While waiting for the fifth season of The Crown, some discontent is emerging from the Royal Family, mainly related to the character of Prince Philip. Here's what's going on.
The events told in The Crown feature the British Royal Family and since 2016 have been broadcast on Netflix. The platform has invested a huge sum for this content, more than 100 million pounds for the first season and not surprisingly it is one of the most detailed and interesting of the schedule.
The creator Peter Morgan from the beginning wanted to tell the events in an intense and as truthful as possible, although of course they are romanticized to make them more usable and engaging. Among the main protagonists there is Queen Elizabeth II, played by several great actresses depending on the season and therefore the historical period. According to several indiscretions, the members of the Royal Family have carefully followed all the seasons of the TV series, but some revisions and characters were not appreciated. In particular, Prince Philip did not like the program and precisely because he is now gone, Queen Elizabeth, according to some sources, would like to block the Netflix Original content.
The Crown: how Prince Philip is portrayed
Prince Philip, consort of Queen Elizabeth II for 74 years, passed away on April 9, 2021. He is one of the main characters of The Crown and has been played by several actors over the course of the different seasons: in the first and second by Matt Smith, in the third and fourth by Tobias Menzies and by Jonathan Pryce in The Crown 5 coming soon on Netflix.
The Royal Philip, however, was unhappy with the portrayal made in the TV series, depicted as a somewhat libertine man unhappy with his life and dissatisfied with always living one step behind his wife, one of the most important and powerful women in the world.
The Crown: Queen Elizabeth's reaction
Queen Elizabeth and her loved ones have leaked, through people very close to her, that they are not at all happy with some of the characters and want to boycott the TV series. Of course, these discontents are unofficial and leaked by some spokespeople.
One of these biographers is Hugo Vickers, who confirmed that the series takes "outrageous liberties" and is distorted. For example, in the fourth season Philip tells Diana that if she broke away from the Royal Family something would happen to her: this is seen as one of the most negative moments in the entire TV series by the Royal Family. Also because it seems to be a reference to the dramatic incident in which Lady D. died in 1997.
When The Crown 5 comes out
While waiting to understand any reactions of Queen Elizabeth and her Family, Netflix is working on the production of the next season. And given the recent developments, also related to the interview given by Harry and Meghan to Oprah Winfrey, we could even speculate an extension of the TV series.
In addition, the production would also like to get to the Epstein scandal that hit Prince Andrew, the second male child of Queen Elizabeth. In fact, according to some sources there would be difficulties in finding an actor to play the role of the man. Prince Andrew is expected to make an appearance in The Crown 5.
The rest of the cast, however, is largely confirmed: we will find in particular Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth Debicki will play Princess Diana, Dominic West will be Prince Charles, while Lesley Manville will be Princess Margaret.