Visual Cinderella References in The Crown S4E3 Fairytale
All My Posts on The Crown
S3: 1 & 2: “Olding” & “Margaretology” 3: “Aberfan” 4: “Bubbikins, 5: “Coup” 6: “Tywysog Cymru” 7: “Moondust" 8: “Dangling Man” 9: “Imbroglio” 10: “Cri de Coeur”
S4: 1: “Gold Stick” 2: “The Balmoral Test” 3: “Fairytale” ( + Cinderella References) 4: “Favourites” 5: “Fagan” 6: “Terra Nullius” 7: ”The Hereditary Principle” 8: “48:1” 9: “Avalanche”
The Medals, Sashes, and Tiaras of The Crown; Tiaras/Crowns Overviews: Season 1 ; Season 2
Benjamin Caron, who’s directed at least two episodes in every season of The Crown so far, posted a number of interesting photo comparisons on his Instagram a while back of scenes from S4E3 “Fairytale” and scenes from Disney’s 1950 animated Cinderella. He generally only posted these with something along the lines of “Fairytale,” so he has not actually specified whether these were deliberate shot recreations or not, but I’m guessing that they were. He DID specify in the comments that the famous mouse running across one scene was intentionally put in there as an homage to the mice in Cinderella.
Diana in her Cinderella blue in her kindergarten classroom, positioned in front of a children’s display of Cinderella’s carriage and horses.
I’ve taken all these scenes, put them side by side (on Instagram, you have to flip back and forth), and placed them in roughly chronological order within the episode, for your perusal and enjoyment. All credit goes to The Crown, Disney’ s Cinderella, and of course, director Benjamin Caron.
You may see a few stray instagram buttons and dots, as I took these screenshots directly from there.
This all seems to be inspired by the words of the actual archbishop on Charles and Diana’s wedding day, which were played over the end of the episode: “Here is the stuff of which fairy tales are made. A prince and princess on their wedding day. But fairytales usually end at this point with the simple phrase, ‘They lived happily ever after.' As husband and wife live out their vows, loving and cherishing one another, sharing life’s splendors and miseries, achievements and setbacks, they will be transformed in the process. Our faith sees the wedding day not as the place of arrival, but the place where the adventure really begins.”
And that’s why you shouldn’t label a couple’s story, because you have no idea what’s going on in it. But that’s just my two cents, lol.
The outstretched hand of the stepsister is reflected in Princess Margaret’s outstretched hand for a manicure, as she (along with all the other royal women) wait to hear whether Charles proposed or not.
Although Margaret isn’t as unpleasant as the stepsisters, she ultimately loses the spotlight to the pretty and popular Cinderella/Diana, as is noted later in the season.
The mouse that launched a thousand tweets runs across the foreground as the Queen Mother waits for word on Charles’s proposal.
Benjamin Caron really did confirm in the comments of this post that the placement was intentional.
Then you have Jaq and Gus Gus from Cinderella.
The clock ticking as everyone waits on Charles’s news vs. the famous clock striking midnight in Cinderella.
“Balmoral Castle” in The Crown, which was actually portrayed by Ardverikie House vs. the King’s Castle in Cinderella.
Diana staring up at Prince Charles in the same way that Cinderella staring up at her prince. I previously noted in my post on Fairytale that Diana wears a ton of blue and yellow. Is that…a Cinderella reference? Although Cinderella’s dress is actually a light silver (yes, this is a hill I will die on), it’s always portrayed as blue in promotional material. And the Prince in Cinderella wears white and yellow.
The gates opening at Buckingham Palace vs. The gates at the King’s castle in Cinderella.
Diana goes up the staircase at Buckingham Palace to meet Prince Charles’s family for a formal dinner (notably wearing a dress that’s blue, white, and yellow plaid) vs. Cinderella begins her walk up the staircase to the ball at the castle.
The announcer in The Crown vs. The announcer in Cinderella.
A third party lens view of Charles and Diana vs. a third party lens view of the Prince and Cinderella.
The mail arriving in The Crown vs. The mail arriving in Cinderella.
Diana’s grandmother giving her princess lessons (which, as i mentioned in my previous blog on this episode, did NOT happen in real life) vs. the stepmother Lady Tremaine in Cinderella. It seems that Diana didn’t get along with this grandmother for quite some time (she testified against Diana’s mother getting custody in her parents’ divorce), so this reference seems pretty apt actually.
Also why does Lady Tremaine’s dress kind of resemble the pie crust collars Diana wears several times in this episode?
Diana looking out the window for her prince vs. Cinderella looking out the window for her prince.
Diana running down the spiral stairs in the palace vs. Cinderella going down the spiral-ish stairs from her bedroom to the main house.
The pumpkin carriage in Cinderella vs. the pumpkin (far right, sort of buried under the instagram button) in the kitchen scene in The Crown.
Since the pumpkin came from the household’s garden for its own use, it actually kind of works to have the pumpkin in the palace kitchen!
Diana staring in her mirror in despair vs. Cinderella looking in her mirror.
The fireworks around the palace in The Crown vs. the fireworks outside a digital recreation of Cinderella’s castle at Walt Disney World, as seen in the logo before each Disney film.