Margaret Thatcher greeted Queen Elizabeth with a low reverence, as in season 4 of ‘The Crown’

The crownThe fourth season finally presents a long-awaited woman. No, not Princess Diana (well, her too) – the Iron Lady herself, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. And she introduces herself, greeting Queen Elizabeth with an eerily low reverence.

Thatcher, played by Gillian Anderson, repeats this curious move often enough that it becomes a minor plot point and begs the question: Did the real prime minister bow like that?

Indeed, it seems she did. This is not only visually documented in several period photographs, which show her hitting the bridge for the Queen and Queen Mother, but well known among the British.

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In his 2002 biography, Elizabeth: the woman and the queen, Graham Turner wrote that Thatcher was so impressed with the Queen that “his curtsey [sic] almost reached Australia ”. . “)

In fact, Thatcher’s deep reverence was so infamous that decades later, when Theresa May would later make headlines for her “awkward” reverence, comparisons were quickly drawn to Thatcher’s salvation. As label expert William Hanson told the Evening standard“In addition to her political work, Theresa May will always be known for her overly obsequious curtsies to the Queen – something our second female prime minister shares with the first.”

Another curious historical detail, resurfaced thanks to The crown.