Royal ruffs are reportedly aflutter at the prospect of Netflix’s upcoming TV series, The Crown, a dramatic retelling of the Queen’s early years on the throne.
According to its creator, Peter Morgan, the Royal household is “very nervous” at the prospect of Her Majesty’s life splayed across the TV screens.
In a press briefing last week he tried to titillate the critics by implying that he, his £100million budget and cast of 170 had got under the royal skin with the drama – due to be released on November 4.
He said: “I think they don’t like not having control, but they also understand that [a drama] dealing with this subject with respect is a rare thing.”
“These are people who are not used to being taken seriously,” he added (perhaps thinking of travesties like Hallmark’s William and Catherine: A Royal Romance).
Nerves are allegedly frayed at the depiction by Morgan – who has form as writer of The Queen and The Audience – of the damage done to the Queen’s relationships by her ascent to power.
Foremost among them – of course – is her marriage to Prince Philip. Morgan hinted that, were they a more normal couple, they may well have divorced.
So far so scandalous – at least by the standards of the perennially serene Elizabeth II.
Behind closed doors lies a different picture. #TheCrownhttps://t.co/qyPt5Wao8G
— The Crown (@TheCrownNetflix) April 11, 2016
But is a ten-part series really likely to set her Britannic Majesty’s teeth on edge?
When Heat Street spoke to Buckingham Palace, the response was altogether more withering.
A press adviser to the Queen told us that, while they obviously know a major series is coming up, essentially they could not care less as there are “far too many” accounts of Her Majesty’s life to keep up with.
Indeed, even though the series does deal with a fraught part of the Queen’s life, there is hardly anything damaging that can come out of it that isn’t out there already.
The Crown: the Royal family are 'nervous' about Netflix's new £100 million series https://t.co/1v5Vi2C2gz
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) July 29, 2016
Earlier this year, Channel 5 aired a thoroughly scurrilous “documentary” – Inside Buckingham Palace – which implied that Prince Philip cheated on the Queen.
It breathlessly recounted a young prince’s drunken evenings in London gentlemen’s clubs acting as an “escape valve” from stuffy palace life.
Furthermore, it also suggested that Philip waged domestic war on the Queen Mother by turning of the heating in her palace chambers to force her out.
The series – like all series – drew little more than dignified derision from the Palace.
One press officer implied that
If that series – purportedly based in fact – was so ineffective at ruffling royal feathers, it would be surprising were a loosely biographical TV show to outdo it.
