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After The Crown, the elegant Claire Foy returns in A Very British Scandal, another British royal drama which dropped on Amazon Prime Video today. Foy portrays the Duchess of Argyll, a millionaire socialite who finds herself embroiled in the scandal of a tawdry divorce after a messy and toxic marriage.
The divorce of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll took the press and the public by storm, due to the scandalous affairs that were unearthed during court proceedings. It ended up being one of the costliest divorces in the history of Britain.
A Very British Scandal retells the drama that unfolded over the course of their relationship spanning 16 years. From their courtship to the marriage that culminated in a vicious and highly public divorce in 1963, we see it all.
A Very British Scandal is a deep-dive into one of the many scandalous affairs of British royalty
The liaison between Margaret and Ian began in plain view while Ian was still married to his second wife. Margaret also was married at the time of their meeting, but she left her husband for Ian because she wanted more legitimacy in society.
Their affair culminated in marriage, but it became clear soon that it was not a union of love. Ian married Margaret for her money to restore the rundown Argyll castle and finance the salvaging of a Spanish treasure ship so he could keep up his lavish lifestyle, while Margaret wanted a high-standing position befitting her wealth.
Realizing that she was on the losing end of the marriage, Margaret plotted to cheat Ian’s sons out of their inheritance. The series starts off showing how Margaret and Ian conspired against and betrayed each other without any hesitation. The battle that followed had them go out of their ways to pull each other down, at the risk of losing their dignity and honor.
While the Duke comes across as an evil, money-hungry shark who does not care about the woman he married, the Duchess turns out to be a conniving but intelligent woman who would go to any lengths to stay afloat in a patriarchal society.
The Duchess is a woman fighting for self-preservation
During the divorce trial, Margaret is publicly vilified as a serial adulteress with a famous piece of evidence which she confirmed was hers. The discovery of the polaroid picture proved to be the turning point of the case. The court ultimately ruled in the Duke’s favor in 1963, while chastising the duchess for having heightened s**ual needs. The Duke received sympathy for being the poor man with an uncontrollable wife, while Margaret had to deal with the societal judgment her entire life.
If anything, A Very British Scandal gives the Duchess a voice to express her woes so we can see the story from her perspective. The show does a remarkable job of creating Margaret as a human with flaws but who is undeserving of the troubles she went through. Claire Foy has done a commendable job in bringing the character to life, as we definitely feel sympathetic towards her.
In summation
The series takes us through the domestic hell of the Duke and the Duchess, and we understand why the scandal took British society by storm in 1963. Over the course of the three episodes, the Duke and Duchess hurl unspeakable insults at each other, participate in cruelties, reconcile and then again fall apart.
Shot against the picturesque background of London and Scotland, A Very British Scandal is a visual treat. Written by Sarah Phelps and directed by Anne Sewitsky, this series starring Claire Foy and Paul Bettany is a marvelous, hard-hitting drama that will leave the viewers with a lot of thoughts. The story is tightly packed in three hours and leaves no space for any boredom.
Catch A Very British Scandal now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
