You’re bound to have seen the controversy in the last few weeks, now it’s finally time to delve in to the latest season of the Emmy and Golden Glow winning drama The Crown on Netflix.
In the first place, why is this drama so controversial?
Aside from it being about the royal family’s life story, fans of the real-life royals are upset about the portrayal of the events in 1990s, which saw the breakup of the marriages of Charles and Princess Diana. For the record, the show will also feature a portrayal of the infamous BBC Panorama interview with Diana.
Given the show is quite critical of the now-King Charles III’s behavior towards his late ex, many of those same supporters have expressed anger about the portrayal. Royal sources also say Prince William, was upset by it. The then Prime Minister John Major, who is also depicted in the show, is also unhappy at how the events of the period have been portrayed. Considering it all comes so soon after The Queen’s passing, it’s not surprising the emotions are running high.
Although Netflix has been at length to say the show is only inspired by the real events, critics have accused the producers of exaggerating the events for dramatic effect. But then again, can we blame TV?
PRINCESS DIANA
Season 5 full of Diana. That’s it.
Emma Corrin was incredible as Princess Diana, but the role has now been assumed by Elizabeth Debicki, who clearly majored in bashful, downcast eye glances at the Royal Academy of Diana Arts. Debicki plays her as being more glamorous and mature now, and not afraid to speak her mind in front of Charles and anyone else around her, as we see when they stage an argument on a private yacht full of their kids and Charles’s friends and she holds her ground, calling Charles out for wanting to appear a family man while also abandoning their family. But in this first episode, she wasn’t given that much to do, which only helps build the tension of the what’s to come.
CONCLUSION
There’s so much at stake this season on The Crown, so much for this show to compare itself to. Not just the comparison to real life events, which is a real rabbit-hole to jump down if you’re so inclined, but also to past seasons. And in typical Crown fashion, no detail is spared, there is nothing unintentional about anything that appears on the screen, and that attention to detail pays off.
It’s fascinating to watch the new season with the new actors as they start to own the roles played by others in the past and see how they make them their own, too. Part of the enjoyment and the thrill of this show is the process of how time has affected and changed the royal family and we see them evolve.
