“I'm way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family or my wife or myself. Because it's the difference between, [The Crown] is obviously fiction, take it how you will, but [the press] is being reported as fact because you're supposedly news.
Of all the royals who've spoken about The Crown, it's Princess Eugenie of York who's been most effusive in her praise. The daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York told Hello magazine she'd watched "a couple of episodes" of the program, saying it is "filmed beautifully".
Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip in seasons one and two, also heard that Queen Elizabeth had watched the show. "I heard the Queen had watched it," Smith told Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on the Today Show. "And she used to watch it on a projector on Sunday night, apparently."
“The Queen realizes that many who watch The Crown take it as an accurate portrayal of the royal family and she cannot change that,” the courtier said. “But I can convey that she was upset by the way Prince Philip is depicted as being a father insensitive to his son's well-being.
In one television appearance, Prince Harry revealed that not only has he seen The Crown – Netflix's hit historical drama about the Royal Family – but that he even 'fact checks' the show as he watches it.
The Duke of Sussex has confirmed he will attend King Charles' coronation in May, but his wife Meghan will not go. The couple no longer receives money from the Royal Family and has a series of commercial arrangements with a number of firms.
"I wasn't invited"
Despite being in the UK at the time, Harry insists arriving almost two hours after Buckingham Palace released their statement announcing the Queen's death wasn't his fault at all. In fact, he wanted to go as soon as he possibly could with the rest of the royal family but was ignored.
“It is filmed beautifully,” she told Hello. “The music is wonderful, the story is beautiful. You feel very proud to watch it. I can't speak for everyone, but that's how I felt when I watched it.”
Apparently, Queen Camilla Does Watch 'The Crown' and Her Reaction to It Is Really Surprising. King Charles reportedly had the complete opposite reaction.
“She was very much a hit with the royal family—they really warmed to her,” Chernock says. “Diana worked very, very hard to ingratiate herself and to model what she thought being a princess would entail, and she did it very successfully.”
In the book, which is published in December, the author notes that Elizabeth II "was genuinely delighted when she learned that her grandson was to marry Markle." The queen "liked Meghan and told many people so.
The Netflix hit's creator, Peter Morgan, revealed that the Duchess of Sussex will never be featured on the drama, which covers the inner workings and melodrama of the British royal family.
Though The Crown is clearly based on real events involving the monarchy—especially the various scandals and rumors that have embroiled the royal family over the years, from Prince Charles and Princess Diana's contentious marriage to Prince Philip's alleged infidelity—the people behind the Emmy Award–winning show have ...
“And not only that, Harry does not have input in the scripts or narrative of the show either directly through [The Crown's production company] Leftbank or indirectly through Netflix. There is no opportunity for him to send over his ideas or suggestions either.”
In Harry's interview with Colbert to promote his new memoir Spare the presenter asked: “You've watched The Crown, right?” To which Harry replied: “Yes, I have actually watched The Crown. The older stuff and the more recent stuff.”
Although the show is 'true' in that it is based on events that really did happen and the characters are based on real people, the script is a work of fiction, meaning that the conversations had in the show won't be an accurate representation of what actually happened.
If tradition prevails, most of the Queen's personal jewels will be passed on to King Charles III and Queen Camilla. It is speculated that Catherine, Princess of Wales will also receive some of the jewels as she will eventually be Queen.
According to several royal biographers and also The Crown, Charles wanted to marry Camilla but was steered away from her by the royal family, who didn't think she'd be a suitable wife largely thanks to the fact that she had a few ex-boyfriends and therefore was probably not a virgin.
It has been reported that controversy surrounding the symbolism of the Koh-i-Noor is likely to have contributed to Camilla's decision to exclude the gem from the crown she wears at the coronation.
In a barb aimed at the British press, Prince Harry added: “I'm way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family or my wife or myself. Because… that [The Crown] is obviously fiction, take it how you will. But this is being reported on as fact because you're supposedly news.
Also while on The Late Late Show With James Corden in February 2021, Prince Harry candidly spoke about what he thinks of The Crown. "They don't pretend to be news, it's fictional. But it's loosely based on the truth. Of course it's not strictly accurate, but loosely," he said.
As much as the royal family like to say they're not interested in The Crown, Netflix's fictionalized saga about their lives, Prince Charles has finally acknowledged that he's at least familiar with how the show portrays his younger self. Because of course they watch it. Wouldn't you? I know I would.
"I advanced with uncertainty and saw her. I stayed still, watching her carefully for a good while. I whispered that I hoped she was happy and that she was with Grandfather now," he wrote. "I said that I admired her for having carried out her duties until the end.
In his memoir Spare, which has been leaked after it mistakenly went on sale in Spain ahead of its January 10 release, Harry reveals that on arriving at her deathbed he whispered to the Queen that he “hoped she would be happy”.
Royal Inheritance
Representatives told Forbes in 2021 that Harry was not a beneficiary of any of the $100 million left to the royal family by his great-grandmother, the Queen Mother.