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The Queen

Introduction:

The film begins on the eve of the 1997 British general election, which saw Tony Blair (Sheen) elected as the United Kingdom’s first Labour Party Prime Minister in 18 years. While posing for an official portrait, the Queen (Mirren) talks with the artist and expresses her regret about not being allowed to vote. She is slightly wary of the new prime minister and his pledge to “modernise” the country, but Blair promises to respect the independence of the Royal Family. When Blair visits Buckingham Palace to kiss hands, the Queen follows custom and asks him to form a Government in her name.

Three months later, during a visit to Paris, Diana, Princess of Wales was killed in a car accident in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel. Blair’s director of communications, Alastair Campbell (Mark Bazeley), immediately prepares a speech in which he describes her as “the people’s princess.” Blair gives the speech the next morning and the phrase catches on immediately. Over the next few days, the British people erupt in an outpouring of grief, as millions flock to Buckingham and Kensington palaces to leave floral tributes and notes.

Meanwhile, the Royal Family are still on holiday at Balmoral Castle, the Queen’s estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Diana’s death immediately sparks division among senior members of the family. The Queen observes that, since Diana divorced from Charles, Prince of Wales (Alex Jennings) a year earlier, she is no longer a member of the Royal Family. Consequently, she insists that the funeral arrangements are a “private affair” and are best left to the princess’ own family, the Spencers. A visibly grief stricken Prince Charles, however, argues that the mother of a future King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland cannot be dismissed so lightly. Following her mother’s suggestion, the Queen eventually sanctions the use of an aircraft of the Royal Flight to bring Diana’s body back to Britain. Charles ensures that his ex-wife’s coffin is draped with a Royal Standard instead of remaining a “wooden crate.”