"It is possible to view this season of The Crown as an interval, a held breath, a pause between the high drama of Elizabeth’s coronation and the rise of Lady Di, and that would not be an inaccurate reading," says Rachel Syme. "But the lack of a major event doesn’t make it less intriguing. It is in their fallow periods that monarchs flail the most, given the free time to ask themselves the big, searching questions about the heavy burden of holding court." ALSO: Can The Crown make viewers crush on Prince Charles?