A Big Moment That I Think "The Crown" Got Right

Netflix's "The Crown" receives a lot of criticism from royal fans and historians for the liberties it takes with many characters and sagas in the show....But what did they get right?

For some, Netflix’s The Crown is just another hour of entertainment like any other show. For many I have talked to, they seem to take the events in the show as Biblical truth, which I think with this, and any other historical fiction is a dangerous line to walk. And for what I hope is the majority of viewers, The Crown opens the door to historical events and gets one thinking about what might have actually occurred and how the real life characters of the story might have felt. As we know this show is one that is based on real life people and events, but for several reasons, the events are highly dramatized and in some cases, almost totally false….But there is one major event in this final season that I think the show did a great job of illustrating, with (from the massive amount I have read on the subject) a good degree of accuracy, and that is the reaction of Prince Charles (now King Charles III) to the death of his ex wife, Princess Diana…

Now I know for so many (myself included) Princess Diana was an absolute icon who brought joy with her everywhere she went. But, as observers of history, it is our job to try our hardest to remove bias from the lens through which we look. So, as you continue to read, I ask that if you do have that seemingly universal love of Princess Diana, do your best to keep those feelings in check as you try and absorb the rest of what I have to say here.

Clearly, Charles and Diana had a marriage that probably should have never happened in the first place. From the start, Charles wanted to be with his current wife, Camilla, but members of his family (particularly his grandmother and great uncle Louis Mountbatten) thought her to be unsuitable. As we know, he marries a much younger Diana, (who herself had reservations about the relationship, but when you’re 19 and in this deep, what do you do?) they have their two sons, and shortly after the birth of Prince Harry, things really start to fall apart. Charles goes back into the arms of Camilla, Diana falls into the arms of several other men, and the actions of both parties are no doubt because they were an ill suited pair who had a borderline arranged marriage.

And, as bad as things got with their various interviews, etc. That is where most people seem to keep their feelings on the subject. They seem to cling to the storyline that it was only Diana who could have been wronged, in any way and that her unfortunate passing meant that she was, for lack of a better term “out of the way.”

The part that most people miss however is that towards the end of her life, after a new normal had been settled into by both parties, and by many accounts of people who were involved in their everyday lives, Charles and Diana were on very friendly terms and took the raising of their boys together seriously, just as the show illustrates.

Furthermore, the show, by many accounts of Charles’ reaction to hear death, and his time at the hospital in Paris, again paints a pretty accurate picture. From accounts of those who were at Balmoral at the time of Diana’s death, Charles had an even stronger reaction than we see on the show and he collapsed to the ground. And is it any wonder? This woman was the mother of his children and he had to go tell his precious sons that their beloved mother had died. Would anyone with a conscious have a reaction any differently? We also know that at the hospital he spent a very long time alone sitting with Diana’s body. Again, is it any wonder? Just because they had a marriage the ended badly, does not mean that there were no happy moments, and absolutely does not mean that they didn’t share a bond and that Charles would not have been grieved by her death.

I know that this can be a heated subject for many and that there are strong feelings all around when it comes to this subject. But like it or not, The Crown did a great job of closely illustrating what we know likely happened during that tragic event and in my opinion the show should be praised for that. It would have been so easy to fall right into line with the narrative that so many tabloids promoted of Charles being relieved by this tragic event but by doing that, we forget that these people were at one point a family and that they are actual people with human emotions.

So what do you think? Have you watched this latest season of The Crown? Did the portrayal change your opinion about that tragic situation at all? Let me know in the comments!

Until Next Time,

McKenzie

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