Having loved The Queen we went with enthusiasm to The Audience (Broadway). Same writer (Peter Morgan). Same actress (Helen Mirren). The results, however, were disappointing.
The movie presents the Queen with a challenge: what to do about Diana’s death. The Queen’s dignified and protocol-bound demeanor makes a strong contrast with the maudlin public.
The play concerns a series of meetings, more or less weekly, between the Queen and various prime ministers. The Queen is required to back up whatever the prime minister has decided to do so there isn’t truly a problem to solve. Wikipedia says “Since Elizabeth rarely gives interviews, little is known of her personal feelings. As a constitutional monarch, she has not expressed her own political opinions in a public forum.” Thus everything in the play is made up and the dialog doesn’t seem very plausible, e.g., when the prime ministers reveal their weaknesses and fears.
The prime ministers are portrayed sympathetically, with the exception of Margaret Thatcher, played by Judith Ivey with a strong Southern accent(!). Thatcher’s Reagan-like transformation of British society is ignored; Thatcher’s support of the white South African government (the U.S. also supported them!) and her son‘s sketchy dealings are the only topics that come up between Thatcher and the Queen.
We learn from the script that the Queen, despite her outward appearance as a rich German-English noblewoman, is actually a socialist who supports labor unions, expanded welfare state benefits, higher taxes, etc. She is also a pacifist who opposes any kind of military action. Peter Morgan doesn’t supply any motivation for how she got to be this way, though. A rich American might come to this place after attending a university where it was socially unacceptable to support a smaller role in society for government (see The Crimson for how 96 percent of Harvard College faculty supported Democrats). But we learn from watching the play that the Queen was educated at home. Would the Queen adopt liberal attitudes in order to fit in? If so, to fit in with whom and why would she care? Would the Queen support a more generous welfare state because she felt badly for Britons who did not work? If so, we do not hear of the Queen ever meeting any working-age adult without a job.
One of the interesting things about The Queen movie is that it shows that someone who has lived nearly her whole life as a royal sovereign doesn’t think like the rest of us. In The Audience, on the other hand, the royal sovereign turns out to be Jane Average who happens to have access to some fancy houses and a yacht. At a minimum it would be nice to know how she got to be average!
Related:
- “How rich countries die” (Mansur Olson’s study of how political stability in Great Britain led to its decline relative to, e.g., Germany)
- “Margaret Thatcher: the economic achievements and legacy of Thatcherism” (Telegraph 2013)
- “Margaret Thatcher: why is she still so demonised?” (Telegraph 2013)