Netflix's hit historical drama, The Crown, has had the audience swooning at its feet since it began airing in 2016. The show depicts the life of Queen Elizabeth II, her family, and chronicles the various historical events that took place during her regency which continues even today.
As with any period drama, the series takes some liberties with the truth and in a few cases imaginatively fictionalizes what had actually transpired as it addresses history. Let us look at instances when the royal drama deviated from facts and when it recreated history quite accurately.
Accurate: Aberfan
In 1966, the little Welsh mining village of Aberfan suffered a horrific tragedy when a coal tip collapsed causing a massive landslide of coal waste and instantly killed hundreds of unsuspecting people, many of them schoolchildren.
In the season 3 episode, "Aberfan", The Crown paid a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives on that tragic day and was accurate enough in the details. The Queen did indeed visit the village after eight days and failed to respond emotionally to such a crisis. It is said that the delay in responding to the Aberfan tragedy was one of the greatest regrets she has to this day.
Inaccurate: The Great Smog Of London
The Great Smog of London crept upon and engulfed the city of London in 1952, leaving devastation in its wake. This was the last time to date that London found itself in the clutches of the great pea-souper--a thick blanket of fog coupled with polluted industrial air, that cloaked, and literally paralyzed, the city.
The Netflix series depicted the complete chaos that unfolded as the smog hung over the city for five whole days. But it seems like the drama indicates Churchill's somewhat cavalier response to the crisis, which is contradicted by the steps taken by the government to lower air pollution at the time. There is also no record of Churchill's secretary getting killed during the smog.
Accurate: The Royal Affair
It's necessary to clarify exactly which royal affair is being referred to here, for God knows there have been many. Yet, not all of them were as interesting as Princess Margaret's relationship, forbidden love, if you will, with the Royal Air Force Officer, Peter Townsend.
The Crown has shown Townsend being packed off to Brussels to stop the relationship from blooming further and the Queen finding herself facing the horns of a dilemma, caught between her roles as a sister and a monarch. It is true that she could not in good faith permit her sister to marry Townsend who was a divorceé, as that would have gone against the royal protocols.
Inaccurate: The Suez Crisis
In 1956, Britain colluded with and Israel to try and maintain their sway over the Suez canal. The governments of the three nations ed forces and conspired to throw Egypt into chaos and take the canal back from the Egyptians by pretending to intervene as peacemakers.
The Netflix drama's second season showed the Suez crisis and the fool's errand undertaken by Prime Minister Anthony Eden in his efforts to have Britain dominate in the canal crisis. But the series deviates from historical facts when the Prime Minister indicates to the Queen that Britain had, in fact, planned the attack on Egypt surreptitiously. It seems that although Eden's role in the matter was all but obvious, he never actually itted the truth to the Sovereign.
Accurate: Lord Snowdon's Rollicking Reality
The second season also focuses on Princess Margaret's growingly hedonistic lifestyle culminating in her meeting with the dashing Anthony Armstrong-Jones, a photographer by ion who led a very Swinging Sixties bohemian life.
The show mentions Armstrong-Jones's--later Lord Snowdon's--past and gives not-so-subtle hints at the wild nature of his extracurricular activities. It even indicates that Snowdon might have had an illegitimate child with one of the women he had been sexually involved with. History suggests that this might, in fact, be true since Lord Snowdon did indeed lead a dubious life before and even after he got married.
Inaccurate: Prince Philip's Shenanigans
There is no proven of Prince Philip ever being unfaithful to his wife. The Prince Consort did become the center of some gossip during his early years as Prince Consort, but creator Peter Morgan might have opted for creative license when he decided to run with those rumors and depict a growing tension between the Sovereign and her husband.
In season 2, Philip was shown to be becoming growingly discontented with his life as second fiddle. He gradually falls in with a dubious lot through whom he meets a lot of young beautiful women. However, to be fair to the writers, they never actually show any extramarital affair on Phillip's part, despite the strong hints.
Accurate: Prince Charles' Investiture
In season 3, a young Prince Charles was shown being sent off to a Welsh university to learn the language for his investiture as the Prince of Wales. The Prince then gives his investiture speech in Welsh at the Caernarfon castle in the Edwardian town of Gwynedd in northern Wales.
The Crown kept to the historical facts here as much as possible. The Prince of Wales did indeed go to Aberystwyth to learn Welsh under the tutelage of a nationalist teacher Dr. Edward Millward, and he gave his speech in Welsh. In fact, it is said that there were The grand investiture scene was shot in the exact same location as the real event.
Inaccurate: Jackie Kennedy Meets The Monarch
The Crown would have us believe that a good amount of drama ensued around President Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy's visit to Buckingham Palace. The Queen had her own insecurities and was unsure about meeting Jackie Kennedy who was something of a fashion icon at the time.
However, while historical s suggest that she might have been a bit critical of the decor and furnishings--there is no proven record of the two bonding post-dinner as was depicted in season 2. And even if they did, the Queen probably did not get to hear about Jackie Kennedy's snarky comments afterward as has been depicted. Neither was there an apology offered to the Queen about her remarks by Jackie herself.
Accurate: The Duke Of Windsor's Nazi Connection
One of the takeaways from a series based on Britain's monarch is that royal or not, the family is at the end of the day, like any other, with more skeletons in their cupboards than any everyday ordinary family. In season 2, the series dramatizes the unmasking of the infamous Marburg files, top-secret papers pertaining to World War II, and indicative of a possible entente between the Duke of Windsor, Edward VIII, and the Nazi High Command.
A little fact-checking reveals that the Duke and his wife did indeed meet with the Fuhrër and the Nazis considered him something of an ally. Although there is no real evidence of the Duke colluding with the Germans against Britain, it's possible that this particular episode in the history of the Crown is subject to massive cover-ups.
Inaccurate: Princess Alice's Estrangement From Son
Life was apparently not a bed of roses for every member of one of the most privileged households in the world. One of those who suffered most was Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The season 3 episode, "Bubbykins", focused on the life of Princess Alice who had been living as a nun after having been diagnosed as a schizophrenic at a young age and being separated from her children.
It is true that the Princess suffered inhuman torture in the hands of those who claimed to be trying to cure her--she was indeed treated by the noted psycho-analyst, Sigmund Freud. However, the entire drama surrounding Prince Philip's estrangement from his mother seems to have been concocted. The Prince Consort was apparently in touch with his mother and it had been his idea to bring his mother to England when the political climate in Greece deteriorated.