Season 4, episode 4 of The Crown revolves around Queen Elizabeth’s distant relationships with her four children, and her eventual realization that her favorite is her troubled third child, Prince Andrew (Tom Byrne). The Crown, season 4 begins to shift the focus of the show from Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) to the younger generation of royals, and specifically Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) and his tumultuous relationship with Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin). As the Queen’s four children begin to take on a larger role, her strained relationships with them take center stage in episode 4, “Favourites.”
“Favourites” begins with Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson) offhandedly referring to her son as her favorite child in her private meeting with the Queen, and Elizabeth is taken aback at how easily she can identify which child is her favorite. When Elizabeth talks with Philip about the incident, he tells her that he can easily identity his favorite child — their daughter, Anne. Philip also tells her that it’s evident to everyone which one is Elizabeth’s favorite child, even if she doesn’t realize it herself. Elizabeth spends the rest of the episode meeting with her four children individually, before eventually realizing that her third child, Andrew, is undoubtedly her favorite.
Charles and Anne were born just before Elizabeth became the Queen, and her increase in duties and constant travel in the early years of her reign meant that she could spend very little time with her children. Andrew was born in 1960, eight years after her coronation, when Elizabeth was much more settled into her role as the head of state and was able to take a more hands-on approach to parenting her children. Andrew’s birth is likely associated with a happy and peaceful period in Elizabeth’s life, when she was able to take on a less rigorous work schedule and spend more time at home. Because he wasn’t the heir, Andrew was also allowed more freedom growing up, and quickly became known as one of the wilder royals — something that the Queen indulged, despite his pranks.
However, being the favorite child of the Queen has not protected Andrew from controversy. Following his tumultuous marriage and subsequent divorce from Sarah Ferguson, Andrew was photographed with Jeffrey Epstein in 2010 — who, at the time, was a registered sex offender that had already served time in prison. Despite increased scrutiny on Andrew’s longtime friendship with Epstein, he didn’t retire from public duties until 2020. Prince Andrew finally had to step back as a working royal following the backlash from a widely criticized interview with Newsnight. His position as the Queen’s favorite child likely protected Andrew for the better part of a decade, until he finally had to step down in 2020.
The Crown’s portrayal of Prince Andrew emphasizes the Queen’s lifelong affection for him. The impact of the Queen’s duties as head of state on her relationships with her children is a recurring theme in the show, and it’s incredibly evident in “Favourites.” Season 4 is the first time that Andrew has a significant amount of screen-time, and the episode makes it clear that The Crown is not going to shy away from him. Andrew’s controversial life will likely have a much bigger role in later seasons of The Crown, but his lifelong status as the Queen’s favorite child is put on full display in season 4, episode 4 of The Crown.
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