde Park Corner is the second episode of Season 1 of Netflix television series The Crown.

Synopsis[]

With King George in failing health, Princess Elizabeth and Philip tour the Commonwealth in his place, making their first stop in Nairobi, Kenya. Several Cabinet members expressed growing concerns about Churchill's ability to govern, prompting Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden to ask George if he could persuade Churchill to resign. George refuses, stating that Churchill will step down when the time comes. After an evening spent singing with his youngest daughter Princess Margaret and watching a news report about Princess Elizabeth and Philip's arrival in Kenya, King George dies in his sleep. The news spread around the world after his body was discovered the next morning. Queen Elizabeth and Philip return to London, where she assumes the role of sovereign.

Episode Notes[]

Historical Events[]

  • George VI died of lung cancer on February 6, 1952. As shown in the episode, the new Queen was in Kenya, and was told by Philip, after Martin Charteris located them.
  • The scene in which Martin Charteris asked the Queen to select her regnal name is accurate; she was reported to have simply said, "Elizabeth, of course."
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Hyde Park Corner from Hyde Park, looking toward Constitution Hill. The gardens of Buckingham Palace are on the right of the Wellington Arch. Below, a map of the area, including the lake on the grounds of Buckingham Palace.

Hyde park corner map

Historical Notes[]

  • Hyde Park Corner is a busy intersection and traffic island located between the rear of Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park. It features the Wellington Arch, one part of Green Park situated across Constitution Hill from Buckingham Palace, but now isolated on a traffic island. Beyond Hyde Park Corner from the Palace is the formal entrance to Hyde Park and Apsley House (aka Number One, London), the former home of the Duke of Wellington.
  • In the episode, "Hyde Park Corner" was the Palace code phrase for the death of King George VI. These code phrases allow the Royal Household to discuss some private matters without the risk of leaks to the press.
  • The episode shows Tommy Lascelles and his aides bringing the new Queen Elizabeth a full set of mourning clothes. In actuality, the Princess's dresser had already prepared for the possibility that the King might die, and the needed clothing, with the exception of a pair of black gloves, was on the plane. Those were borrowed from the wife the private secretary of the Governor General of Kenya. This story only emerged when the lender's godson, actor Charles Collingwood, appeared on a 2012 episode of "Antiques Roadshow" with photographs of the Queen wearing the gloves.

Trivia[]

  • The "three monarchies brought down" mentioned by Queen Mary in Elizabeth's letter are the following: the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire.

Gallery[]

References[]

Season 1
Wolferton SplashHyde Park CornerWindsorAct of GodSmoke and MirrorsGeligniteScientia Potentia EstPride & JoyAssassinsGloriana
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