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Last week, I shared my excitement at the upcoming release of The Crown, Season 3. Tina reviewed Sliding Doors by Peter Howitt.

Last week, I wasn’t sure if I would watch the third season of The Crown as soon as it was released on Netflix on Sunday. So many shows, so little time.

I decided to just take a look on Sunday night to see what I thought. And, then I proceeded to watch all ten episodes in four days. I guess I liked what I saw!

One of the things I enjoyed about the first two seasons (Season 1 and Season 2) was how I could relate to the awkwardness of Elizabeth. Now, in the third season, with Olivia Colman as the Queen, Elizabeth has grown into her role.

Olivia Colman plays Queen Elizabeth in the third season of The Crown

Instead, we get to see Prince Charles in his awkwardness.

Can you imagine being a young man in the late 1960s destined to be King at a time when the monarchy was as much old-fashioned establishment as other institutions? The frequent use of rock-and-roll music in the soundtrack heightened the paradox.

My favorite episode was the one about the investiture of Charles as Prince of Wales. He spent time at the university in Aberystwyth (a place I’ve had a fantasy of visiting) to learn Welsh and the history of Wales.

Princess Anne, sister of Charles, has a smaller role, but I really enjoyed her detached cynicism with an undercurrent of humor at the absurdity of it all. Anne was played by Erin Doherty, an actress so new to the scene that she doesn’t have a Wikipedia article yet. Town&Country published an interview with her if you can’t wait to learn more.

I was fascinated by Prime Minister Harold Wilson because I’m only two degrees separated from him. I met his son Robin Wilson in the early 1980s when I was an undergraduate computer science student. He gave a talk about proving the four color map theory and, since I was a student in the department, I got to attend the wine and cheese reception with him. Even then, I was susceptible to mad crashes on men with British accents.

Have you watched Season 3 of The Crown?