Fury at The Crown’s depiction of the royal family

You may have noticed the fury of a number of senior establishment figures at some of the plotlines in the impending new series of The Crown. They argue it has crossed a line in its fictionalisation of the real-life dramas of the royal family. John Major has complained about an ­episode where the now King Charles apparently muses over how to force his mother to abdicate; others rage at the depiction of an alleged but denied affair involving the Duke of Edinburgh.

Netflix, it is said, are taking ever greater liberties with the truth in a series many people assume is broadly accurate. This is a long-standing issue with dramatists. Several members of the York family were deeply unhappy at Shakespeare’s depiction of Richard III, which portrayed their beloved leader as a homicidal hunchback when, in fact, he spent most of his life as a children’s TV presenter.

The Crown’s producers insist that though some of the conversations and events are fictionalised, they carry an inner truth that can only be revealed through falsification. The need for more dramatic reality has become especially important given the competition for eyeballs from magical epics like Game of Thrones and its prequel House of the Dragon.

Yet these arguments carry little weight with tiresome truth purists. Insiders point to a number of plot outrages. One royal source said it was simply not true to say that Meghan Markle arrived for her first meeting at Balmoral flanked by three dragons who all referred to her as mother. Nor was she heard to utter the word “dracarys” seconds before a condescending member of the royal household was engulfed in a ball of fire. Producers argue that this is simply a slight reworking of the time the Duchess of Sussex brought Oprah Winfrey to her wedding and then helped torch the family’s reputation on TV.

Buckingham Palace is also upset by the episode entitled Red Wedding, in which several bothersome figures, including Prince Andrew, the Sussexes, Ghislaine Maxwell and some of the new King’s fundraisers, are invited to a royal banquet and brutally murdered.

Palace sources insist that nothing of the kind happened and that all the supposed victims are still alive and well, but a statement from the writers hits back at such pedantry. “While we accept that in the literal sense it could be argued that no one was invited to a banquet and killed, this is a dramatic device highlighting the way the King is slimming down the monarchy and cutting off troublemakers.

“The butchery you see in the episode should not be taken as a historic account of events. But several of the people dispatched in this episode have received a very stiff talking to and are no longer allowed to wear military uniform at commemorative events, which is practically the same thing.”

The producers added that while they accept that this royal family may not have had anyone murdered — apart from those assassinations ordered by Prince Philip — it was extremely common for people to be bumped off by royals in the Middle Ages, so the whole incident is true in its broadest sense.

The Crown is not alone in facing charges of falsification. Several members of the royal households of Westeros are also angry at their own depiction in Game of Thrones. For example, Tyrion Lannister is actually 6ft 2in and no one was butchered and put into a pie, although it is true that House Frey’s baker was found in breach of several health and safety violations.

Westeros insiders also dispute talk of the northern kingdoms being hell-bent on revenge for earlier massacres. While the TV series made much of how “the north remembers”, sources close to the Iron Throne say that in fact the north had a terrible memory and was famous for forgetting things.

In the interests of accuracy, I should point out that the above comments and conversations are fictionalised. But I have included them anyway, since they point to a broader truth.

Follow Robert on Twitter @robertshrimsley and email him at [email protected]

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