Royal staffer names and shames everything The Crown got wrong in season 4
The Queen’s former Press Secretary has come forward to slam The Crown for its portrayal of Prince Charles during his early days of marriage to Princess Diana.
Speaking to True Royalty TV’s The Royal Beat, Dickie Arbiter condemned the popular series, saying that it should have come with “a health warning” due to the sheer level of inaccuracy.
The Prince is shown as cold and frustrated by his wife’s mental health struggles while cheating on her with Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Arbiter said it is simply not true that the pair never had a good relationship.
He also pointed out that the timeline of Charles’ affair with Camilla was all wrong.
The reportedly had little to no contact with Camilla during the first five years of his marriage.
“‘I remember going on tour just after they got married in 1981 and she was the first Princess of Wales in about 80 years, so it was a big deal,” he said.
“They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Charles used to pat her bum regularly. There were times when he would even squeeze it, even in Australia.
“There was a relationship from the beginning. There was genuine love and happiness there,” he added.
He also touched on his other issues with the Netflix series’ calling the ‘Balmoral Test’ portrayed in the early episodes of the season “a load of claptrap”.
In the episode in question, Gillian Anderson’s Margaret Thatcher is shown being ridiculed by the royals for bringing the wrong clothes for a day of hunting with the Queen.
She shows up to drinks in the incorrect dress code and clashing with the staff.
“What a load of claptrap,” Arbiter said of the scene.
“Nobody is put on test. Before anyone goes to Balmoral, they are briefed on what takes place and what clothes to take.
“Not how to behave, as it’s expected that you will use common sense. Margaret Thatcher would have no way gone out in her heels.”
Arbiter spent 12 years as Her Majesty’s press secretary, so he was equally dismayed by The Crown’s portrayal of the Queen as cold and unfeeling.
“Olivia Coleman as The Queen is not the Queen I know,” he said.
“She comes across as po-faced and cold …. The Queen does have motherly instincts.”
He also suggested that The Crown ’s creators should make it clear to viewers that the details are factually inaccurate.
“We are talking about a health warning at the beginning,” he suggested.
“A written health warning is no good. It has to be a spoken health warning at the beginning to make sure people actually take it in. There has to be a proper warning at the beginning – verbal.”