Do the Royal Family watch The Crown? What The Queen, William, Harry and more think about the Netflix show

19 November 2020, 15:15 | Updated: 19 November 2020, 15:18

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Everything the Royal Family have said about The Crown - The Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry and more.

The Crown season four finally dropped on Netflix last week, with the new series set in the 1980s and featuring newcomers Emma Corrin and Gillian Anderson as Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher respectively.

While the series is mostly fictional, it contains real characters and is based real events that took place.

Some members of the Royal Family have even spoken about the series, with The Queen even being reported to have watched it.

Here's what we know and what they have said about the series.

Does the Queen watch The Crown?

Back in 2017, it was reported that The Queen herself was a fan of the series.

She is said to have watched the first season of the show after being encouraged by her son and daughter-in-law, the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

The Sunday Express reported at the time that they organised private screenings of the show on Saturday nights at Windsor Castle.

A royal source told the paper: "Edward and Sophie love The Crown. It has been a longstanding arrangement that they drive to Windsor at the weekend to join the Queen for an informal supper while watching TV or a film.

"They have a Netflix account and urged her to watch it with them.

"Happily, she really liked it, although obviously there were some depictions of events that she found too heavily dramatised."

Vanessa Kirby, who played Princess Margaret in the first two seasons, has also said that Princess Eugenie confirmed to a friend of hers that the Queen had seen the show.

She said: "A friend of mine was at a party and didn’t know anyone, so he sidled up to this group who were talking about The Crown, when one said, ‘Well, my granny watches it and really likes it’. It slowly dawned on him that the girl was Eugenie and her granny was the Queen."

It is not known whether the Queen has watched further series' of the show.

What did the Queen think about The Crown?

While the Queen is reported to have enjoyed the series, there are certain scenes that she apparently didn't enjoy.

In particular, she is said to have disapproved of Prince Phillip being shown to be unsympathetic to Charles when he started boarding school.

A royal source said at the time: "I can convey that she was upset by the way Prince Philip is depicted as being a father insensitive to his son’s well-being.

"She was particularly annoyed at a scene in which Philip has no sympathy for a plainly upset Charles while he is flying him home from Scotland. That simply did not happen."

Has Prince Phillip watched The Crown?

It is thought that Prince Phillip hasn't seen the show.

Have Prince Charles and Camilla watched The Crown?

A source previously told Vanity Fair that Camilla had watched The Crown and didn't have an issue with it, saying: “I imagine she’ll be tuning in with a glass of red wine to watch it, she has seen the previous series. She has a wonderful sense of humour and this won’t fuss her in the slightest.

“She has watched it, of course she has and I believe [Charles] has too. I don’t think she has any real issue with it. Her feeling is very much ‘never complain, never explain.'”

What has Prince William said about The Crown?

Olivia Colman, who currently plays The Queen, has revealed that Prince William gave her a 'firm no' when she asked him if he watched the series.

A source previously told the Daily Mail: “The Duke of Cambridge is none too pleased with it. He feels that both his parents are being exploited and being presented in a false, simplistic way to make money.”

What has Prince Harry said about The Crown?

Angela Levin - author of Harry: A Biography of a Prince - has claimed that he asked her if she'd seen it when she visited him previously.

In a recent interview, as reported by the Daily Mail, she said: "When I met Harry at Kensington Palace the first question he asked me was, 'Are you watching The Crown?'.

"I mumbled and said, 'Are you and the rest of the Royal Family?' He said, 'Yes, we're all absolutely watching everything but I'm going to insist it stops before it reaches me'."

What has Princess Eugenie said about The Crown?

Princess Eugenie has watched the show, and previously was quoted as saying: “It is filmed beautifully. 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.”

What has Princess Anne said about The Crown?

It isn't known whether Princess Anne has seen the series, but she did reference an interview in which actor Erin Doherty - who plays her - spoke about the time it takes to do her hair.

Princess Anne told Town & Country: “Actually I read an article the other day about The Crown, the actress was talking about how long it took them to do their hair like I did. And I’m thinking, ‘How could you possibly take that long?’ I mean it takes me 10 or 15 minutes.”

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