The Crown and Netflix have gone too far with a monstrous lie about Prince Philip

It seems you can say whatever you want about the House of Windsor these days, but criticise The Crown, the TV series based on the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and you probably commit a crime against media orthodoxy. The Crown is deemed the defining contemporary British cultural achievement. It is the box-set dramatic equivalent of Bake Off, and a post-London 2012 manifestation of the confidence and global appeal of creative Britain’s ironic grooviness.

Viewers like it, understandably. In series one the production values were exemplary and the streaming network Netflix left the production team to get on with it in a way the BBC (usually worried about what another arm of the Establishment will think) would not have. Peter Morgan, the creator of The Crown, even declares himself to be a converted monarchist. Spending so much time grappling with the character of the Queen and her historical record convinced him, he says in interviews. In 2016 he also became a Commander of the British Empire, which is nice.

But the conceptual weakness at the heart of The Crown project has just been exposed. While playwrights have often taken liberties with history, it is best to wait until real characters involved are dead, unless they are regarded as beyond ghastly or are safely out of reach of libel lawyers.

In essence, the problem with The Crown is that the leading characters are still alive, and this makes the following question more relevant. Is what we are watching an accurate representation of what happened or a load of old hokum for dramatic effect and ratings?

A large part of the appeal of The Crown is that it supposedly “lifts the lid” and shows us what these figures of contemporary public fascination are really like. But if a central detail about a leading character is wrong, then what else is wrong too? What can we trust? If the messages delivered about the characters and their weaknesses are based on incidents and conversations which did not happen then what use is the core message or any insight into character?

In that fashion the new series of The Crown contains a slur, a monstrous lie against the Duke of Edinburgh, which would probably – if Prince Philip was a private citizen – command considerable damages in court. It is that bad.

The Mail on Sunday revealed this weekend that the penultimate episode – Paterfamilias – attributes the blame for the death of young Philip’s beloved sister in a plane crash to the boy’s behaviour at school.

This is simply false. She and other family members were killed travelling and Philip’s actions had no bearing on this tragedy. The producers then plan to make it worse, reports the MoS, by having Philip berated at the funeral by his father for causing her death. This simply did not happen, say historians.

In this way the lowest point of the life of a man who has served his country, in uniform, as the consort to the monarch, and as an exemplary supporter  of good causes, is turned into a piece of ghastly melodrama spun out of a lie. If that is not destruction of character and a blow to reputation, then what is?

Hugo Vickers, the biographer and Royal historian, put it well in the MoS:

“All that care, artistry and brilliance only makes this pernicious lie all the more wrong. The Crown has previously strayed into controversy by feeding upon rumours. This creation of a falsehood around the tragedy that haunted Philip’s family is entirely worse. Prince Andrew of Greece was deeply upset by Cecile’s death, writing later: ‘It was a very hard blow and the weight of it becomes heavier as time passes.’ He and his son, Prince Philip, travelled out from London to Darmstadt together, where they were reunited with Princess Alice (Philip’s mother) for the first time since 1931, the death of her daughter having coaxed her back into the family from years of seclusion. It is beyond me how serious film-makers would wish to turn such a dreadful tragedy into a series of invented scenes bearing no relation to the truth.”

Even though the Crown is drama, its makers have blundered badly at a difficult moment for the Global Entertainment Complex. We are forever, particularly now, being lectured by ghastly and arrogant Hollywood and the wider entertainment industry about morality and truth, in light of various scandals that Hollywood itself covered up. Where, then, in the academy of truth-telling and Hollywood virtue signalling are we to rank this appalling slur against a 93 year-old man, accusing him in front of tens of millions of viewers of being responsible for his sister’s death?

Gerald Warner writing for Reaction this weekend has accused the Conservative leadership of committing treason on Brexit. I disagree, most strongly, and tomorrow will make the case for the defence of the compromises made in Phase One of the Brexit process. And the attack by The Crown on the character of Prince Philip is far, far worse than the Brexit deal.

That being the case, Netflix and the makers of The Crown will surely have to apologise to Prince Philip and remake or edit the episode. Indeed, and to make good the damage, they should send a large donation to one of the charities that the Duke of Edinburgh has established, such as the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. It has helped countless young people on their sometimes difficult path to adulthood through volunteering and physical activities.

Peter Morgan has complained previously about all the fuss in Hollywood when multiple swanky parties are put on to celebrate The Crown getting its latest award. All the expense! All that champagne! Here’s a solution. Along with a letter of apology, hand over some of the loot from The Crown to the Duke of Edinburgh Awards – registered charity (Reg. no. 1072490.) Come on, man. Chop, chop.