CROWN AND OUT
Series four of Netflix drama The Crown has caused an outcry over its fictionalised plot and its raft of inaccuracies. This series is set between 1979 and 1990, when Margaret Thatcher was in power. Royal watchers and politicos have vented about everything from Prince Philip shooting pheasants in August (October on, for goodness’ sake), to the wrong Royal Variety performance, to a modern Routemaster bus (not introduced until 2012) in the background when Diana goes to lunch with Camilla in the early 1980s.
Top spot on inaccuracy watch must surely go to The Daily Telegraph reader Dominic Witherow who wrote, only partly in jest, to the paper to express his dismay about a fishing scene featuring Prince Charles:
“Despite ample warnings in the press, we were unprepared for the depth of injustice on display – particularly towards Prince Charles,” he wrote. “The show’s portrayal of his fishing technique was utterly unjustifiable. To imagine that any self-respecting fisherman would allow his line to touch down so catastrophically is bad enough, but to then suggest that such a cast could possibly result in the landing of a fine salmon is tantamount to gross – almost criminal – negligence.”
Now we know.