Top 10 Most Savage The Crown Moments

You could argue that the Queen’s tone-deaf speech to the Jaguar Factory workers was pretty savage. Still, it taught her a harsh lesson about reading thoughtlessly from a sheet of paper. Following vast public backlash, the Queen decides to face her most outspoken critic. While she wants to listen and learn, she’s hurt by his attack and can’t resist firing back a few jabs of her own. She wryly confronts him over his article and reminds him how easy it is to criticize someone who can’t publically refute it. She also makes a ferocious dig at his career, leaving Lord Altrincham visibly stunned. Don’t mess with this Queen unless you want to get royally burned.

In season three, Princess Margaret struggles with a failing marriage and an unsupportive family. And no one seems more apathetic to her plight than her brother-in-law, Prince Philip. While the Queen tries to share her concerns for her sister over breakfast, Philip continues to talk over her. When she eventually gets his attention, rather than listen with a sympathetic ear, he off-handedly throws out some snide remarks at the Princess’ expense. Even though the Queen does respond to his cruel comments, we think she could have done more to defend her sister. It also doesn’t help that the family insists on singing her philandering husband’s praises at Margaret's birthday party.

No one wants to be that person who has to tell someone else they’re not invited to the party. Luckily, when you’re a royal, you can outsource that burden. In this case, the Archbishop, the Queen’s Private Secretary, and Jock Colville talk the Duke of Windsor out of attending his niece’s Coronation and inform him that an invitation won’t be extended to his wife. As you might expect, the news isn’t well received, and the former king quickly becomes inflamed. When Tommy Lascelles tells him that some things can’t just be swept under the carpet, the Duke viciously admonishes him. However, Lascelles gets the final world, and it’s brutal. Talk about a mic drop moment!

In this season two episode, the Queen decides it’s time for a more practical hairdo, and she seems rather pleased with the result. However, one person isn’t a fan of her new look, and he finds the most acerbic way of letting her know. It’s bad enough that he feels entitled to share his opinion regarding her personal style but, jeez, he could have been a little more polite about it! And he doesn’t stop there, either. Margaret also sports a new hairstyle in this episode which is much more to his liking, so he enquires after her stylist. We hope her indifference didn’t hurt “Vidal Baboon’s” career too much.

The Queen and her eldest son butt heads on more than one occasion throughout the series. We collectively gasped when, in response to his investiture speech, she cruelly spat out a remark of the utmost savagery. However, their most belligerent argument occurs in the season four finale when Prince Charles tries to share his marital woes. His mother has no sympathy for him or his wife, calling out their privilege and telling Charles to quit his whining. She also informs him that everyone knows he isn’t the innocent victim here, either. Ultimately, the Queen’s rage and frustrations spill over, and she ruthlessly puts her son back in his place, especially after mentions of wanting a divorce.

Princess Anne is certainly the brassiest of the bunch, supposedly taking inspiration from her real-life counterpart. In fact, she’s given us some of the most hilariously audacious quips on “The Crown” so far. In season three, she boldly expresses her disdain for reality TV and royal engagements. Then in season four, she cheekily ages her mother by several decades. However, our favorite brazen Anne moment comes in season three when she’s summoned by the older family members to dish on her brother’s relationship. Her grandmother asks her to remain calm and rational, which baffles the princess, who offers a rather sardonic reply. And she doesn’t stop there. May her reign as the sassiest royal long continue!

Well wishers eagerly awaited the first public outing of the newly betrothed royal couple. However, their first interview following the engagement has gone down in infamy. The interviewer timidly points out that they look like a couple in love. Diana responds sweetly, even if her face and tone tell a different story. However, her fiancé’s answer is so shocking that we could only have hoped the show’s writers thought it up. But, no, his cutting words were actually taken verbatim from the real-life interview. Apparently, you can’t make these things up! We wanted to scream at Emma Corrin’s Diana to make a run for it. This is next-level savagery; we’d hate to see what he wrote in his vows!

As we've seen already, Prince Philip has some–let’s just say–dated views regarding gender and gender roles. It comes as no surprise, then, that being his wife's no. 2 puts a strain on the relationship in the lead-up to the Coronation. The Queen tries to accommodate her husband, putting him in charge of the committee and reluctantly agreeing to his ideas to modernize the institution. However, she puts her foot down when it comes to his reservations about publicly kneeling before her. This starts a fiery argument between the pair as the Queen refuses to make exceptions for her husband's pride. She reminds him that although she's his wife, she's also his Queen.

Prince Charles and Diana’s rocky relationship has been well-documented. And, it pretty much took center stage throughout season four, coming to a fiery head in the final episode. After a heart-to-heart with Camilla, Prince Charles visits his estranged wife and castigates her over her successful inaugural solo trip. He’s frustrated that Diana’s popularity will always taint his love for Camilla in the public eye. Sure, all couples fight, but this one gets particularly vicious after the subject of his lover arises. Diana’s face speaks volumes when Charles tells her that his mistress is his priority. We don’t condone violence, but we’re surprised this didn’t end with a swift kick to the crown jewels.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

The Queen Condemns Macmillan, “Mystery Man”
Don’t Let This Queen Down... Yikes!

Andrew Is Irrelevant, “48:1”
Do You Think “The Crown’s” Writers Are Trying to Tell Us Something?

Margaret Doesn’t Hold Back, “Beryl”
No One Goes through a Break-up with This Princess & Comes Out Unscathed

The Queen Mother Has No Love for the Duke of Windsor “Windsor”
So Much For the British Stiff Upper-Lip

The Queen Takes on Thatcher, “48:1”
It’s the Crown vs. The Iron Lady, and There Can Only Be One Winner

We were shocked to find out the contents of the secret Marburg Files from the Second World War. They revealed that the Nazis conspired to appeal to the Duke of Windsor by promising to put him back on the throne in exchange for free movement across Europe. The Queen discovers that her uncle had close ties with high-ranking officers and was apparently willing to double-cross the U.K. The Duke had been hoping to renter public life, but with this new information, Queen Elizabeth makes it explicitly clear that he would not be welcome back into the country, let alone the family. After all, agreeing to sell out your country for power? Does it even get more savage than that?