The Crown: Full trailer for fifth season

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Amid concerns surrounding the storylines of season five of The Crown, a spokeswoman for the show said the drama should be treated as fictional and a dramatisation. She said: “The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events. Series five is a fictional dramatisation, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors during a significant decade for the Royal Family — one that has already been scrutinised and well-documented by journalists, biographers and historians.” 

It came after backlash from public figures including former Prime Minister John Major, who is set to be a key figure in the new season, and Judi Dench, who accused Netflix of misleading viewers. This is not a new criticism of the show, with many calling out The Crown for failing to warn that it’s not wholly true. A disclaimer was subsequently added to the new season trailer, stating that the show is a “fictional dramatisation”, “inspired by real events”.

Ahead of the release of the new season, Express.co.uk looks back at some of the previous storylines to see whether they are backed by history or dramatised to thicken the plot.

Season 1

The first season of the hit Netflix series dramatises the personal and political challenges facing Queen Elizabeth II. Set across ten episodes, the show explores events ranging from the wedding of Princess Elizabeth, played by Claire Foy, and Philip Mountbatten (Matt Smith) in 1947, to the final days of Winston Churchill’s (John Lithgow) time in office and the growing tensions over the Suez Canal. 

Her Majesty never had a crush on Porchie

The early seasons focus on Elizabeth and Philip’s marriage and toward the end of season 1, the couple’s relationship is under intense pressure. The Crown depicts the relationship between the young Queen and her childhood friend, Lord ‘Porchie’ Porchester, as being more than just friendship and shows Philip becoming increasingly jealous. 

In actuality, however, this never happened. Having met her future husband as a young girl, and later as a teenager, Elizabeth was only ever interested in Philip. There is no evidence to suggest that Porchie was a threat to Elizabeth and Philip’s fairy-tale love story. 

Queen Elizabeth did not refuse her sister’s request to marry

In The Crown, much is made of the Queen’s refusal to permit her sister, Princess Margaret, to marry Peter Townsend — a former RAF officer and equerry to King George VI — whom the younger Windsor sister fell in love with during the Fifties.

Their relationship was especially scandalous as Peter was a married man and 16 years older than the Princess. 

The show includes the monarch’s warning to Margaret that any such marriage would result in her being shunned from the family. However, in real life, Elizabeth had been keen on ensuring her sister’s happiness and had gone so far as to draw up papers that would permit Margaret to retain her royal title upon her marriage to Peter. 

Ultimately, the Princess chose to not marry Peter and instead tied the knot with Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960. 

Season 2

The royal marriages are at the centre of the drama from the start of season 2, with the action opening on the Royal Yacht Britannia in 1957 at the end of the Duke of Edinburgh’s royal tour. Tensions between Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip continue to brew as the Duke grows resentful of his position within the House of Windsor. 

Philip’s “affair” with that ballet dancer was pure speculation

Although writer and creator Peter Morgan has remained pointedly ambiguous over whether or not rumours of Philip’s indiscretions are true, in season 2 of The Crown, viewers see the Prince flirting with a female journalist, attending a secretive gentleman’s lunch club and using a men-only royal tour as a chance to let his hair down. 

In one of the series’ most memorable moments, Elizabeth discovers a photograph of ballerina Galina Ulanova in her husband’s suitcase. Russian-born Ulanova was considered to be one of the greatest ballerinas of her time. But, while The Crown suggests that Philip was romantically involved with the dancer, there is no evidence to suggest that the pair were engaging in any sort of extra-marital affair. 

King Edward VIII’s links to the Nazis may have been deeper than the series depicted

Season 2’s sixth episode, ‘Verganganheit,’ delves into the life of the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII, who abdicated in 1936 after less than a year on the throne, and addresses that he was a Nazi sympathiser. 

The episode sees Queen Elizabeth II accusing the Duke of having entertained discussions with the Nazis regarding a deal to get him back on the throne with his wife, Wallis Simpson, who he gave up his kingship for, by his side. 

Historians such as Hugo Vickers, ‘Behind Closed Doors: The Tragic, Untold Story of Wallis Simpson’, did not dispute that this conversation may have taken place. 

However, The Crown shows the Duke attempting to minimise the significance of his missteps, which he seemingly categorises as merely diplomatic in nature. In truth, his links to the Nazi party may have been much closer, with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor appearing to have been friends with several Nazi officers.

The Duke later admitted that he had been foolish and naïve about Hitler in an interview with an American newspaper in 1966. 

There’s no evidence Philip played a part in the Profumo scandal

The final episode of season 2 insinuates Philip was involved in the 1963 sex scandal involving Minister of War John Profumo and an osteopath called Stephen Ward, who arranged for high-profile men to “meet” women. 

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While The Crown correctly points out a link between Ward and Philip, there is no evidence to tie the Duke to the scandal and Buckingham Palace has always denied the Duke’s involvement. As depicted in the show, Ward had sketched the Prince, however, the series draws a direct link between the two men, speculating that Philip had attended several of Ward’s societal parties. 

Royal historian Christopher Wilson has since commented on the plotline as a sign of the show becoming “more elastic” with the truth. 

Season 3

A new cast is introduced in Season 3 as the Royal Family lives through the late Sixties and enters the Seventies. It continues to depict the Queen’s reign and her world behind the Palace walls but also begins to delve into the lives of the younger royals, namely Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) and Princess Anne (Erin Doherty). Viewers are introduced to Camilla Shand (Emerald Fennell), the woman who would go on to become Charles’s second wife.

The Queen’s response to the Aberfan disaster

The Aberfan disaster remains one of the most tragic events in Britain’s recent history, with 116 children and 28 adults losing their lives following the catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip. Queen Elizabeth’s response to the incident has been heavily analysed in the decades that have followed, but The Crown arguably goes a little too far when it comes to her perceived failings.

While it’s true that the monarch did take more than a week to visit the stricken Welsh town (something that has since been described as “[her] biggest regret”), the idea that she wasn’t distressed by the tragic loss of life is not true. In the show, she comes across as cold and uncaring, but some of those who witnessed her visit recall her being “visibly upset” by the events that had taken place.

The timing of the royal romances

Season 4 begins to delve further into the lives of then-Prince Charles and his sister Princess Anne. The young royals are seen embarking on romantic relationships, with the Princess Royal becoming involved with Andrew Parker Bowles (Andrew Buchan) and the now-King dating Camilla Shand. 

However, while The Crown paints the picture of a royal love quadrangle, the timings of the romances are not quite right. Both relationships did happen, but in reality, they occurred several years apart. 

Anne and Andrew first began dating in the summer of 1970, long before Charles and Camilla even met. By 1972, the Princess was already involved with her future husband Mark Phillips with both their engagement and wedding taking place the following year. 

There might not have been a royal plot to break up Charles and Camilla

There is significant disagreement among royal historians regarding why Charles married Diana, rather than Camilla. Sally Bedell Smith has theorised that the Royal Family hatched a scheme to get Camilla to marry Andrew Parker-Bowles while the Prince was on an extended military assignment overseas. 

This is the theory that The Crown ran with, depicting the Queen Mother and Lord Mountbatten sending Charles away and manipulating the Shand and Parker-Bowles families into fast-tracking the marriage of Camilla and Andrew. 

However, Hugo Vickers maintains that no such scheme was put in motion, or would have been necessary, as Camilla was more smitten with Andrew than with Charles at the time. 

Season 4

The royals are brought into the Eighties in season 4 of The Crown, covering much more recent history than previous series. Two notable historical figures join the cast in the form of Lady Diana Spencer (Emma Corrin) and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson). The season explores the tumultuous relationship between both Charles and Diana, and the Queen and her new Prime Minister. 

Michael Fagan’s Palace Break-Ins 

Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace twice during the summer of 1982. He helped himself to a glass of wine during his first visit, and somehow gained access to Queen Elizabeth II’s private bedroom during his second. 

In The Crown, Fagan, played by Tom Brooke, breaks into the Palace to express his displeasure with Margaret Thatcher’s stewardship. He speaks directly to the Queen, played by Olivia Colman, and even sits down with the monarch for several minutes. However, in reality, the Queen left the room immediately after realising there was an intruder and Fagan was quickly removed from her private quarters. 

Moreover, Fagan’s real reason for breaking into the royal residence is not quite as interesting as the show made out. He seemingly broke in on little more than a whim and has since said “something just got into [his] head”. 

Princess Margaret’s objection to Charles and Diana’s wedding

While in hindsight, there were plenty of warning signs that the relationship between Charles and Lady Diana Spencer wasn’t going to work out, the Royal Family was seemingly happy with the arrangement and chose to press on with the historic royal wedding. 

In The Crown, however, Margaret openly objects to the union and urges her family to cancel the engagement. Margaret’s inner thoughts about the viability of the relationship are of course unknown, but there is no evidence to suggest that she shared any reservations with the family.

And according to Helena Bonham Carter, who played Margaret in seasons 3 and 4, the embellishment came directly from her mind rather than any historical source.  

Princess Margaret’s interest in her ‘secret’ cousins

‘The Hereditary Principle’, episode 7 of the season, was meant to bring light to a little-talked-about ‘secret’ of the Royal Family — the existence of two cousins who were hidden away in an institution.  

While it is known that the two cousins existed and were born with a developmental disorder that resulted in them being cared for in an institution, the events depicted in the scripted drama having any basis, in reality, have been disputed. 

For instance, Margaret did not uncover the truth about Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon — the daughters of the Queen Mother’s brother — and never visited the cousins. 

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