'The Crown' Season 3 Episode 5 'Coup': Did Lord Mountbatten try to overthrow Prime Minister Harold Wilson?
Spoiler alert for 'The Crown' Season 3 Episode 5 — 'Coup'.
Truth is stranger than fiction, they say. But sometimes, fiction may take the liberty to fabricate a story out of hearsay. Such seems to be the case for episode five of 'The Crown'. Titled 'Coup', it sheds light on the scandalous theory of how Lord Mountbatten (Charles Dance) was asked to lead a coup against Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
The rumors floated around for years, but later it was regarded as just another conspiracy in the aftermath of Wilson's wrongful identity as a Soviet spy. In the series, there is pressure on Wilson to save the face of the Labour Party after he makes a statement about devaluing the pound. Bank of England director Cecil King (Rupert Vansittart) is infuriated by the news.
Moreover, Wilson's cabinet advises him to remove Lord Mountbatten as Chief of the Defence as his presence symbolizes "privilege" and "inequality." King then approaches Mountbatten in 1968 to discuss deposing Wilson and handling the reins to the latter.
He formulates a plan: “Replacing the Prime Minister and installing an emergency government”. King wants Lord Mountbatten as Prime Minister, in what is described as a coup.
About 48 hours later, Lord Mountbatten holds a meeting with King and the Bank of England about his research on coups. He claims a coup in the UK is only possible if they earn the support of the Crown.
Meanwhile, the Queen visits a breeding farm in France. She gets plenty of advice and wishes to use it for her horse business. After a "good" day, she confesses in a heartfelt chat to Lord Carnarvon "Porchey" how horses make her truly happy and it was what she was born to do if the responsibility for the Crown hadn't befallen on her shoulders.
Their conversation is cut short when the Prime Minister rings the Queen to tell how a senior member of her family is trying to overthrow the Government with Cecil King, The Daily Mirror and the Bank of England.
The Queen returns home and calls a meeting with Lord Mountbatten, making it clear there is no place for such a coup. "Why would you protect a man like Wilson?" he questions her, to which she blatantly answers, "I am protecting the Prime Minister. I am protecting the Constitution. I am protecting democracy," and shuts his intentions with her last words.
It is quite debatable whether or not the Queen knew about Mountbatten's plans, but historian Andrew Lownie did pen down in his book 'The Mountbattens: Their Lives & Loves' about how she was instrumental in sidetracking his interest in "rank treachery." Perhaps, that inspired the events of 'The Crown' too.