欲承王冠，必负其重

《王冠》这部剧简直是白芝浩(Walter Bagehot)《英国宪政》(The English Constitution)的最佳影视注解。

白芝浩在《英国宪政》一书中简洁明了地指出君主制得以存续的理由：君主制下，全民的目光都注视着行有趣之事的君主身上；而共和制下，人民的注意力则被分散到各个做着无聊俗务的官员身上。只要人的感情胜于理性，君主制就会强盛，因为君主制唤起的是人们广泛的情感，而共和制唤起的则是人们的理性。（To state the matter shortly, Royalty is a government in which the attention of the nation is concentrated on one person doing interesting actions. A Republic is a government in which that attention is divided between many, who are all doing uninteresting actions. Accordingly, so long as the human heart is strong and the human reason weak, Royalty will be strong because it appeals to diffused feeling, and Republics weak because they appeal to the understanding. ）

这似乎在暗示，当人类理性能够持续战胜情感时，君主制存续的情感基础将不复存在。事实是，人类进入二十世纪以来，随着工业革命的开展，经济水平的腾飞，受教育的民众也越来越多，可以说人类作为一个社会群体的集体理性在日益增强。这个理论在一定程度上也暗合了上世纪世界各国君主制的凋零。然而，英国皇室留存了下来，为什么能够留存下来的原因从《王冠》这部剧中可以窥见一斑。

其中最重要的原因之一可能就是，女王严守宪政精神和中立立场，不干预政党之争，不站队，或者简单来说，不作妖。

第一季中，伦敦严重雾霾，丘吉尔坚称是天灾而非人祸，怠于采取行动。反对派发起不信任动议（motion of no confidence）。蒙巴顿将军(Lord Mountbatten)也试图说服女王劝说年老的丘吉尔下台，让更年轻的副手上台。

此时登基不久的女王问私人秘书Tommy Lascelles(曾辅佐女王父亲乔治六世）:“what are my responsibilities as head of state? What should I do? When it’s in the national interest? How far dare I go?”

Tommy告诉女王，她的前任们都无一例外地选择遵循先例，不干预党争。当然，此一时，彼一时（Different situations, different sovereigns.）。决定权还在女王手中。

女王本来打算出手劝退丘吉尔，在御前会见的最后一刻还是选择了遵循先例，do nothing.

后来女王跟祖母Queen Mary说：“It doesn’t feel right to do nothing as head of state.”

Queen Mary:“It is exactly right. ”

Queen Elizabeth:“Is it? But surely doing nothing is no job at all.”

Queen Mary: “To do nothing is the hardest job of all. It requires every ounce of energy that we have. To be impartial is not natural, is not human. People always want us to smile or agree or frown or speak. And The minute we do, we have declared a position, a point of view. And It is the one thing as a royal family we are not entitled to do, which is why we have to hide these feelings, keep them to ourselves.”

这个do nothing的君主哲学可能都困扰着每一任即位的君主，尤其当他们风华正茂，觉得自己可以一展宏图，有所作为。

王储查尔斯王子在授封为威尔士王子（Prince of Wales)时表达了对威尔士人民想要保留本民族文化、语言和自决的同情和共鸣，同样被王室被认为是不妥的。认为自己不被倾听不被允许发声的查尔斯王子在质问女王时，女王向王子重复了祖母Queen Mary当年对她说的话:“Not having a voice is something all of us have to live with. We have all made sacrifices and suppressed who we are. Some portion of ourselves is always lost.”

Prince Charles: “That is a choice.”

Queen Elizabeth:“ It is not a choice. It is a duty.”

女王除了教育自己的儿子，还教育自己的长辈。第三季中，菲利普亲王的舅舅蒙巴顿将军与英国银行家等联合试图推翻工党政府时，询问女王：“Why are you protecting a man like Wilson?”

Queen: “I am protecting the prime minister. I am protecting the Constitution. I am protecting democracy.”

Lord Mountbatten: “But if the man at the heart of democracy threatens to destroy it, are we supposed to stand by and do nothing?”

Queen: “Yes, doing nothing is exactly what we do. And bide our time. We wait for the people who vote them in to vote them out again, if that is indeed what they decide to do.”

女王和蒙巴顿将军的这番交锋，也暗示了女王政治上的成熟，她不再像年轻时那样容易被身边人吹耳旁风，此时的她已经不需要再咨询自己的私人秘书，或是向长辈倒苦水，而是鲜明直接地教训了蒙巴顿将军。

Do nothing的政治智慧和保守正统的作风一次又一次地保护了英国脆弱的君主立宪制，比如爱德华七世的退位，但同时也压抑了王室成员的个性，甚至酿成个人悲剧，比如拆散玛格丽特公主与Townsend。一些不近人情的做法旨在维护王室形象，但却让人们看到王权的冷酷无情，从而招致了不少批评和非议。第三季中众人皆知的查尔斯王子的爱情故事想必将延续到第四季。下一季中顺理成章登上舞台的戴安娜这朵英伦玫瑰将给本已脆弱的英国王室再一重击。

Prince Charles: “I have a voice.”

Queen Elizabeth: “Let me let you into a secret. No one wants to hear it.”

Prince Charles: “are you talking about the country or my own family?”

Queen Elizabeth: “no one.”

正如第一季中女王和菲利普亲王在为加冕仪式中亲王需不需要下跪一事争论时那样，女王从未忘记过自己是个妻子、母亲，但在此之前，她是个君主。

丘吉尔在登基不久的女王出访英联邦各国时交代她：“Never let them see that carrying the crown is often a burden. Let them look at you but let them see only the eternal.”

然而，王冠之下何止永恒？女王一直在负重前行。