For the most part, The Crown does a very good job of avoiding painting any of its characters as either straightforwardly bad or good, preferring to explore the nuances of their personalities in various ways. This is true even of Philip who, in some ways, is one of the most unpleasant characters in the show (though that has mellowed a bit in recent seasons, thanks to Tobias Menzies' portrayal).
He is, to be quite frank, often a bit of a jerk, even to his wife and sons. However, as the show repeatedly demonstrates, there are actually some very sad things about him that allow the viewer to actually sympathize with the character.
10 His Tense Relationship With His Mother
The third season includes a very moving storyline involving Philip’s mother. It turns out that she has actually been serving as a nun in Greece, but she is brought to the UK to avoid the political turmoil there. Once close to her son again, it’s revealed that they have a very tense relationship, and it takes a lot of work for them to mend their fences.
It’s one of those moments where the show really does allow the viewer a bit more perspective on what makes Philip the person that he is (even if it's not really historically accurate).
9 The Loss Of His Sister
In the series’ imagination, it’s pretty clear that Philip was closer to no one more than his sister. In fact, her death in a plane crash caused him all sorts of agony, particularly since it meant that one of the few people in his life that actually loved and treasured him as a person was no longer there.
It’s a notable moment of humanization for Philip, allowing viewers to see him as something other than the abrasive cad he’d been for much of the first season.
8 His Frustration At Having Achieved So Little In His Life
The third season of the show is, in some ways, a more introspective one than the first and second, and that’s particularly true of the way that it portrays Philip. For example, it paints him as someone who has grown frustrated, and sad, about how little he has managed to accomplish in his life.
The audience is led to sympathize with him, to see him as someone who holds himself to just as high of a standard as he does everyone else (including and especially his son Charles).
7 His Obvious Tensions With Charles
Philip is one of those people who really doesn’t like weakness in others, which is why he has such a difficult time having a close relationship with his son Charles, which Tobias Menzies ably conveys.
The two of them just seem as if they are from completely different planets, and neither of them seems either willing or able to meet the other one on anything resembling his own territory. It’s rather sad since it seems that they might have been able to be closer had either been willing to compromise.
6 His Loss Of Lord Mountbatten
The assassination of Louis Mountbatten at the beginning of the fourth season is one of the most explosive events ever staged in the series, and it leaves a gaping hole in the lives of his family. This is particularly true for Philip, who looked to Mountbatten as a sort of father figure.
He admits as much to Charles, and it’s one of the few times that the viewer gets to see him open himself in such a fashion to another person (particularly another man), and it's one of the saddest moments in the fourth season.
5 The Distance Between Him And Elizabeth In Their Early Days
One of the most notable things about the relationship between Elizabeth and Philip, at least in their early days, is just how little they seem to like one another.
They always seem as if their interests are butting up against one another, and it takes them quite a while to figure out the contours of their relationship. It’s rather sad, really, to see how difficult it was for Philip to truly accept that his wife loved him and respected him.
4 The Fact He Needed A Boarding School To Give Him Purpose
After the death of his sister, Philip really seems to struggle with finding a purpose in life. In fact, it’s only when he’s sent off to school that he seems to find the thing that’s been eluding him for so long.
While the series frames this as a moment of celebration, it has to be said that there is also something a little sad about the fact that he was so starved of familial affection that he had to turn to total strangers in order to provide any sort of structure to his life.
3 His Inability To Accept His Status
One of the most formidable sticking points between Philip and Elizabeth in their early relationship was the fact that he couldn’t seem to accept that he was lower than her in terms of status.
While he does act like a bit of a jerk about the whole thing, it’s still hard not to see this as rather sad in its own way, as he simply cannot wrap his head around the fact that he isn’t ever going to be the man that he thought he would be.
2 His Closeness With Anne At The Expense Of His Other Children
In a revealing exchange with Elizabeth in the fourth season, Philip makes no bones of the fact that he has a favorite among their four children, and that this is, of course, Anne.
It is, of course, a stunning admission, but there’s also something sad about it since it’s unlikely that any of their children would be unaware of the fact that their father had chosen one among their number to be his favorite.
1 His Inability To Really Connect With Diana
As the fourth season draws to a close, the strain of being part of the Royal Family begins to wear on Diana (which is no surprise). Since she seemed to have developed a close bond with Philip earlier in the series, he takes it upon himself to try to talk to her.
Unfortunately, their conversation falls apart very quickly, and it’s rather sad that the bond they seemed to be forming has ultimately met the fate of so many other of his most important bonds.
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