THE QUEEN

 

 

                                  Written by

 

                                 Peter Morgan

 

    

                                                                 1.

         

         

          ARCHIVE TELEVISION FOOTAGE

         

          It's Election Day 1997. Up and down the country, the PEOPLE

          OF BRITAIN, people of all shapes and sizes and denominations,

          black and white, young and old, are going to the Polls.

         

          Everyone, that is, except the people that live in...

 

 

          EXT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - DAY

 

          The most instantly recognisable Palace in the world.

 

          The Royal Standard, (the flag of heraldic lions and symbolic

          harp-strings that signals the Monarch's presence), flutters

          on the roof.

         

 

          INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - CHINESE ROOM DAY

 

          We're in a state room at Buckingham Palace. A TV plays in the

          corner..

 

                                  COMMENTARY

                     ..here's Tony Blair, just 43 years

                   old, arriving at the polling station

                   of his constituency in Sedgefield.."

         

          QUEEN ELIZABETH II, wearing formal robes of the Garter, is

          posing for an official portrait by an elderly black PORTRAIT

          ARTIST, (representative, one assumes, of one of the many

          Charities of which she is patron)..

 

 

                                   ELIZABETH

                     Have you voted yet, Mr Crawford?

 

                                  ARTIST

 

                           (proudly dabbing palette)

                     Yes, Ma'am. I was there when they

                    opened. First in line. Seven o'clock.

         

                                COMMENTARY

 

                    If he wins, he'll be the youngest

                   Prime Minister in almost two hundred

                   years.."

 

          He straightens..

         

                                 ARTIST

                   And I don't mind telling you, it

                   wasn't for Mr Blair.

         

                                ELIZABETH

                   Not a moderniser, then?

 

         

         

                               ARTIST

                   Certainly not. We're in danger of

                   losing too much that's good about this

                   country as it is.

         

                               TV COMMENTARY

                   "The only questions that still remain:

                   how big will his landslide be? And how

                   extensive, how sweeping will the

                   modernisation programme be that he

                   ushers in?"

         

                              ELIZABETH

                   Hmm.

         

          The QUEEN watches as he paints..

         

                               ELIZABETH

                   I rather envy you being able to vote.

                        (a beat)

                   Not the actual ticking of the box,

                   although, I suppose, it would be nice

                   to experience that ONCE.

                        (a beat)

                   But the sheer joy of being partial.

         

                              ARTIST

                   Yes..

         

          The ARTIST squints as he scrutinises the canvass..

         

                               ARTIST

                   One forgets that as Sovereign, you are

                   not entitled to vote.

 

                               ELIZABETH

                   No.

         

                               ARTIST

                   Still, you won't catch me feeling

                   sorry for you. You might not be

                   allowed to vote, Ma'am..

                        (a beat)

                   But it IS your Government.

         

                              ELIZABETH

                   Yes.

         

          The QUEEN raises her eyebrow..

         

                               ELIZABETH

                   I suppose that is some consolation.

         

                                                       FADE TO BLACK:

         

                             

 

         

         

                                                                  3.

         

         

         

         

          INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - QUEEN'S BEDROOM - DAY

         

          The QUEEN's face. Fast asleep. It's shortly before 8.00 am.

          Daylight filters through the curtains. As does something

          else..

         

          The stirring sound of bagpipes..

         

         

          EXT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - INNER COURTYARD - DAY

         

          The inner courtyard of Buckingham Palace. In a ritual

          unchanged since Queen Victoria, a uniformed PIPER, wearing a

          kilt of Ancient Hunting Stuart tartan, marches under her

          Majesty's windows, playing the bagpipes.

         

           t's her morning alarm call, and it's the way she wakes up

          wherever she is - anywhere in the world.

         

         

          INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - QUEEN'S BEDROOM - DAY

         

          Darkness. A soft knock at the door. (The strains of bagpipes

          can still be heard from below). Her Majesty's DRESSER sticks

          her head round the corner, with a calling tray of Earl Grey

          tea and the newspapers.

         

                               MAID

                   G'morning, Ma'am.

         

          The DRESSER puts the tea and newspapers on a bedside table.

         

                               DRESSER

                  Shall I draw the curtains?

         

          The QUEEN's sleepy voice answers..`Please'. The DRESSER goes

          to the window.

         

                               ELIZABETH (O.S)

                   Did you stay up?

         

                                 DRESSER

                   Yes, Ma'am.

         

                               ELIZABETH (O.S)

                   And? Was it as expected..?

         

          The QUEEN's hand reaches for spectacles, then for the

          newspapers. She puts on her glasses.

         

                                RESSER

                   Yes, Ma'am. Mr Blair, by a landslide.

         

          The QUEEN's expression changes..

         

                        

         

                                                                   4.

         

         

         

                              ELIZABETH

                   I see.

         

          She lifts the newspaper up. The front page comes into sharp

          focus.

         

          FULL FRAME: the beaming smile of TONY BLAIR, the new Prime

          Minister. The QUEEN stares back. Their eyes meet - as it

          were. Headlines tell us..

         

                 "IT'S BLAIR!", "LANDSLIDE VICTORY FOR BLAIR".

         

         

          INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - BREAKFAST ROOM - DAY

         

          The QUEEN sits at breakfast. Reading the newspapers. Dogs

          under the table. A knock on the door, and ROBIN JANVRIN,

          (40's), her deputy Private Secretary, pops around..

         

                               JANVRIN

                   The Prime Minister is on his way,

                   Ma'am.

         

                               ELIZABETH

                   To BE, Robin.

                        (correcting, terse)

                   Prime Minister to BE.

         

          The QUEEN frostily flicks a page, without looking up..

         

                                ELIZABETH (cont'd)

                   He hasn't asked my permission yet.

         

         

          INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - CORRIDOR - DAY

         

          The QUEEN and JANVRIN walk through a corridor of the Palace.

          It has the air of a grand hotel. Chintz. Flock. Long, gilded

          mirrors. Portraits on the walls..

         

                               ELIZABETH

                   He's a hard one to read, isn't he?

         

                               JANVRIN

                   Yes. On the one hand his background is

                   quite establishment. Father a

                   Conservative. A public school

                   education at Fettes, where he was

                   tutored by the same man as the Prince

                   of Wales.

 

                                ELIZABETH

                   Well, we'll try not to hold that

                   against him.

          

                        

 

         

                                                                5.

         

         

         

                               JANVRIN

                   On the other, his manifesto promises

                   the most radical modernisation and

                   shake-up of the Constitution in three

                   hundred years.

         

                                ELIZABETH

                   Oh. Is he going to `modernise' us, do

                   you think?

         

                               JANVRIN

                   I wouldn't put it past him. He's

                   married to a woman with known anti-

                   Monarchist sympathies - you may

                   remember her curtsey the first time

                   you met. It could best be described as

                   `shallow'.

         

                               ELIZABETH

                   I don't measure the depth of a

                   curtsey, Robin. I leave that to my

                   sister.

         

                               JANVRIN

                   And I spoke to the Cabinet Secretary

                   who said he was expecting the

                   atmosphere at Downing Street to be

                   very informal. Everyone on first name

                   terms.

                        (a beat)

                   At the Prime Minister's insistence.

         

                               ELIZABETH

                   What? As in `Call me Tony?'

         

                              JANVRIN

                   Yes.

         

          The QUEEN's face puckers in distaste..

         

                               ELIZABETH

                   Oh. I'm not sure I like the sound of

                   that.

                         (a beat)

                   Have we sent him a protocol sheet?

         

         

          EXT. MALL - DAY

         

          ARCHIVE FOOTAGE: as TONY BLAIR's motorcade drives down the

          MALL.

         

         

          EXT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - DAY

         

          The motorcade sweeps into the grand, inner quadrangle of

          Buckingham Palace, and stops at the King's door.

         

 

         

                                                                6.

         

         

         

         

          INT. CAR - DAY

         

          Three secret service BODYGUARDS leap out and open the car

          doors. TONY looks out at the palace..

         

                               TONY

                   Funny, I'm actually rather nervous.

         

                                HERIE

                    hy? You've met her often enough

                   before.

         

                               TONY

                   I know. But never one to one. And

                   never as Prime Minister.

         

                               CHERIE

                   Remember, you're a man that's just

                   been elected by the whole country.

                               T

                                TONY

                   Yes. But she's still, y'know..

         

          TONY looks up at the vast palace in front of him..

         

                                TONY

                   The Queen.

          

         

          INT. BUCKINGHAM PALACE - CORRIDOR/STAIRCASE - DAY

         

          A uniformed EQUERRY leads TONY and CHERIE through corridors,

          and up a grand staircase..

         

                               EQUERRY

                   When we reach the audience room, I

                   will knock. We will not wait to be

                   called, we will go straight inside.

                   Standing by the door, we bow. From the

                   neck. I will introduce you. The Queen

                   will extend her hand, you go to her,

                   bow again, then shake her hand.

         

          TONY shoots his cuffs, `Right', clears his throat.

         

                                QUERRY (cont'd)

                   Couple of other things. It's `Ma'am'

                   as in ham, not Ma'am as in farm.

         

                                 TONY

                   Yes..

         

                               EQUERRY

                   And when you're in the Presence, at no

                   point must you show your back.