King Charles' Former Aide Names The Prominent Royal Who's Watching This Season Of The Crown
In the run-up to the release of "The Crown"s highly-anticipated fifth season, some were critical of how the Netflix series mixed fact with fiction. In October 2022, the show's creator and writer, Peter Morgan, addressed these concerns during an interview with Variety, stating that while "we must all accept that the 1990s was a difficult time for the royal family," viewers should know that this "doesn't mean that, with the benefit of hindsight, history will be unkind to [King Charles III] or the monarchy. The show certainly isn't."
Despite Morgan's comments, figures featured in the series, like former British Prime Minister John Major, were unhappy at the dramatization of their meetings with the royals (via The Guardian). In an attempt to get an inside perspective of what the royal family may think of "The Crown," British daytime show "This Morning" recently spoke with King Charles and Queen Camilla's former communications secretary Kristina Kyriacou, who worked for the royal couple between 2009 and 2016 (via British talk radio station LBC).
As noted by the Mirror, while speaking to the show's presenters, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, Kyriacou revealed the name of a prominent royal who's definitely watching this season of "The Crown."
Queen consort Camilla once met with one of the actresses who played her on The Crown
As the conversation continued on "This Morning," Kristina Kyriacou brought up a time when queen consort Camilla invited Emerald Fennell, the actress who played her in the third and fourth series of "The Crown," to a special reception at Clarence House (via Vanity Fair). As a patron of Women of the World (WOW), Camilla celebrated International Women's Day in March 2022 by inviting Fennell alongside the Spice Girls' Mel B, Inna Prystailo, wife of Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, and former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard (via the Daily Mail). During the reception, Camilla joked that if she were to "fall off my perch at any moment, my fictional alter ego is here to take over – so, Emerald, be prepared!"
Camilla's former communications secretary, said on "This Morning" that the queen consort "definitely" tunes in (via the Mirror), although it's not the sort of show that would interest the king. And while details like the infamous "Tampongate" scandal might be a bit awkward, they happened long ago.
"This is a 30-year dialogue," said Kyriacou of the leaked phone call. "It was a very embarrassing moment, but they dusted themselves off at the time that tape recording was made public and went out and did what they do, which is public service. ... The fact this is being rehashed will not affect them. They will be very, very philosophical."
Quite a lot of senior members of the royal family have watched The Crown
Queen Camilla isn't the only member of the royal family to have watched "The Crown," as noted by Insider. In 2017, Princess Eugenie revealed that she's watched "a couple of episodes" of the Netflix series while speaking to Hello! magazine. "It is filmed beautifully," she said. "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." According to Vanessa Kirby, who played Princess Margaret in the first two series of "The Crown," a friend of hers said that Eugenie revealed Queen Elizabeth II had also watched it "and really likes it" (via Harper's Bazaar).
However, Prince Philip was not a fan, as Matt Smith, who played Philip in the first and second series, told NBC's "Today" in September. Olivia Colman, who portrayed the queen in the third and fourth series, revealed on "The Graham Norton Show" that Prince William had heard of "The Crown" but hadn't watched it. Prince Harry hasn't watched the show either, as he revealed on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" last year. But he did say that while the show is "fictional," it is "loosely based on the truth" and that it gives you "a rough idea of the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else."