The Queen - discussion guide

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Summary

In May 1997, change is beginning to sweep the UK. Young, dynamic Labour MP Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) has won the general election by a landslide, and is expected to bring great changes with his time in office. His meeting with the Queen (Helen Mirren), at which she asks him to form a new Government, shows up the stark differences between them. The Queen embodies tradition; Blair is a moderniser.

In the summer, the Royal Family go to Balmoral for their customary summer break where they later receive shocking news: Diana, Princess of Wales has died in a car crash in Paris. Prince Charles (Alex Jennings) is in despair, trying to help his sons cope. Back in London, there is a huge outpouring of grief and people are beginning to place bouquets of flowers at the gates of Buckingham and Kensington Palaces. The Queen is confident that she knows the country’s mood, believing that soon people will move on, and decides that, for all involved, a private funeral is best. But Blair knows that the country’s distraught reaction will not simply fade away. He suggests to the Queen that a public funeral might be a better idea, and that perhaps she herself should come back to London to be with her people. At first the Queen rejects Blair’s ideas outright, choosing instead to keep her grandchildren away from the glare of publicity at such a time. But the newspapers are soon full of praise for the new Prime Minister’s handling of the tragedy, and full of criticism for the Queen’s reaction. The country has begun changing and the Queen is left unsure if she is making the right decisions anymore.

Background

Director Stephen Frears first breakthrough film came with the controversial My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), which was originally produced as a Channel 4 drama production. The first Hollywood film he directed was Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and he has directed a number of acclaimed films since including High Fidelity (2000), Dirty Pretty Things (2003), and Mrs Henderson Presents (2005). Frears worked with screenwriter Peter Morgan previously on the television drama The Deal (2003) in which Michael Sheen appeared as Tony Blair. Morgan has also written the acclaimed play Frost/Nixon (2006) that Sheen stars in as David Frost, as well as The Last King of Scotland for which he won the BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay. He received Oscar nominations for both The Last King of Scotland and The Queen in 2007.

Stephen Frears and Peter Morgan, along with producers Andy Harries and Christine Langan, wanted to make a film together about a great British institution. Langan says, ‘The Royal Family was an obvious choice, and the death of Diana and how the Royal Family coped with that quickly emerged as the most promising subject. Diana had been a great cause of tension while she was alive; it was inevitable that her death would present the Monarchy with perhaps its biggest challenge of the past fifty years.’

Stephen Frears knew he had to tread carefully with subject matter centred on two such high-profile, living­­ people and such a momentous time in recent British history. ‘When you’re telling a story about people who are still alive, you become scrupulously responsible,’ he explains. ‘You can’t reach for the easy solutions. . . . you don’t want to be in any way perceived as unfair or facile. . . . You’re more attentive to not leaning on your prejudices and you stay away from anything that might be unsupportable.’ Before writing the screenplay, Peter Morgan conducted extensive research and interviews with insiders, biographers, journalists and others. He assembled a detailed time-line of what happened during the week and then filled in the gaps with ‘informed imagination and conjecture’ about what might have been said in the many personal conversations at Balmoral and in Downing Street.

Dame Helen Mirren thought the offer to play the Queen in a film made by Frears and Morgan was irresistible having been highly impressed with their collaboration on The Deal. But she claims to have been very intimidated by the role: ‘Given the iconic status of the Queen, I was terrified. I was probably more nervous about this role than almost any other role I’ve ever done.’ Having previously played Tony Blair, Michael Sheen had to change the way he portrayed him: ‘In The Deal, Blair was young and bright-eyed. Here, we see a much more cautious, more thoughtful character. There’s more weight and reflection in this Blair. He’s certainly more mature.’

Questions for discussion

1. ‘What’s most daring about [The Queen] is that it isn’t a satire. It’s a story that dares to paint people in power as complex, rounded, conflicted human beings just like you and me. There’s real no tradition for this sort of thing outside of comedy.’ Peter Morgan

How were your opinions of the characters affected by knowing that they are real people? Are any of them portrayed differently to how you expected?

2. What effect is achieved by the frequent use of news footage of Princess Diana throughout the film? How is her character portrayed in the film through this and through other characters?

3. ‘Diana had an extraordinary aura about her, and when she died, there was a terrible stillness. No one quite knew how to react at first. Then the grief started. Was it a real emotion? Was it a fake emotion? Or was it an emotion really meant for all our other woes?’ (Andy Harries, producer)

How well do you think that The Queen captures the feeling of the time after Princess Diana died? If so, how? How do you feel about the outpouring of emotion from the perspective of today? How does watching this film change your opinion of what happened?

4. ‘Something's happened. There's been a change. Some shift in values.’ (The Queen)

Why do you think there was such a large outpouring of grief from the public after Princess Diana died? In what ways was the response to Diana’s death evidence of a shift in values? What does this reveal about the spiritual state of the nation at that point? How do you think that society has changed since then?

5. ‘They were a family in crisis locked up in a closed world. The Queen decided that to protect Diana’s boys, all televisions and radios were to be removed. So they were living in a place of total denial. They were bunkered up in an institution propped up by sycophancy, and they weren’t being told what was going on in the country at large. The people were on the streets clamoring for a reaction from the family, and none was forthcoming for that reason.’ (Peter Morgan)

To what extent do you understand the Royal Family’s reactions? What are your opinions of Tony Blair’s and the Queen’s different views of what to do? How are these opinions portrayed in the film? Who do you think is right? Why?

6. Was the Queen right to try to protect the Princes in the way she did? Why is her decision to do this portrayed as a negative thing in the press? Do you think the traditional, reserved style of monarchy still has a place in today’s world? Why/why not?

7. How does the fourteen-point stag function as a metaphor within The Queen? Why is the Queen so affected by hearing of its death? Why does she go to see its corpse? How does the Queen’s Land Rover also serve as a metaphor for the monarchy?

8. ‘Nowadays, people want glamour and tears - the grand performance. I'm not very good at that. I never have been. I prefer to keep my feelings to myself and foolishly I believed that was what the people wanted from their queen. Not to make a fuss nor wear one's heart on one's sleeve. Duty first, self second. That's how I was brought up. That's all I've ever known.’ (The Queen)

Why do you think the Queen finally decides to agree to Tony Blair’s suggestions of what to do? How does it affect her?

9. How do the closing scenes of Tony Blair and the Queen having a meeting together compare with the parallel scenes at the beginning of the film where Blair has his first meeting with the Queen after becoming Prime Minister? How has the relationship between the two of them changed? How have these two individuals changed?

10. ‘It’s really a story about the end of tradition, which has been both a strength and weakness in Britain.’ (Stephen Frears)

How did The Queen draw contrasts between old and new, traditional and modernizing? Which side were your sympathies on before watching the film? Did your opinions on this change at all as a result of watching it? If so, how?

11. ‘Television is a key element to the story because that’s really how most people knew Diana, know the Royal Family and how we all experienced the whole story of Diana’s death. And of course, the media is a constant consideration in Tony Blair’s government.’ (Peter Morgan)

How is the media portrayed in The Queen? Do you think the portrayal is fair? To what extent do you feel the media should be allowed to influence such events? Are politicians right to pay so much attention to it?

12. ‘Ultimately, there’s nothing vicious or defamatory about this film. It might be sharply critical in places but it’s primarily affectionate and sympathetic to all the people involved. In many ways I came to believe that the only real blame for what happened in those days could be placed on us – the public – and our desire to be a part of someone we didn’t even really know.’ (Peter Morgan)

What do you think the film is critical of? Is Peter Morgan right to say that the blame finally lies with the public? Why/why not?

13. ‘That woman has given her whole life in service to her people. Fifty years doing a job she never wanted. A job she watched kill her father. She's executed it with honour, dignity and, as far as I can tell, without a single blemish and now we're all baying for her blood. All because she's struggling to lead the world in mourning for someone who threw everything she offered back in her face. And who, for the last few years, seemed committed 24/7 to destroying everything she holds dear.’ (Tony Blair)

‘She's been brought up to believe it's God's will she is who she is.’ (Robin Janvrin)

Why do you think Tony Blair started to stand up for the Queen? Confucius believed that the ruler should be the ultimate role model. In what ways do you think the Queen is a good role model? How would the country be different if more people followed her example of dedicated service? Why is the Queen’s conviction that she is monarch by God’s will so crucial to her?

Unless otherwise noted, quotes come from the official production notes or from the film dialogue.

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