Princess Diana Biographer Says ‘The Crown’ Season 5 Does King Charles a ‘Big Favor’
The Crown Season 5 may not be so bad for King Charles III after all. Andrew Morton, a Princess Diana biographer also depicted in the series, says the show does the monarch a “big favor.” Ahead, Morton explains why the king might actually be “pleased” with the on-screen portrayal.
King Charles is a ‘positive character’ in ‘The Crown’ Season 5, Andrew Morton says
In Morton’s opinion, King Charles comes out of The Crown Season 5, which chronicles the breakdown of his and Diana’s marriage in the ‘90s, looking pretty good. The Diana: Her True Story author said ultimately were the monarch to actually watch, he’d probably be more than fine with the outcome.
“I don’t know if [series creator] Peter Morgan wants his peerage but Charles is an intelligent, questioning, courageous, positive character in this depiction,” he said (via Marie Claire). “So it makes me laugh when everybody’s getting up in arms about [the new season].
“King Charles, if he ever sits down and watches, will be quite pleased with his character,” played by Dominic West, he added. “I’s done [him] a big favor.”
Season 5 of ‘The Crown’ is ‘too up close and personal’ for King Charles
Will the king watch the newest installment of The Crown? According to royal expert and author Katie Nicholl, it’s unlikely.
Sources “close” to the king and queen consort told Nicholl the now-74-year-old (Nov. 14 marked the king’s birthday) isn’t going to curl up on the couch, like so many others, and watch the show (via Vanity Fair).
“They have watched some of The Crown, but I doubt they’ll be in a hurry to see this one,” Nicholl quoted a “family friend” as saying. The same source also shared the king stopped watching The Crown Season 4, which introduced Emma Corrin’s young Diana, as it was “too close to the bone.”
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, also believes the royals won’t see it.
“None of the royal family will watch it—it would be torturous,” she said. “Charles, as a person, is very self-deprecating. He’s always saying, ‘I’m an old man, no one takes any notice of me,’ and he doesn’t mind people having a pop at him, but this is too close up and personal.”
Netflix’s global reach is concerning to King Charles, expert says
The Crown’s “global following” thanks to Netflix’s subscription base is apparently an issue for the king. According to Seward, “the main problem is that Netflix has such a huge subscription that The Crown has a global following, and Charles cares about that.”
“While most British people of a generation are very familiar with this period of royal history, many more don’t know the ins and outs of the monarchy or how it works,” she continued. “And if they base their knowledge on what they see in The Crown, that is problematic for the royal family.”
The Crown, described as a fictionalized dramatization “inspired by real events” in the show’s Twitter bio, is streaming on Netflix.
