The Crown, between success and royal criticism

The British royal family has always been a topic that has aroused people's intrigue and curiosity.

How do they live? What do they think? What do they feel? How are they on a daily basis beyond the institution? because, at the end of the day, his blood is as red as anyone else's.

Although the theme of the private life of a royal house sometimes gives small hints of it, the reality is that for royalty, dirty clothes are washed at home.

That was the premise that, for more than 70 years, the former monarch Elizabeth II maintained during her reign... until she arrived The Crownthe Netflix series that, based on real events mixed with fiction, opened the door to the Palace of
Buckingham to the world.

For five seasons, Peter Morgan, creator of the series, has shaken public opinion and the royal house, to the point that he had to place an advertisement at the beginning of each episode stating that the series was “inspired by real events. The fictional dramatization tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign.

This, in response to the criticism it received since the first season since, although this project is focused on the life of Queen Elizabeth II, it is impossible to tell her story without the other real actors, specifically her family, and without contextualizing at key moments in history.

From Elizabeth II, Philippa, Duke of Edinburgh, King George VI; Queen Mother Elizabeth, Queen Mary; louis
Mountbatten, Edward VIII; Princess Margaret, Wallis Simpson; Diana Spencer, Antony Armstrong-Jones, Winston Churchill, Peter Townsend, Charles Prince of Wales, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, Camilla Parker Bowles, Margaret Thatcher and Princes Harry and William... almost all familiar actors and Politicians shape this project that has won 129 awards.

After almost seven years since the series premiered in 2016, today the first part of the final season of The Crown.

Through the representation of the monarch with three different actresses, who personify her at different stages of her life (young, adult and elderly), The Crownunintentionally, has awakened interest in history.

Claire Foy

Season 1 and 2

In these first two seasons, the story of The Crown It begins when Princess Elizabeth marries Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, becomes queen, starts a family with her husband and children, and begins to face different problems regarding the institution.

The plot of this first installment placed not only the royal family in the world's sights, but also a group of actors such as
Claire Foy, Matt Smith, Vanessa Kirby, Eileen Atkins, Jeremy Northam, Victoria Hamilton and John Lithgow, among others, who gave life to the post-war era.

The reception of this installment led to Lithgow, who played Prime Minister Winston Churchill, winning the Emmy for his work, and that was just the beginning. With the same cast, in the second season, Claire Foy took the award for actress in a drama series and director and producer Stephen Daldry was also honored with the award.

Olivia Colman
Season 3 and 4

Already established as one of the most watched series on Netflix, time did not wait for the characters either and that was when there was a complete change of cast so that they would be played at a more adult age.

Thus, Olivia Coleman became Queen Elizabeth II, Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, Ben Daniels as Anthony Armstrong-Jones, Marion Bailey as the Queen Mother, Erin Doherty as the Princess Anne, Charles Dance as Lord Mountbatten and Josh O'Connor as Charles, Prince of Wales, who live in the period from 1964 to 1977. Here the figure of Diana Spencer, who would become the Princess of Wales, also appears for the first time. , and Camila Parker Bowles.

Without a doubt, the cast change was one of the things that caused different criticism of the series, both positive and negative.

Olivia Colman shines, but as The Crown “It moves reliably and luxuriously through time, finding space for the characters around it, providing ample opportunities for the attractive ensemble to shine as well,” the Rotten Tomatoes portal opined.

“Olivia Colman doesn't humanize the queen in an overly sentimental way, but she does make the audience intimate with her in a way that no other artist has managed,” wrote the BBC's Hugh Montgomery.

Imelda Staunton
Season 5 and 6

After the fourth season, there were increasing calls for Netflix to add a disclaimer to The Crown to emphasize that the series is a fictional representation based on historical events. These calls increased given that the fifth season premiered just two months after the queen's death in September 2022.

Actress Judi Dench wrote an open letter to The Timesdeeming the series “crude sensationalism” and asking for a disclaimer to be added.

Netflix updated both the series description and the title of the season five trailer on YouTube to refer to the series as a “fictional dramatization.” However, upon the series' release, no episodes contained the indication.

One scene depicts Prime Minister John Major discussing with Prince Charles the possibility of the Queen abdicating. Major issued a statement after the episode aired, calling the scene “a barrel full of malicious nonsense,” confirming that he had never discussed the series with Netflix.

All the criticisms about the attitude of The Crown Towards Royalty occur before the show's premiere. The moment it comes out and people see it, whether it's Judi Dench or John Major, they instantly go silent. And I think they probably feel pretty stupid,” Peter Morgan told Variety.

The outcome will be released on December 14. It will cover the deaths of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed in a car crash in Paris in 1997, the 2002 golden wedding anniversary and the 2005 marriage of then-Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.

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