Most people who watch The Crown are avid followers of all things royal. From wanting a closer look at Queen Elizabeth’s longtime relationship with Prince Phillip to learning more about one of the most-loved royals Princess Diana; fans of The Crown have become invested in how their dramatized lives play on screen. The thing is, though the Netflix show is based on the royal family, at the end of the day it is just that — a show. But being that the royals have a very strict way as to how they’d like the public to receive them, the TV series has ruffled some feathers along the way. In a new interview with InStyle,Gillian Anderson — who plays Margaret Thatcher on The Crown — talked about the tension between the Netflix drama and the royal family, and how she ultimately thinks the show was actually kinder than the royal family may have warranted.
When The Crown aired the dirty laundry that is the love triangle between Princess Diana, Prince Charles, and Camilla Parker Bowles, things got personal for the late Diana’s brother Earl Charles Spencer. While making an appearance on “Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh,” Princess Diana’s brother supported earlier efforts from the British Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden that urged the show to add a disclaimer that labeled it as a “work of fiction” and not historically accurate. Netflix refused.
“A few days into their honeymoon on the Royal Yacht Britannia, they opened their diaries to discuss their next engagements, when out of Charles’s dropped not one, but two photos of Camilla." #TheCrown#PrincessDianahttps://t.co/cN90RPXZXP
— SheKnows (@SheKnows) November 23, 2020
Of the debated disclaimer, Anderson told InStyle, “It’s so obvious that we’re doing a TV show and that these are characters based on real-life people. To me, it just felt like drama for the sake of drama. But I get that there are a lot of people invested.”
She added, “There’s a lot of stuff that could have been written about — but was not — that is so much worse than what ended up in the show. There has been kindness extended in certain areas where it didn’t have to be.”
When it comes to The Crown, Anderson is right in that Netflix has purposely left out bits of the royal family’s problematic history in an effort to not resurface harmful memories (particularly this scene between the Queen and her daughter-in-law). Netflix isn’t planning on adding a disclaimer anytime soon — and it’s clear that Anderson feels the royal family’s concerns should lie elsewhere.
The March issue of InStyle, available on newsstands, on Amazon, and for digital download February 12.
Before you go, click here to find out which tell-all books expose major royal family secrets.
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