There appears to be an awful lot of people out there who have it in for The Crown, the Netflix series about the Royal family which goes out of its way to make clear that it’s a drama. One newspaper today declares that its creator, Peter Morgan, “neither sought nor received the consent of King Charles before choosing to disect his entire life”. Well, funny that. Would you?
The latest uproar is about an episode that suggests Charles tried to get the then PM, John Major, to persuade the Queen to abdicate. That’s clearly not true. But the real sin of the series is, I’d say, not what it gets wrong but what it gets right. One of the charges against Morgan is that he makes out that Prince Philip was unfaithful. Well, those rumours have been around for years across newspapers and books. Even innocent souls like Gyles Brandreth mention, in his biography of the Duke, all the possible candidates before concluding that there was nothing in it. Specifically, the series features Penny Knatchbull, described as Prince Philip’s carriage-driving companion. I can’t remember when I’ve been less surprised.
