I finished watching The Crown Season 5 over the weekend. It was an uneven season, especially given the wealth of verifiable information about the Windsors in the 1990s. There were so many stories which weren’t even touched upon, and some of the characterizations were a bit two-dimensional. Considering the freakout from Buckingham Palace ahead of the season premiere, you would think that this season would have been wall-to-wall criticism of King Charles. It was not – Peter Morgan soft-pedaled a lot, and he force-fed his audience some Charles apologia, especially with the Tampongate phone call, the Jonathan Dimbleby interview and the utter lack of dramatization of Charles’s campaign against Diana.
That being said, what The Crown does so well is simply dramatizing events and letting the audience fill in the rest. The Windsors can’t help but look out of touch, petty, selfish, smug, self-satisfied, inappropriate, warped, ignorant, immoral and vindictive… because that’s who they really are. Anyway, Dan Wootton had to throw his hat in the ring as the latest commentator freaking out about The Crown. Wootton’s commentary added something extra special: a demand that Prince Harry MUST cancel his Netflix contract.
After weeks of non-stop hype and worrying leaks about what to expect from its ‘storylines’, I knew The Crown was going to be bad. But I had no idea it would be this bad. As you’ll know if you binged the royal drama at the weekend like me, the fifth series is an all-out assault on the credibility, reputation, heart and soul of our beloved recently departed Queen Elizabeth II, her husband Prince Philip, the new monarch King Charles and his late ex-wife Princess Diana.
While all four, like most human beings, had their failings, Peter Morgan has set out on an all-out character assassination in his re-telling of the Windsor’s trials and tribulations during the troubled 1990s era, including the family’s annus horribilis.
I’d certainly hate to think that this dark turn in the highly influential hit show’s presentation of our Royal Family has anything to do with the streaming service signing Prince Harry as its most famous staff member, adorned with a £77 million deal.
The downright malicious presentation of the late Queen as cold, unloving and cruel is in stark contrast to the compassionate and pragmatic leader described by those who worked closely with her at the time. It rankles me that Hollywood is prepared to damage the memory of our greatest ever monarch so soon after her devastating passing, not to mention the portrayal of her devoted husband Philip as an uncaring philanderer.
So surely their own grandson – well known for his various public brawls with media organisations who sully the reputation of his loved ones – must be catatonic with rage? Especially in regards to the tawdry and factually inaccurate treatment of Diana, who is wrongly portrayed as a bad mum on a solo mission to bring down the monarchy.
If The Crown was produced by any other media organisation, Harry would be firing out Archewell press statements, alerting his trigger-happy lawyers at Schillings, and giving heartrending interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King about how the horrible media is out to destroy his life. Given he’s on the payroll, what do we have instead? A telling and deeply uncomfortable silence.
It’s weird that Prince Harry is simply never complaining and never explaining about The Crown and suddenly that’s what he’s NOT supposed to do? Why aren’t the Windsors more like Harry, who has brushed off The Crown like water off a duck’s ass? Yet more evidence that “never complain, never explain” is only selectively used. Wootton then writes “the letter Harry should send to Netflix” wherein Harry complains that The Crown is “now causing damage to my family and the monarchy itself” and that Netflix should “agree not to broadcast my reality series before the coronation of my father King Charles. He is grieving his mother and deserves this time to start his reign without additional stress.” LOL.
It’s actually hilarious that the Windsors and their sycophantic press machine want to exploit their “grief over the Queen’s passing” when it comes to Netflix, but when Harry simply wanted to bring his wife to Balmoral so that they could be together while HE grieved the loss of his beloved grandmother, the Palace went apesh-t and Charles personally called Harry to tell him that Meghan was unwelcome and not part of the family. Charles made it abundantly clear during QEII’s funeral week that the Sussexes were not part of the Windsors’ future or part of the family. Don’t get mad when Harry behaves accordingly.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Netflix/The Crown.
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 14: An emotional Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex pay their respects in The Palace of Westminster after the procession for the Lying-in State of Queen Elizabeth II on September 14, 2022 in London, England. Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin is taken in procession on a Gun Carriage of The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall where she will lay in state until the early morning of her funeral. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III.,Image: 722660434, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Christopher Furlong / Avalon 
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 17: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex holds a vigil in honour of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Hall on September 17, 2022 in London, England. Queen Elizabeth II’s grandchildren mount a family vigil over her coffin lying in state in Westminster Hall. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III.,Image: 723679222, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon 
King Charles II and Camilla Queen Consort The State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen, Gun Carriage Procession, Wellington Roundabout, London, UK – 19 Sep 2022,Image: 724224759, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock / Avalon
Ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 14 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only** 
Ceremonial Procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard with the Imperial State Crown placed on top, is carried on a horse-drawn gun carriage of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, during the ceremonial procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday Featuring: Prince Harry, Meghan Duchess of Sussex Where: London, Britain, United Kingdom When: 14 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only** 
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcHFibYVxe9aopq2sn6Ossb7Ip5qel5iWv7PFvqasrKyPmLyuvMuaoKeXla29ra3Ip5aamp%2BqwaC0yKyWp52km7mqxL6cpqesopawtXs%3D