The Crown, Season 5: Some critics have attacked “The Crown” for presenting fiction as fact.
In Netflix‘s very popular show about the modern British royal family, there is a lot of drama, which may be too much for some viewers.
Even before its Wednesday launch, The Crown Season 5 generated controversy. It’s because former British Prime Minister Sir John Major claimed that a sequence in the movie depicting him and Prince Charles (played by Dominic West) allegedly discussing a conspiracy to depose Queen Elizabeth while Major was in office was “a bucket load of spiteful nonsense.”
A famous actress named Dame Judi Dench wrote a letter to The Times asking that Netflix add a warning to the series.
“No one believes in artistic freedom more than I do, but this cannot go unopposed,” wrote Dench. Despite officially acknowledging last week that The Crown has always been a “fictionalized drama,” the show’s creators have defied requests to include a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode.
Even while it occasionally spices things up, the series does include some historically accurate material.
Here are some examples of the show’s subtle and significant historical references.
The Troubled Marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana
The cherished royal couple departs on what was supposed to be a romantic vacation, but things don’t turn out as planned in the first episode of the series.
Even though we don’t know for sure whether little Prince William and Prince Harry supported their mother over their father during family vacation activities, the show does a wonderful job of capturing how sad Princess Diana and later Prince Charles were.
They talk about everything, from Andrew Morton’s explosive “Diana” book in 1996, which she helped with behind the scenes, to the embarrassing discovery of then-Prince Charles and his now-wife Camilla’s lewd phone chats, which caused a big scandal because they were cheating on each other.
One gets the feeling that what really happened to the couple was much worse than what is shown on TV.
The Windsor Castle Fire
In a speech she gave to mark her 40th year on the throne, Queen Elizabeth called 1992 her “year from hell.”
“1992 is not a year that I will remember with pure joy,” she stated.
She had a terrible year, in part due to a fire at Windsor Castle that left more than 100 rooms in ruins.
Although there is no significant plot involving the fire, a scene in which Imelda Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth surveys the damage appears to be a metaphor for her family’s and, by extension, her country’s problems.
The Relationship Between Penny Knatchbull And Prince Phillip
Despite the fact that Penny Knatchbull married the godson of the Duke of Edinburgh, their friendship went well beyond that.
In the show, Prince Phillip steps in to help Knatchbull after a tragedy in his family. This brings them closer together over time.
Ingrid Seward claimed in her book “Prince Philip Revealed,” published in 2020, that she became “the second-most important lady in the Duke of Edinburgh’s life — a steady confidante, loyal companion, and “keeper of secrets.”
The much-older Prince Phillip was not romantically involved with Knatchbull, as depicted in “The Crown,” but rather they became friends over shared hobbies like carriage riding.
That Outfit
Princess Diana wore a black, off-the-shoulder Christina Stambolian dress that became known as “the revenge dress” after Prince Charles admitted in a 1994 ITN documentary that he had been unfaithful to Princess Diana.
Elizabeth Debicki, who is getting good reviews for her role as Princess Diana in the musical, reenacts the now-famous event.
