不论是片名还是本文的题目，都足可以看出这是一部政治题材的电视剧。同时，片名Crown也是贯穿本剧的一个主题词，那么本剧第一季希望传递给大家英国关于crown怎样的形象呢？
Crown的中文名译为“王冠”，本剧所诠释的也正是如此：在大英帝国的君主立宪制之下，王冠不仅仅是亮闪闪的冠甚至是帽子(hat)而已，更是意味着带着王冠的女王所肩负的使命与责任。首先是国教世袭首领、国家元首、政府合法运行的赋予者，其次是妻子、妈妈、女儿、姐姐，如此多的身份集中在伊丽莎白女王身上，其中难免会发生纠结与撕扯，正如剧中伊丽莎白的大伯David,Duke of Windsor在第十集中所说“split down the middle”阐释了crown的本质所在，这位为了爱情放弃君主之位的性感男人讲道：
One half is sister, one half is Queen.Eactly a strange,hybrid creature,like a sphinx or Gamayun.As I am Ganesha or Minotaur.We are half people,ripped from the pages of some bizarre mythology. The two sides within us,human and crown engaged in a fearful civil war,which never ends.And which blights our every human transaction as brother,husband,sister,wife,mother.I understand the agony you feel and I am here to tell you,it may never leave you.I will always be half king,and my tragedy is that I have no kindom,you have it,and you must protect it.
是的，君主从神话中来，注定要承担别样的责任，那这种责任是什么呢？用一个词来概括便是——光环（halo），这种光环首先和宗教有关，在一神教信仰的国度当中，上帝作为最高的信仰，是彼岸的存在，凡人只能在心灵中感知，却看不到其形，听不到其声，永远保持圣洁、庄严和肃穆，这就是为什么剧中伊丽莎白女王将要举办加冕仪式时，会与菲利普就是否进行电视直播而发生争吵的原因所在，谁会希望表演魔术时公布过程，谁会希望本可以读诗时读散文？（who wants transparency when you can have magic?who wants prose when you can have potery?）揭开面纱还会剩下什么？（pull away the veil and what are you left with?）剧中多处都体现出这种庄严和肃穆，现一一摘录：
1. There are two elements of the Constitution:the efficient and the dignified.The monarch is the dignified and the government is the efficient.These two institutions only work when they support each other ,when they trust one another.
——Walter Bagehot
2.The efficient has the power to make and execute policy and is answerable to the electorate ,and what touches all should be approved by all.The dignified gives significance and legitimacy to the efficient,and is only answerable to God.
3.Monarch is God’s sacred mission to grace and dinify the earth,to give ordinary people an ideal to strive towards,an example of nobility and duty to raise them in their wretched lives.Monarch is a calling from God.That is why you are crowned in an abbey,not a government building;why you are anointed,not appointed.It’s an archbishop that puts the crown on your head,not a minister or public servant,which means that you are answerable to God in your duty,not the public.
4. what is it you would have the Queen do?Stay at home in the wake of minor incidents prosecuted be an insurgent rabble?What kind of sigal would that send?The Crown does not back down.If Britain had made a habit of backing down,the world would already be living under the yoke of fascist tyranny and we would’t have an empire at all.
5.In his final months,the King told me many times that he could feel it all slipping away,the Empire,our place in the world.He saw this tour as a chance to keep each dominion close,preserving that Empire.So take him with you in spirit.Let his example guide you,his thoughts influence you. I will,and I may…..Never let them see the real Elizabeth Windsor,the cameras,the televison.Never let them see that carrying the Crown is often a burden.Let them look at you,but let them see only the eternal.
6.It’s the Crown that people have come to see.The minute you become yourself,you shatter the illusion,break the spell.
7.I give them silence,the absence of noise,which allows others/monarchy to shine.
庄严、无畏、永恒，对上帝负责、引领民众给予民众以憧憬……所以女王到访之处，总有民众（当然也包括热衷于挖掘劲爆消息的记者）欢呼雀跃，异常兴奋，这大概来自于一种信仰，或许和个人崇拜不同的信仰。第一季主要讲述乔治六世退位，大女儿伊丽莎白成为女王，和温斯顿·丘吉尔共塑英伦的故事，其中丘吉尔可谓是独具魅力。相信我们熟悉一个测试，那个生活习惯极差，总是吸烟的人却很长寿，那个人就是他——温斯顿·丘吉尔，出现在剧中的他肥胖、驼背，走路需要拐杖，正如菲利普调侃道的一样：It will take him an hour to get to the front door,可以说已经进入暮年了，可是虽然垂垂老矣，他的影响力却未曾减弱，第一集中女王的婚礼上，丘吉尔卡点到场，已经到的人纷纷站立欢呼，场面不减女王驾到啊！作为一位政治家，拥有坚毅而果决的目光，自己撰写的演讲词里总是充满力量，以致于秘书都为其倾倒（adore）……我们来看看他的几句台词：
1.youn need to be a monster to defeat Hitler.
2. Hear this,young men and women everywhere ,and proclaim it far and wide.The earth is yours and the fullness thereof.Be kind but be fierce.You’re needed now more than ever before.Thake up the mantle of change…..for this isyour time .
3.To waste time is a grievous sin.If there is one thing I have learned in years of public service,it is that there is no problem so complex,nor crisis so grave that it cannot be satisfactorily resolved within minutes.
这里涉及到首相和女王的关系处理：在君主立宪制之下，国王从本质讲在象征的意义上存在的，他们拥有极为优渥的生活条件，以致于大英帝国海外领土减少（埃及夺回苏伊士运河的占有权、各地独立斗争时、石油供应不足），女王仍然浑然不觉，即使知道也不会震怒万分，准确的说政府负责打天下，而女王负责享受和分封天下。每周二首相都会例行做御前报告，但是女王所做的事情也便只是微笑、点头，但是这位女王和其他国王不同的地方在于她不甘于此，她感受在和这些政客打交道过程中的被动局面，在Professor Hogg的提醒下，她能够训斥这些首相（其实，关键是意识到首相汇报时的言外之意）。但是很多时候，女王问的最多的问题就是：你们建议我做什么？（What are my responsibities ,as head of state?what should I do ?）以致于在妹妹能否以及如何结婚的问题上，状况百出。但是，政府却有很大权力，以致于丘吉尔率领的内阁可以对菲利普（未来英格兰国王的父亲）学开飞机这件事持反对态度并最终生效，也就是说The job of drawing the line falls to Cabinet.即使丘吉尔在解决严重雾霾问题上的不作为（认为雾会自动散去，可是当时伦敦社会秩序已陷入混乱），已经有大臣（chancellor）向女王提出女王可以传召丘吉尔要求他辞职（summon and insist that he go.）但是女王仍担心触犯宪法，认为变革应该由政府内部发起。此外，包括后来Aden 成为首相时未经联合国程序，私下和以色列秘密商讨攻打埃及后向女王汇报时，询问“Do I have your support?”女王回答道“The prime minister always has my support.”幸好，国王有神圣的象征性，否则这样的权力分配多憋屈~~
当然，之所以说是女王和首相重塑英伦，是因为第一季中的确涉及了两人关系的转变，这句“界限是由内阁来划”就是来自首相大人，可是随着事情的发展，女王越发显现出仅有范围内的政治才华，最终得到了首相大人的认可——本来是准备传召首相要求他辞职，可是就在当天上午天气好转，大雾散去，女王灵机一动，预先汇报时改问宴会时嘉宾的位置问题（position），事后，首相感慨道：“And then she switched her tack without so much as a。flicker.Clever!No,no,not clever,ingenious!”随后的一次御前汇报中，首相真正表现出对女王佩服，
PM:But this isn’t a business.It’s the Crown.And one has to ask oneself……
Queen:What is the purpose of the Crown?what is the purpose of the monarch ?Dose the Crown bend to the will of the people to be audited and accountable?Or should it remain above temporal matters?what say you?
PM:no,ma’am.What say you?the decision is yours to make.We will take our lead from you.
直到最后女王得知丘吉尔谎报病情，在丘吉尔御前汇报时训斥他阻止女王完成使命，背叛友情时，丘吉尔是这样回应的：
I look at you now and I realize that the time is fast approaching for me to step down,not because I am unwell for unfit for office,but because you are ready.And therfore I have discharged my duty to your father.With your blessing and your forgiveness,I shall continue to serve as the leader of your majesty’s government.
到此为止，我们看到的作为政治家的丘吉尔，他坚毅果决，充满激情以及对国家的责任感和使命感，可是他还有另一面：绘画的业余爱好者。丘吉尔在即将辞职时，内阁（还是议会？）请来一位画家为其画肖像画，作为生日礼物。丘吉尔在和这位画家沟通的过程中，显现出他温情的一面。下面将相关场景摘录如下：
1. PM:Sutherland?Never heard of him.
PM’ wife:He’s got quite the reputation.He’s a modernist.
PM:Oh,not sure I can trust a modernist with an English name.Give me a German modernist,or an Intalian,they are the ones who have to start all over again.Whatever would an Englishman want to change?[此句道出了英国人保守与传统的一面]
2.PM:So where do you want me? So,will we be engaged in flattery or reality?
Sutherland: I imagine there are a great number of Mr. Churchills.
PM: Yes,indeed there are. Well,as you search for him,perhaps I can implore you not to feel the need to be too accurate.
Sutherland :Why?Accuracy is truth.
PM:No,for accuracy ,wo have the camera.Painting is the higher art.I paint a bit myself,you know.
Sutherland :Yes,sir,I know.
PM:And I never let accruracy get in the way of truth if I don’t want it to.If I see some landscape I like,and I wish there was’t a factory in the background.I leave the factory out.[此处既有丘吉尔对绘画的理解，其实也显现出他不服老的心态]
3. PM: Cigar or no cigar?
Sutherland : No cigar.
PM: Garter robes or no garter robes?
Sutherland : No,finery.No grandiosity.
Dressed merely as a parliamentarian.
PM: How prosaic.[这种选择性的问句里显现出他对好形象的在意，很真实！]
4. Sutherland :Since this is to be our final session,I wanted us to be all alone.In silence preferably.
PM:Yes,yes.I will be a good boy.I quite understand the need for concentration.Painting a picture is like fighting a battle,a boody battle,in the gladiatorial fight to the death,the artist either wins or loses.Are you winning?
Sutherland :I hope so.
PM:Do you think I’ll like it ?
Sutherland :I think that’s possibly too much to ask for.But I do take comfort from the fact that your own work is so honest and revealing.
PM:Oh,thank you for compliment. Well,are there any works you’re referring to in particular?
Sutherland : I was thinking espcially of the goldfish pond here at Chartwell.
PM:The pond?Why the pond?It’s just a pond.It’s very much more than that.
Sutherland :As borne out by the fact that you’ve returned to it again and again.More than times.
PM:Well,yes,because it’s such a technical challenge.It eluds me.
Sutherland :Well,perhaps you elude yourself,sir.That’s why it’s more revealing than a self portrait.
PM:Oh,that’s nonsense.It’s the water,the play of light,the trickery,the fish down below.
Sutherland :I think all our work is unintentionally revealing,and I find it espcially so with your pond.Beneath the tranquility and the elegance and the light playing on the surface,I saw honesty and pain,terrible pain.The framing itself,indicated to me that you wanted us to see something.Beneath all the muted colors,deep down in the water,terrible despair,hiding like a Leviathan,like a sea monster.[画家的真实在于他看到的是心理真实，而非现实世界的真实感]
PM:You saw all that?
Sutherland :Yes,I did.
PM:Perhaps that says more about you than me?
Sutherland :Mm hmm.Perhaps.
PM:May I ask you a question,Mr. Sutherland?
Sutherland :Hmm.
PM:It’s about one of your paintings.The one you call ‘Pastoral’ with all that gnarled and twisted wood,those great ugly dabs of black.I found something malevolent in it.Where did that come from?
Sutherland :well,that’s very perceptive.That was a very dark time.My…my son,John,passed away,aged two months.
PM:oh,my,I am sorry.
Sutherland :Yes,thank you.You have five,yes?
PM:Four.Marigold was the fifth,she left us at age two years,nine months.Septicmia.
Sutherland I am sorry.I had no idea.
PM:We settled on the name Marigold on account of her wonderful golden curls,the most extradinary colour.Regretfully,but though perhaps mercifully,I was not present when she died.When I came home,Clemmie rored like a wounded animal.We bought Chartwell a year after Marigold died,that was when I put in the pond here.
[这个场景简直太出人意外，也许是剧情本身故意营造的巧合，但是在我看来，却是两个人灵魂的沟通，他们通过画了解彼此，一字一画中皆可见其中流动的心情]
5. PM:It is not!It is cruel!
Sutherland:Age is cruel! If you see decay,it’s because there’s decay.If you see frailty,it’s because there’s frailty.I can’t be blamed for what is.And I refuse to hide and disguse what I see.If you’re engaged in a fight with something,then it’s not with me.
[此处真正表现出首相大人不愿接受年迈的事实真相，其中的无奈和挣扎相信很多政治领导者临终前都会有这种感慨吧~譬如朝露，去日苦多]
但是不管怎样，我们都必须面对离别，丘吉尔时代终将落幕……
My confidence in Sir Anthony is complete,and I know he will lead the contry on to great achivements.But it would be useless to pretend that either he or any of those successors who may one day follow him in office will ever,for me,be able to hold the place of my first Prime Minister,to whom my husband and I owe so much.And for whose wise guidence,during the early yesrs of my reign,I shall always be so profoundly grateful.I will remember you always for your magnanimity,your courage at all times,and for your unfailing humor,founded in your unrivalled mystery of the Enlish language.I take the comfort the fact ,that in losing my constitutional adviser,I gain a wise counsellor to whom I shall look for help and support in the days which lie ahead.May there be many of them.
