The Crown: A true jewel
There is little doubt The Crown has done magnificent things for the public’s perception of Britain’s most famous family. Anna Murray reports.
Ever since it took its first sumptuous steps on to our screens back in 2016, Netflix drama The Crown has been inextricably linked with any and all debate over the real-life royals.
And so it was that the show found itself trending all over Twitter again last week – and not just because its newest Queen Elizabeth, Olivia Colman, had won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of the monarch.
No, instead the show’s fans were speculating whether the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, could play herself in a future season of The Crown, following the dramatic decision she and her husband, Prince Harry, made to step back from ‘‘senior’’ royal duties.
Spoiler alert: She won’t play herself on the show. But I imagine she and Harry still would not mind a little of the positive spin The Crown usually generates for Britain’s royals right about now.
There is little doubt the hugely popular series has done magnificent things for the public’s perception of Britain’s most famous family.
Even when we know the events of The Crown are not strictly factual (or are complete fabrications), the show’s version of the royal family has undeniably shaped how we see these usually very guarded individuals.
Audiences loved Claire Foy’s portrayal of the Queen during The Crown’s first two seasons, as she played a young queen finding her feet as sovereign. Colman’s turn as the Queen has been much icier by comparison but audiences (and the Hollywood foreign press, evidently) still adored it too, because, well, she is Olivia Colman.
But it is not just the Queen who has come out of The Crown with some favourable PR. Other family members who actually needed it have also benefited.
Prince Philip might have been shown as an absolute cad in the second season but he has gained from Tobias Menzies’ depiction of him during the latest season, particularly in the episodes where we see him reconnecting with his mother, Princess Alice, or struggling with a midlife crisis during the Moon landing.
Prince Charles is also seen in a largely favourable light during The Crown’s third season.
Played by Josh O’Connor, the heir to the throne is shown as a shy young man, struggling to come to terms with his royal role, while winning over people determined to dislike him. We also get to see his sensitive side as he weeps over the love of his life, Camilla Shand, marrying another man.
It has certainly humanised the prince behind the stuffy tweed jackets, regardless of how truthful a depiction it may be.
But as well as giving the royals some positive image overhaul – something they are in desperate need of once again – The Crown has also given audiences an insight into just how much matters of the heart have rocked the royal family over the years.
Even when we know the events of The Crown are not strictly factual, the show’s version of the royal family has undeniably shaped how we see these individuals.
Days after news of Prince Harry’s romance with Markle emerged in 2016, audiences were reacquainting themselves with another prominent American divorcee and her impact on the royals over on The Crown.
The first season featured a flashback to the time Edward VIII abdicated the throne so as to marry Wallis Simpson, with the scandal-plagued couple popping up again throughout the series.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s move to withdraw from the rigours of royal life has been likened to the crisis of that abdication in 1936, although anybody with a passing knowledge of the royal family knows that is a bit ridiculous.
Given Prince Harry is currently sixth in line to the throne, it was unlikely he was ever going to get to the front of that queue.
But what The Crown has also very effectively shown over the past few years is that being a member of the royal family and being subjected to its traditions and public criticisms can be a heavy burden.
And given the drastic moves taken by the Sussexes last week, such storylines might prove the show to be more accurate than we ever thought possible.