As you’ve never seen him, the ‘touchy-feely’ Duke
Far from being the cold and stiff father, Prince Philip is portrayed as a doting parent and progressive husband in new TV drama
THE Prince of Wales once complained that he felt “emotionally estranged” from his parents; unhappy that his father had packed him off to boarding school at a young age.
But a new drama, based on meticulous research, will cast the Duke of Edinburgh in a new light. Far from being an “unfeeling father”, as many still think of him, it will portray him as a doting parent. Even, dare one say it – and as this still from the drama shows – as the touchy-feely kind.
The Crown, the 10-part Netflix drama about the life of the young Queen, will show the Duke in his happy heyday, as a loving father and “progressive” husband.
The first episodes will show the Duke – played by Matt Smith, the former Doctor Who actor – ruffling the hair of the young Prince Charles, calling him “darling” and protesting that he and the Queen should not leave him on his own to travel when he is young. Suzanne Mackie, the producer, said she would love for the public to see the Duke beyond the “stereotypes”, with “wit, charisma and presence” behind closed doors as he looked after his young children.
Mackie said a change in the public’s perception of the Duke “really, really would please me”, admitting she was thrilled that the scripts of Peter Morgan avoided the easy stereotypes of the Duke’s “inappropriate, gauche comments” he has become known for in later life.
When asked about the young Duke of Edinburgh seen on screen during
The Crown and the way the public sees him now, Mackie said: “How surprising Philip is as a character. How incredibly, surprisingly vital, progressive, modernising, energetic; a real alpha male. Someone who was allegedly very, very good at more or less everything he turned his hand to. Really athletic, capable and clever. I think Philip is someone who is often misunderstood or we only see one dimension to him, And yet theirs is a marriage that has survived. They have stood next to each other for decades.
“We’ve watched so many videos of him talking passionately about this cause or that cause.”
She added of the Royal family: “I’d love for them, if ever they watch this, to think I’m proud of what we’ve done for Philip. I really do feel that.”
The first episodes of the show will see the Queen and her new husband settling into married life in Malta, playing with a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne, and spending time in Kenya before the death of her father the King and the summons back to duty in London.
In one scene, the Duke attempts to persuade the Queen to stay at home, worrying that the “darling” children will miss them. In series two, which is currently being filmed, Mackie said
The Crown would go on to explore the complex relationship between the Duke and his son, focusing on why he chose to send Prince Charles away to Gordonstoun. The Prince of Wales has since disclosed the unhappiness he experienced at the boarding school, once telling a biographer he felt “emotionally estranged” from his parents and had longed for the sort of affection they were “unable or unwilling to offer”.
In 2004, the Duke was reported to have said: “Charles is a romantic – and I’m a pragmatist. We do see things differently. Because I don’t see things as a romantic would, I’m unfeeling.”
Matt Smith said he was delighted to be offering an alternative vision of Prince Philip. When asked about a “stiff-backed, impatient and unrepentantly tactless” version of the Duke known to the public, Smith said: “If you ask most people in Britain about Prince Philip, that’s what they think of. But I found that in his younger self there was such a lot to admire. He was a great naval man, revered in the Navy; he was bright and witty, and a great father, actually – he was very much the one involved with the children.”
‘Philip was an alpha male: someone who was allegedly very, very good at whatever he turned his hand to’ ‘In his younger self there was a lot to admire. He was a great naval man; he was revered in the Navy’
Mackie said she hoped the portrayal of the family was “incredibly accurate about most things”, with an on-set etiquette expert who used to work for Buckingham Palace. The Palace itself had no influence, she added, with filmmakers considering it “very important for us to have distance from them, and vice versa”.
The show is reported to have been made for Netflix for a budget of £100 million for two 10-hour series, with the US-based platform outbidding the BBC. Mackie said: “I think we did feel a responsibility... to be telling it on British television. [But] The offer – and the scale and the scope and how groundbreaking that new world of digital television is – just suddenly felt absolutely right for us at that moment.” The Crown, written by Peter Morgan and directed by Stephen Daldry, is available on Netflix from November 4.