The Crown: Recapping every episode from the show’s third season
Episode 2: “Margaretology”
In “Margaretology,” The Queen sends Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon, Antony Armstrong-Jones (Tony); 1st Earl of Snowdon, on an American tour to conduct royal business. While on the tour, the Queen also expects them to spend time rekindling their relationship.
The tour does a lot of good for Margaret’s self-esteem. She’s the focus of American newspapers while she’s there, dazzling Americans with her great personality, style, and wit. Her fans adopt the name “Margaretologists,” which inspired the title of this episode. Margaret always felt like she was a more natural queen than her sister. Queen Elizabeth believed that to be true as well. When the Queen’s secretary goes into detail about her sister’s success in America, she reacts with jealousy.
Unfortunately, the tour doesn’t do much for Princess Margaret’s relationship with her husband. Lord Snowdon doesn’t like everyone fawning over his wife or the American paparazzi. He doesn’t believe being Royal is all that important, and he hates the fact that his wife indulges in the glory while he watches. However, Lord Snowdon does show support for his wife when the Queen instructs them to meet President Lyndon Johnson at the White House in order to smooth over British and American relations. Britain is in desperate need of a financial bailout from the United States, and thanks to Margaret’s charisma, spontaneity, and ability to relate to Johnson’s feeling of being second best, she’s able to win the bailout for Britain.
Margaret’s success in America gives her the confidence to ask the Queen to give her more tasks to complete in the Queen’s place. Queen Elizabeth sympathizes and considers giving Princess Margaret more to do, despite her jealousy, but Prince Philip changes her mind. He tells the Queen that, just because people love Margaret for her sparkling personality and she can charm the American President over drinks, it doesn’t mean she is a fit leader. Prince Phillip also explains to the Queen that being the opposite of her sister — dull, dutiful, conservative — is what makes her a great Queen. The episode ends with Princess Margaret looking defeated once she realizes she won’t get the OK from the Queen.