The Favorite (2018) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Sarah orders Abigail whipped because she entered the Queen's private bedchamber without permission, a serious breach of palace protocol. As the Queen's chief adviser and intimate companion, Sarah maintains strict control over who has access to Anne, and she sees Abigail's unauthorized entry as a threat to the established order and her own position of influence.

• sarah churchill
• abigail hill
• whipped
• queen anne
• protocol

Abigail drugs Sarah's tea to remove her rival from court and protect her own rising position. The drugging causes Sarah to awaken confused in a brothel, making it appear she abandoned the Queen. This deception convinces Anne that Sarah betrayed her, effectively ending Sarah's influence and allowing Abigail to become the Queen's primary confidante.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Abigail witnessed Sarah's intimate relationship with the Queen and understood how vulnerable that made Sarah to accusations of abandonment.

• abigail hill
• drugs
• tea
• sarah churchill
• brothel
• manipulation

Anne believes Sarah abandoned her because Abigail's drugging made Sarah appear to leave mysteriously, disappearing from court and waking in a brothel. This fits Anne's deep insecurities about being left, especially given her history of losing people she loved. Abigail capitalizes on this误会 to turn Anne against Sarah.

Foreshadowing: The Queen's fragile emotional state and her seventeen rabbits, stood in for children she lost, show her desperate need for companionship and fear of abandonment.

• queen anne
• sarah churchill
• abandoned
• brothel
• misunderstanding

Abigail burns Sarah's letter because it was a reconciliatory note meant to mend fences with Anne. If Anne read it and reconciled with Sarah, Abigail's influence would be destroyed. By intercepting and burning the letter, Abigail prevents Sarah from regaining the Queen's trust and maintains her own position of power.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Abigail had declined Harley's request to spy on Sarah, showing she understood the political value of controlling information between the Queen and her former ally.

• abigail hill
• sarah churchill
• letter
• burned
• intercepted
• reconciliation

The seventeen rabbits represent the children Queen Anne miscarried or lost in infancy, she reportedly lost seventeen pregnancies over her lifetime. The rabbits are her solitary comfort and psychological anchor, standing in for the family she could never have. In the film's final scenes, Abigail's abuse of one rabbit symbolizes her cruel betrayal of Anne's trust.

Foreshadowing: The rabbits appear throughout the film as Anne's only source of comfort, establishing her grief and isolation early on.

• rabbits
• queen anne
• children
• lost
• miscarriage
• symbolism

Sarah burns the letters documenting her intimate relationship with Anne to prevent them from being used as leverage or causing further scandal. Whether from genuine remorse or political calculation remains ambiguous, she destroys the letters after threatening to use them as an ultimatum, yet Anne still exiles her anyway.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Sarah's ultimatum about the letters reveals how deeply her influence over Anne has been eroded by Abigail's presence.

• sarah churchill
• letters
• burned
• queen anne
• threat
• ultimatum

Anne exiles Sarah because she believes Sarah embezzled funds and abandoned her. Abigail, now Keeper of the Privy Purse, presents fabricated evidence of embezzlement, and the intercepted burned letter creates the appearance of guilt. Anne chooses to believe these accusations, viewing Sarah's removal as necessary for the Crown's stability despite their former intimacy.

Foreshadowing: The political pressure from Harley and Godolphin, combined with Sarah's ultimatum about the love letters, had already severely damaged their relationship.

• queen anne
• sarah churchill
• exile
• embezzlement
• abigail hill
• power

After securing her position as Baroness and Keeper of the Privy Purse, Abigail becomes consumed by her new social status and openly pursues affairs. Her focus shifts entirely to personal pleasure and court influence, neglecting the Queen who elevated her. This abandonment mirrors the very betrayal she once accused Sarah of committing.

Foreshadowing: Abigail's rapid ascent from scullery maid to noble Baroness shows her ambition, which eventually curdles into cruelty and neglect.

• abigail hill
• queen anne
• neglect
• affairs
• baroness
• power corruption

Anne pulls Abigail's hair during their final confrontation as a display of remaining authority and personal abuse. Gravely ill and betrayed by the one person she trusted, Anne physically asserts dominance over Abigail, forcing her to kneel and massage her leg. The moment represents how proximity to power corrupts and turns abusive on both sides.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes showed Anne's dependence on Abigail growing, while Abigail's neglect intensified, setting up this volatile confrontation.

• queen anne
• abigail hill
• hair
• pull
• confrontation
• abuse
• final scene

Abigail initially refuses Harley's request to spy on Sarah because she recognizes it as a dangerous political trap. While she knows about the Queen's intimate relationship with Sarah, she has no reason to betray someone who previously helped her. At this point, Abigail still relies on Sarah's protection and hasn't yet positioned herself to replace her.

Foreshadowing: This refusal shows Abigail understanding the court dynamics, but her later alliance with Harley demonstrates how her loyalties shift as her ambitions grow.

• abigail hill
• robert harley
• sarah churchill
• spy
• refuse
• politics