Netflix recommendation- The Crown season 3-4

Can we send an abusive message to Prince Charles?

The Crown cinematic universe phase 2? Can I call seasons 3-4 that? As labelling it a historical drama, suggests to the audience that what we’re about to view is true and factual?

Ok, just to take a step back, seasons 3 and 4 of The Crown covers the years from 1964 to 1991- with an entirely different cast to play members of the Royal family. And may I add, all of them played their roles perfectly, absolutely no degradation from the cast of phase 1. And like in seasons 1-2, I enjoyed how the film makers selected significant historical events, 10 per season to tell the story of the Royal family and the United Kingdom, moving their individual stories forward through a span of decades. Not an easy task to pull off, but it was done very, very well indeed.

And as a TV series, from an entertainment point of view it was fantastic! Such great acting, brilliant storytelling, a drama series heads and shoulders above the rest. Something which I’d happily recommend to anyone.

And now that we’ve caught up to where everyone else are at, I thought I was truly more knowledgeable about the Royal family now. Seeing them for who they really are, a normal family with its own dysfunctions like all families are (be that on a grander scale). When previously I could only picture them in the context of their official duties, stoic and lacking personality.

But minutes before writing this post for you, I took some time to read through Wikipedia’s entry on The Crown, and although I knew this was going to burst my bubble but I was super curious to read the content under ‘Historical accuracy’ (or should I say Historical inaccuracies). But now I sit here, actually quite disappointed and angry that critical elements of the show were significantly dramatized, historically inaccurate, embellished, or were outright lies! Sure, I wasn’t naive enough to believe that everything that was spoon fed to me was the gospel truth. However I didn’t think that I was being actively manipulated either!?

To be honest with you, after finishing the last episode of season 4, I was left feeling extremely hateful towards Prince Charles! Throughout the season I’d whisper into my wife’s ear “can we send an abusive message to Prince Charles?” It was our internal joke, after we learned that fans of The Crown were sending him hateful messages after watching season 4. But now to find out that his relations with Camilla were not as they were depicted? I feel a tad silly and foolish now, as I had been manipulated into feeling hostility towards a real life living being (not to mention who may become our future King).

But it wasn’t only Charles who was depicted in an unflattering light, but literally every character in season 4 were depicted to have character flaws! From the Queen on down, right down to Mark Thatcher who had less than 10 minutes of air time. I’m just left thinking now, why? Why has the producers of The Crown manipulated us in a way, so that we think that all privileged and  powerful are A-holes? What are they trying to achieve here?

So after investing more than 40 hours of my life into The Crown, am I more informed about the goings on behind the closed doors of power? Probably not, but now I’m just left cycling through my memories, trying to sort out what was fact and what was fiction. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really like being lied to.

From an entertainment point of view, The Crown was great! But they should warn impressionable viewers like me that what I was going to watch was a work of fiction. Otherwise people may walk away and believe that they’ve just watched a historical account of what really went on behind closed doors.

To view the second instalment of The Crown cinematic universe, click HERE! And to learn what was historically inaccurate click HERE for the Wikipedia entry on The Crown.