“The Crown” runs counter to royal spin

By R.D.

SHORTLY AFTER the release of the first season of “The Crown”—Netflix’s decadent drama about the British monarchy during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II—various publications gleefully reported that the queen herself was a fan, having been encouraged to indulge in an episode or two by Prince Edward, her youngest son. Though the royals have refused to be drawn publically on the matter, journalists enjoy speculating on what the Windsors might make of their onscreen counterparts. With season four, which was released on November 15th, that conjecture has intensified: tabloid newspapers have been awash with claims from “royal experts” and unnamed friends that the depictions, particularly of Prince Charles, are so cruelly inaccurate as to be “trolling on a Hollywood budget”.

If they do indeed watch the show, the royal family may well be unhappy with it. The first episode of this new season opens in 1979, with the election of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister, and concludes in 1990. These were not good years for “the firm”, defined as they were by the union of Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. Princess Diana’s ascent to the status of adored public figure—becoming the “queen of people’s hearts”—was matched only in speed and spectacle by the implosion of her marriage.