"Gold Stick" is the first episode of the

fourth series Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

of the historical series, ''

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

''. It, along with the season in its entirety, was released on 15 November 2020. It was written by series creator and executive producer

Peter Morgan Peter Julian Robin Morgan, (10 April 1963) is a British screenwriter and playwright. He is the playwright behind '' The Audience'' and '' Frost/Nixon'' and the screenwriter of ''The Queen'' (2006), '' Frost/Nixon'' (2008), ''The Damned United ...

, and directed by executive producer

Benjamin Caron Benjamin Caron (born 2 July 1976) is a Golden Globe, Emmy and BAFTA-winning British film and television director. Life and career Born in the West Midlands, Caron was educated at Homerton College, Cambridge. Caron began his television career maki ...

. Starring in this episode are returning cast

Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy A ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

Tobias Menzies Tobias Simpson Menzies (born 7 March 1974) is an English stage, television and film actor. He is known for playing Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in the third and fourth seasons of Netflix's series ''The Crown'', for which he won the Primetime ...

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

, Helena Bonham Carter as

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

, Josh O'Connor as

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

, Marion Bailey as

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

and Erin Doherty as

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

, all of whom have reprised their roles from the previous season. Joining cast members include Gillian Anderson as

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

Emma Corrin Emma-Louise Corrin (born 13 December 1995) is an English actor. They portrayed Diana, Princess of Wales in the fourth season of the Netflix historical drama ''The Crown'' (2020), for which they won a Golden Globe, a Critics' Choice Award, ...

Lady Diana Spencer Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

and Stephen Boxer as Denis Thatcher. Charles Dance makes his final appearance in this episode as

Lord Mountbatten Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...

. For their performances in this episode, Menzies and Dance were nominated for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre, or even gender, specific. Beginning ...

and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series respectively, with Menzies winning the award.

Plot

The episode begins with the 1979 Trooping the Colour. Charles, Prince of Wales, meets a young

Diana Spencer Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

at her family home in

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places * Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia * Sandringham, Queensland, Australia * Sandringham, Victoria, Australia **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station **Electoral district of Sandringham * Sand ...

whilst picking up her elder sister

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...

, to go on a date.

's Conservative Party win the 1979 election, and she becomes the first female

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...

. During her first private audience with

, Elizabeth assumes that Thatcher will fill her first cabinet with women. Thatcher rebuffs this idea because of her view that women "are generally not suited to high office". The Royal family travel to

Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought ...

is considering retiring from her career as a professional showjumper, but Prince Philip attempts to talk her out of it.

is holidaying with his family at

Classiebawn Castle Classiebawn Castle is a country house built for The 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865) on what was formerly a estate on the Mullaghmore Peninsula near the village of Cliffoney, County Sligo, in the Republic of Ireland. The current castle wa ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , gle, Contae Shligigh) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the Border Region and is part of the province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in the county. Sligo County Council is the local ...

, Ireland. Mountbatten makes a telephone call to Charles, who is also on holiday with friends in Iceland. Mountbatten requests to meet him in London, but Charles rejects as he will be spending time with

Camilla Parker Bowles Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the acc ...

, which results in an argument because of Mountbatten's views against her. Mountbatten writes a letter to Charles before joining his family on their boat to go lobster fishing. As their boat travels slightly from the coast, it explodes after a bomb was planted on it by members of the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

, killing Mountbatten, one of his grandsons, and the boat boy. The Royal family and Thatcher are informed of his death. Charles reads the contents of Mountbatten's letter, writing critically of his affair with the married Camilla and instructing him to find a suitable wife, whom the public will love as a princess and, in due course, as queen consort. In a telephone call with Elizabeth, Thatcher promises to defeat the IRA. As part of a detailed set of instructions for his own funeral, Mountbatten specified that Charles should deliver the reading. A jealous and inebriated Philip tells Charles that Mountbatten was like a father to him, and expresses bitterness at having been replaced by Charles. As Mountbatten's funeral goes ahead at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

, the IRA declares war on Britain. Anne competes in the 1979 Badminton Horse Trials, riding on Elizabeth's horse, Goodwill, finishing in sixth place. Charles meets Diana again at Badminton, who passes on her condolences about Mountbatten and praises him for eulogising his funeral. Charles telephones Sarah, requesting her permission to ask Diana on a date, which she grants. Diana, now living in a flat in Earls Court with her friends, travels back to Sandringham to meet Charles.

Production

"Gold Stick" was written by the series creator and executive producer,

, and directed by

. It is the first episode in the fourth series and the tenth episode overall directed by Caron. In April 2019,

was cast as

for the fourth season. In September 2019, Gillian Anderson, who had been rumoured since that January to be in talks to portray

in the fourth season, was officially confirmed for the role.

Reception and trivia

The episode title references Lord Mountbatten's position as Regimental Colonel of the Life Guards, one of the two Household Cavalry units charged with protecting the Queen, and the nickname associated with the gold-headed stick that the Colonel carries as well as Lord Mountbatten's personal relationship with the Royal Family, particularly Princes

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

and

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

. In a four-star rating by Sarene Leeds of

Vulture.com ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

, she wrote that the episode's opening seemed "fitting for 2020" because of it being "resoundingly bleak." She describes the Queen as being "steadfast" and having "learned very little" regarding her children's personal and love lives.

References

{{The Crown (TV series) 2020 American television episodes 2020 British television episodes The Crown (TV series) episodes Fiction set in 1979 Television episodes about assassinations Television episodes set in Scotland Television episodes set in the Republic of Ireland