| Olding | Episode Summary | Cast and Characters |
“Olding” is the first episode in Season 3 of The Crown. It aired on November 17, 2019.
Synopsis[]
The royal family mourns the passing of Winston Churchill. The United Kingdom ushers in a new prime minister, the Labour Party's Harold Wilson whom Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth hear might be a Soviet spy.
Episode Notes[]
Historical Events[]
- Winston Churchill died on January 24, 1965, at the age of 90. His funeral was broadcast in the United Kingdom and to the United States, one of the first major events carried via Telstar satellite.
Historical Figures[]
- Sir Anthony Blunt was one of four school friends from Cambridge University who were recruited as Russians spies and became known as the Cambridge Four. Blunt confessed to his role as a spy in the early 1960s and was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony against the others in the group. In 1979, he surrendered his knighthood and died in 1983.
The Cambridge Four[]
The upper echelons of the British security services, the government and the royal household were rocked in the early 1960s with the discovery that four graduates of Cambridge University, each well placed in MI-5, were spying for the Russians. Known as the Cambridge Four, the first identified was Kim Philby, possibly the most notorious of the group, the others included Sir Antony Blunt, the Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, Guy Burgess and Michael Straight. Later, a fifth spy, John Cairncross, was identified; he worked as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park throughout World War II, and the group became known as the Cambridge Five.
Historical Notes[]
An Old Man in Military Costume (Rembrandt, 1630)
- The Queen maintains the extensive Royal Collection of art, much owned for the British people "in the interest of the nation." Selected pieces are displayed along a long gallery in Buckingham Palace, and are curated by her Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures. Pieces of the collection can also be seen on rotating display at the Queen's Gallery.
- The painting figuring in the episode, Rembrandt's An Old Man in Military Costume (1630) was not a part of the Queen's collection in 1964. The painting was in a private collection in England until it was sold to a Swiss investment group in 1969. In 1978, the painting was sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where it hangs today.
Music[]
- “From a Jack to a King” performed by Ned Miller (Margaret goes in search of Tony)
- “Just One of Those Things” performed by Frank Sinatra (end credits)
Gallery[]
References[]
| Season 3 |
|---|
| Olding • Margaretology • Aberfan • Bubbikins • Coup • Tywysog Cymru • Moondust • Dangling Man • Imbroglio • Cri de Coeur |