The Crown criticised for inaccuracies in Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher storylines

The Crown S4
Royal biographer Penny Junor said royals such as Charles, who is shown treating Diana badly from the beginning of their relationship, suffered from the “wild cruel distortions” of the script
Des Willie/Netflix
Robert Dex @RobDexES16 November 2020

Royal drama The Crown came under fresh fire today for a string of inaccuracies in its portrayal of the monarchy.

The latest series of the hit Netflix show, which takes in the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana as well as Margaret Thatcher’s time in Downing Street, launched on Sunday.

Royal biographer Penny Junor said royals such as Charles, who is shown treating Diana badly from the beginning of their relationship, suffered from the “wild cruel distortions” of the script in the show created by writer Peter Morgan.  

She told Radio 4’s Today Programme: “I think these are caricatures, they are portrayed the way they are for dramatic effect. Every dramatist needs victims and they need villains and what Peter Morgan has done here is portray Diana as the victim and just about every member of the royal family as villains.”

She added: “These are not the people I’ve been writing about.”

She has also criticised the depiction of Charles’ relationship with Lord Mountbatten — played by Charles Dance — as “just not historically accurate”.

Writer Anna Pasternak also said Camilla Parker Bowles had been “portrayed very badly” and criticised the depiction of Diana’s bulimia as “sensationalist and distasteful”.

Among the plot lines criticised was one where Diana, played by Emma Corrin, has a furious row with courtiers when she is told she cannot take a young Prince William on a tour of Australia.

In fact, the couple themselves were prepared to leave William in the UK and only agreed to take him after the Australian prime minister suggested it.

Its treatment of the Thatcher government has also been criticised with the show moving events around so the Prime Minister’s son Mark is shown going missing during the Paris-Dakar rally as the Falklands War erupts. In reality it happened months before.

Viewers posted inaccuracies online last night. Carina MacLeod, said: “Factual inaccuracies in the timeline of The Crown. Did anyone else spot it? You can’t change history before it happens.”

Another viewer said they were worried “people around the world will believe everything depicted is true”.

Historian Robert Lacey, who works as a consultant on the show, has previously spoken of its use of “dramatic underlining” to make some events fit with the show’s overall direction.

Netflix does not release viewing figures but said the show went straight into its UK top 10 last night and praised its “phenomenal” performance.

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