Prince Harry’s ‘Way More Comfortable’ With ‘The Crown’ Than This Alternative About His Family
The Crown might be something of a delicate subject for British royals to discuss as it covers decades of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, including many royal scandals. However, Prince Harry is “more comfortable” with the TV show because it “doesn’t pretend” to be something it’s not.
‘The Crown’ gives a ‘rough idea’ of royal life, according to Prince Harry
In his first interview since leaving life as a working royal, Harry spoke with the Late Late Show’s James Corden. Among the topics they discussed while cruising through Los Angeles, California, on a double-decker bus was The Crown.
In a pre-recorded segment that aired in February 2021, Harry remarked that, in his opinion, the series provides a “rough idea” of royal life.
“They don’t pretend to be news,” Harry said of the TV show. “It’s fictional, but it’s loosely based on the truth. Of course, it’s not strictly accurate, of course, it’s not. But loosely, it gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.”
His comments, which “moved” The Crown’s Emma Corrin, preceded offscreen drama over the series involving the addition of a disclaimer that it is a dramatization.
What Harry has a ‘real issue’ with isn’t ‘The Crown’ but fiction as ‘fact’
Harry continued, telling Corden he’s fine with The Crown depicting his life and those of his fellow British royals. What he’s not OK with is falsehoods pitched as fact.
“I’m way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family or my wife or myself,” he said. “That is obviously fiction, take it how you will,” he said of the Netflix original series. “But this is being reported on as fact because you are supposedly news. I have a real issue with that.”
Harry’s taken legal action against tabloids multiple times, with several ongoing cases at the time of writing. Additionally, in other interviews and his Spare memoir, the now-39-year-old discussed how tabloids have impacted his relationships, from his late mother and past girlfriends to his wife, Meghan Markle.
In one excerpt from Spare, he recalled asking Meghan about narratives in the press only to see her brought to tears. Elsewhere he described being surrounded by paparazzi in Canada.
‘The Crown’ Season 6 premieres in installments
After five seasons of The Crown, the award-winning drama is almost to the present day. Or, at least, as close to it as creator Peter Morgan intended to get. Season 5 concluded with Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) packing for a trip with the Fayed family, setting up the storyline for that fateful summer of 1997.
Speculation swirled about how Diana’s death would be depicted when filming for the final installment began in September 2022. Said to be “recreated delicately,” Diana’s death ends the first installment.
From there, The Crown will move to the aftermath in Part II, covering Prince William (Ed McVey) and Kate Middleton’s (Meg Bellamy) budding romance in college alongside Prince Harry’s (Luther Ford) younger years.
Part I of The Crown Season 6 begins streaming on Nov. 16, 2023, with four episodes. The remaining six episodes premiere on Dec. 14, 2023.
