How true is The Crown on Netflix? A historian answers five questions on Season 2’s historical accuracy
From Queen Elizabeth’s secret meetings to Prince Philip punching a boy, The Crown Season 2 has the royal family doing things we might not have imagined. But how much of it really happened? Historian Robert Lacey reveals the truth
Queen Elizabeth is back for Season 2 of The Crown, but how close is she to the real queen?
Watching Netflix’s sumptuous drama, it’s hard not to pause and look up all the various episodes from the queen’s storied reign and wonder which scenes really happened and what was merely speculated by creator/writer Peter Morgan.
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British historian Robert Lacey, author of The Crown: The Official Companion, Volume 1, says there is a “strong kernel of truth” in almost every episode, but that often the chronology differs and there is a great deal of “invention” when it comes to the dialogue and motivations. So how historically accurate is this season? We asked Lacey five questions.
The season suggests that both Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby) and Antony Armstrong-Jones (Matthew Goode) entered into marriage for reasons other than love. How much do we know about their relationship?
Lacey: There’s a very strong element of truth in that it was a marriage of convenience for both of them. For example, it did suit Tony to try and win back the respect and love of his mother … but maybe not to the degree that it’s shown. We know that there was a sort of pact between Margaret and [her first love, Peter] Townsend that they wouldn’t marry. In the first flush of the pain of being separated, they swore to each other that neither would marry without the other’s agreement and consent. That’s true.
The fifth episode is about Lord Altrincham’s criticisms of Elizabeth, and the monarchy’s presentation. Did he really change it so much?