The Crown (TV Series)

Scientia Potentia Est (2016)

John Lithgow: Winston Churchill

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Quotes 

• Queen Elizabeth II : Shall we make a start?

  Winston Churchill : One item overshadows every other on the agenda this week, Ma'am. The Soviets and their H-bomb. We now have confirmation that they have been testing in the Kazakh Desert. It is vital that we act swiftly to secure peace and vital that we British spearhead the effort. I have always been the person everyone wants in a room with the Russians because Stalin would only talk to me. With him gone, there is a great danger that Eisenhower will take it upon himself to run the show.

  Queen Elizabeth II : And that would be bad?

  Winston Churchill : Oh, a disaster, Ma'am. For all the obvious reasons.

  [coughs] 

  Queen Elizabeth II : Of course. Remind me. Of the obvious reasons.

  Winston Churchill : Russia... is a great old empire which demands and deserves respect. Americans like to wave the big stick and speak with a loud voice. In the matter of world governance, they are not yet ready. They need an experienced and elder power to guide them, school them.

  Queen Elizabeth II : Yes, we could all do with some school.

• Winston Churchill : Your Majesty.

  Queen Elizabeth II : Winston. I am just a young woman, starting out in public service. And I would never presume to give a man, so much my senior, and who has given this country so much, a lecture. However... you were at my Coronation.

  Winston Churchill : I was.

  Queen Elizabeth II : And you therefore heard for yourself as I took the solemn oath to govern the people of my realms according to their respective laws and customs. Now, one of those customs is that their elected Prime Minister should be of reasonably sound body and mind. Not an outrageous expectation, one would've thought.

  Winston Churchill : No.

  Queen Elizabeth II : But it seems that you have not been of sound body and mind these past weeks. And that you chose to withhold that information from me. A decision which feels like a betrayal, not just of the covenant of trust between us and the institutions that we both represent, but of our own personal relationship. In 1867, Walter Bagehot wrote: "There are two elements of the Constitution: the efficient and the dignified." The monarch is the dignified and the government, the efficient. These two institutions only work when they support each other, when they trust one another. Your actions, your breaking of that trust was irresponsible and it might have had serious ramifications for the security of this country. Is your health better now?

  Winston Churchill : It is.

  Queen Elizabeth II : Good. But is it sufficiently better? Fit for office better? I would ask you to consider your response in light of the respect that my rank and my office deserve, not that which my age and gender might suggest.

  Winston Churchill : Ma'am... I look at you now and I realize that the time is fast approaching for me to step down. Not because I am unwell or unfit for office, but because you are ready. And therefore I have discharged my duty to your father. With your blessing and your forgiveness, I shall continue to serve as the leader of Your Majesty's government. Your Majesty.