My meetings with Palace aides, by The Crown creator
‘I tell them what I have in mind – and they brace themselves’
THE writer of TV’s The Crown has revealed that he meets courtiers four times a year to warn them about upcoming storylines concerning members of the Royal Family.
The acclaimed drama has sparked controversy by delving into the private lives of the Queen and Prince Philip.
Now writer Peter Morgan has spoken about his meetings with members of the Royal Household in a newspaper interview, saying that he sees ‘people who are very high-ranking and very active within the organisation’.
He added: ‘I tell them what I have in mind and they brace themselves slightly.’
The protocol adviser to The Crown, former Army officer David Rankin-Hunt, also spoke to The Guardian and said the Palace does not object to the show.
He said: ‘Very senior members of the Royal Household have said to me, “Oh, we love The Crown.”
‘If there were some indication from on high that it was some kind of scandalous production, that might be reflected in their view, don’t you think?’
The suggestion of virtual Royal approval will raise eyebrows and prompt a re-examination of some of the show’s more controversial storylines. In series one the Queen, played by Claire Foy, was shown questioning her decision to marry Prince Philip, played by Matt Smith.
And in series two – which aired in 2017 – Her Majesty confronted her husband about his relationship with Stephen Ward, the high-society fixer at the centre of the Profumo sex scandal of the early 1960s.
The third series of The Crown, which will air on Netflix on Sunday November 17 and which covers the period 1964 to 1977, sees new actors take over the key roles. Olivia Colman, Oscar-winning star of The Favourite, will play the Queen. Helena Bonham Carter will play Princess Margaret with Ben Daniels as her husband Antony ArmstrongJones, 1st Earl of Snowdon.