Royal family’s ‘horrible’ portrayal in The Crown is ‘cruel and unfair’ and Charles will be ‘incredibly upset’
THE royal family's portrayal in The Crown is 'cruel and unfair' - and Prince Charles will be very "incredibly upset" by it, an expert said today.
Royal biographer Penny Junor, who has known the family for 40 years, gave a scathing assessment of the fourth series of the Netflix drama - released on Sunday - that shows Princess Diana's bulimia and Prince Charles' affair.
⚠️ Read our Meghan and Harry blog for the latest news on the Royal couple
And Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have faced fresh questions over why they signed a mega-millions contract with the streaming giant when its flagship show twists the truth about the Royal family.
Royal biographer Penny Junor says she believes Charles would be “incredibly upset” by the series.
She said the programme is riddled with inaccurate depictions of events and personalities.
“It’s the most cruel and unfair and horrible portrayal of almost all of them,” she told
And she hit out at Brit creator Peter Morgan as having “invented stuff to make expensive and very rich drama”.
A scene in which Charles’s great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, is shown telling him that the family are disappointed at his relationship with Camilla would be particularly upsetting - and is “just not historically accurate”, she said.
There is no evidence that the scene, which occurs shortly before Lord Mountbatten is killed by an IRA bomb, ever happened.
“He adored Mountbatten and he was absolutely devastated by his death," Ms Junor said.
Yesterday, one of Prince Charles's pals told the Mail the drama was "dragging up things that happened during very difficult times 25 or 30 years ago without a thought for anyone’s feelings”.
“That isn’t right or fair, particularly when so many of the things being depicted don’t represent the truth," the source said.
“This is trolling with a Hollywood budget."
Prince William is also said to have said his parents are "being exploited and presented in a false, simplistic way to make money".
Scenes show Charles verbally abusing Diana before she confronts him over Camilla during their wedding rehearsal.
The prince's friends say neither incident ever happened.
The Sun exclusively reported that the royal will shun the series altogether and has told friends "I've never seen it".
A source close to Charles, 72, said of The Crown: “His Royal Highness has absolutely no views about it. He has never watched The Crown.
"I shouldn’t think he knows it’s coming out.”
And Dickie Arbiter, a former royal aide, said the royals were “pretty used to being portrayed” for entertainment purposes.
However, he said he was concerned that some viewers may not realise The Crown is not an accurate portrayal of events.
Clarence House declined to comment.
It's understood there has been concern about Meghan and Harry's £112million production deal with the streaming giant.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will make documentaries, films and shows.
It was yesterday reported that their documentary will focus on why the couple quit the Royal Family - and it'll feature personal videos of the pair.
They previously insisted they were "not taking part in any reality shows" after news of the mega-bucks deal was announced.
Most read in News
But it's now claimed the couple will share video footage of the last time they left their Windsor home, Frogmore Cottage.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
And it's reported that their reps pitched personal videos, filmed as they stepped away from duties, during negotiations with Neflix.
Following the release of The Crown, one insider said: "There are raised eyebrows about Harry taking millions from the company that’s behind all this."