Just when I was starting to feel warmly toward Fred and Gladys ...

Reel/Real

I just binged on Season 4 of The Crown. Because it's the Diana Season, it's my favorite thus far. Considering how well I know Diana's saga, I was surprised by how thoroughly I was drawn into her episodes.

Over the years, I have warmed a bit to Camilla Parker Bowles, now HRH Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Diana's boys seem to bear her no ill will. She's been a workhorse during the corona virus crisis -- taking care of Charles herself when he came down with the virus, celebrating first responders, encouraging children to participate in a lockdown reading challenge ... watching The Royals in action, modeling good behavior during the pandemic. has made me see the wisdom of having designated "heads of state." All we have on this side of the pond is the First Family, and I think we can agree that over the last four years, this First Family has, at best, phoned it in. 

I can also appreciate the romance between "Fred and Gladys," as they call each other. They have loved one another for a very long time, they waited forever to be together, and overcame obstacles we can never understand. 

But then there's Diana. She was collateral damage.  A fragile, sensitive teenager in love who became heartbroken and disillusioned on the world stage. It was hard to watch her struggle again last night, just as it was hard in real time. And because we know how her story will end in that Paris tunnel.

Of course, The Crown is a drama and not a documentary. So maybe the series' decidedly pro-Diana spin isn't fair. But, as always, she tugs at my  heart.

Speaking of heart, I still cannot abide Margaret Thatcher's complete lack of one. She's a major character this season and while I admire her for all she overcame to reach the position of Prime Minister, I still find her politics appalling. I have always believed that it's the role of government to do for the individual what the individual can't do for himself, and that, as Dr. King said, "It's a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps."