Queen Elizabeth’s Former Press Secretary Reveals Best (and Worst) Portrayal of the Late Monarch on ‘The Crown’
Queen Elizabeth II’s former private secretary isn’t all that impressed by The Crown’s portrayal of the late monarch. Following the premiere of the Netflix original series’ sixth and final season, the late queen’s former private secretary shared their thoughts on the show as well as performances from actors Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from The Crown Season 6.]
Imelda Staunton, Olivia Colman, and Claire Foy all appeared as Queen Elizabeth in ‘The Crown’ Season 6
Spoilers ahead. For those who haven’t watched Part II of The Crown, look away now because here’s what happened at the culmination of the series.
Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth, after some encouragement from Prince Philip (Jonathan Pryce), got involved with the planning for her death — Operation London Bridge — and funeral. She attended a meeting, made a joke about dying at the most convenient location, and saw detailed plans a long time in the making.
Along the way, the queen reflected on her life, which saw The Crown bring back Olivia Colman and Claire Foy as earlier versions of the late monarch.
Finally, as the series finale came to a close, Elizabeth walked through St. George’s Chapel. After a brief conversation with her husband, she stood alone under the arches where the real queen’s buried and bid farewell to her younger selves before walking away.
Claire Foy’s performance on ‘The Crown’ ranked No. 1 for former staffer
The first actor to portray Queen Elizabeth on The Crown did it best, according to Dickie Arbiter, the queen’s former private secretary. A “hawkish viewer” of the show since 2016, according to Deadline, Arbiter looked back on its portrayal of the queen now that the series has concluded, naming Foy as his favorite.
He told the outlet the now-39-year-old Foy, who played a young version of the queen as she adjusted to life on the throne in The Crown Seasons 1 and 2, did a “brilliant” job.
Hollywood seemed to think Foy gave a phenomenal performance, too. Along with the show, she received many award nominations for her portrayal of the queen. Not to mention Foy took home an Emmy, SAG Award, and Golden Globe for The Crown.
Olivia Colman and Imelda Staunton had the worst queen performances
As for the worst, or at least most inaccurate, portrayals of the queen on The Crown, per Arbiter, the former royal staffer looked to Colman and Staunton. The former, whose performance earned her multiple awards, played a middle-aged Queen Elizabeth in seasons 3 and 4. Meanwhile, the latter appeared in the most recent episodes spanning seasons 5 and 6.
According to the outlet, Arbiter “was withering about Colman and Staunton’s portrayals of Queen Elizabeth over the past four seasons of The Crown — the period in which he worked closely with Her Majesty.”
Arbiter noted he didn’t recognize Colman’s “drawn” version of the queen. Meanwhile, he argued Staunton’s most recent portrayal skewed “gloomy in a way that did the queen a disservice,” Deadline reported.
“I don’t remember her being glum and boring,” Arbiter said. “Glum if there was a death in the family or one of the dogs had to be put down. But she [Staunton] was playing glum and boring right the way through.”
Other criticisms included Peter Morgan, the creator of The Crown, having “dramatic license gone bonkers” in relation to the scene where Prince Charles (Dominic West) told young Prince William (Rufus Kampa) and Prince Harry (Fflyn Edwards) that Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) had died, a moment the real Harry, the Duke of Sussex, recounted in Spare.
On a positive note, Arbiter felt Staunton embodied the queen perfectly in The Crown Season 6, where the late monarch delivered a televised address after Diana’s death.
The Crown Seasons 1-6 are streaming on Netflix.
