The Crown: Historical fact or a reign of errors?

Claire: I won’t be in

In the first episode of The Crown, surgeons operate on King George VI and lift out a blackened, cancerous lung.

It is wrapped in newspaper and taken away by a nurse. The scene was initially imagined by show creator Peter Morgan.

But Lacey revealed a descendant of the surgeon confirmed the guesswork.

Doctors kept the cancer secret, not even telling George or the Royal Family.

Instead, Lacey says, “the lung was taken out as it was cancerous and they Princess Elizabeth is seen being taught history by a teacher with a pet raven. All a bit “Harry Potter”, admits Lacey, but it’s true nonetheless.

Henry Marten was an eccentric, raven-owning teacher at Eton College who became a private tutor to Elizabeth, coaching her in constitutional history hoped they would stop the cancer. You see this rather ugly lung wrapped up and taken away, and I think it is burnt.

“That is invented by the team. But days and weeks after this episode was shown a letter came in from the surgeon’s descendant who said, ‘How did you know about that? It’s quite true’.”

According to the viewer: “It was taken away in a special container and secretly burnt so that nobody could tamper with the royal lung.” from 1938. “He used to have a pet raven who’d hop around the study and who they’d feed sugar lumps to,” says Lacey.

“People said that can’t be true, but her teacher did have a pet raven.” Eton’s Marten Library, named after him, was no doubt visited by the Queen’s grandsons William and Harry, both former pupils.

Grabbing the Queen, Prince Philip loses his temper and shakes his wife angrily. As the argument escalates, and she throws shoes and a tennis racket at him, the sparring couple venture outside.

Their embarrassing disagreement is captured by a gawping camera crew.

This unforgettable scene in the first series of The Crown, Netflix’s hugely acclaimed £100million drama, was so shocking it was verging on unbelievable.

The programme is a biography of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, played by Claire Foy. But, as with any entertainment series, where does the reality end and the dramatic licence begin?

As fans of the show prepare for the second series, royal historian Robert CLAIRE Foy has confirmed that her reign as Queen Elizabeth II is set to end.

The award-winning actress yesterday revealed that the Netflix blockbuster has cast her replacement for season 3, after months of speculation that she would be departing the royal role.

Speaking at a BFI press conference for her new movie Breathe, she smiled when asked who would take over the role, playing the older Queen.

Claire, 33, said: “I know who’s doing it. Lacey reveals what was fact and what was fiction. He is author of a new, official companion book to the first episodes, which covered 1947 to 1955.

The Crown: The Inside Story documents Elizabeth’s journey from 25-yearold wife and mother to monarch.

The second series, out in December, explores her sister Princess Margaret’s relationship with Lord Snowdon, Prince Charles’s early life and even hints at Prince Philip having an affair. So, true or false?

The Crown: The Inside History by Robert Lacey is out now RRP £20, Blink Publishing. So… there. All I can say is it’s really exciting and great and amazing.”

But she admitted she was “grateful” for getting the chance to portray Her Majesty.

She said: “I always knew from the get-go that I would only be doing two series so I am just very, very thankful that I’ve had such a wonderful time playing that part and making friends for life.

“I’ve had the best time ever and I’m very, very grateful. All the time.”

Claire, who became a mother in 2015,

A naked Winston Churchill, as played by John Lithgow, is seen splashing around in the bath while his secretary takes notes on the floor outside. Phyllis Moir, who joined Churchill’s staff in 1932, was the first longsuffering secretary to write about...