Princess Diana: confidante asserts ‘The Crown’ is truthful

Princess Diana
Her ex-secretary insists “The Crown” reflects the truth

On Wednesday, November 9, 2022, the fifth season of “The Crown” was finally released on Netflix. There was already a lot of criticism in advance for the ten new episodes that play in the 1990s and in particular the divorce of King Charles, 73, then Prince Charles, and Princess Diana, † 36, and the death of the “Queen of Hearts ” illuminate.

The processing of these extremely sensitive topics is apparently not only difficult for the royal family to bear, there are also voices that the presentation is incorrect. Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell spoke up via Instagram and noted that the mother of Prince Harry, 38, and Prince William, 40, was far less rebellious, but a “fervent supporter of the Queen”. However, Diana’s former private secretary now emphasizes that he “could not find any untruths”.

Cruel untruths in “The Crown”? Princess Diana’s private secretary could not find any

Patrick Jephson, who was Diana’s private secretary from 1988 to 1996, went to a screening of the final version of the new season of “The Crown” several weeks ago with mixed feelings, as he now writes in the “Telegraph”. Although he was “on high alert” and on the lookout for “malicious distortions of words”, “dishonest presentation of historical facts”, lies and “cruel untruths”, he could not find any.

So he can still well remember Charles and Diana’s “second honeymoon” in 1991 – which is picked up in the first episode – when the then couple cruised the Mediterranean with Harry and William on the naval yacht Alexandra. The portrayal of the voyage draws “considerable dramatic value from the contrast between the romantic notion and the shattered reality,” which, according to the best-selling author, is by no means a “cheap and cynical invention.”

“A second honeymoon was exactly what the media reported in 1991, encouraged (I learned that summer) by sources in the Prince’s office who calculated that such an apparent show of romance and generosity would quash rumors of his adultery (the coincidentally, they were also angrily dismissed as ‘lies’ at the time).

Chronological adjustments do not harm the integrity of the series

Diana’s former secretary only noticed that the chronology was occasionally adjusted for dramaturgical reasons – even to the advantage of the current king. In the hit series, Charles (Dominic West, 53) and Diana (Elizabeth Debicki, 32) quarreled during the cruise: while Charles wanted to visit historical sites in Italy, his wife had a shopping spree in mind. This exchange of words actually took place under “more harmful circumstances” – during an official visit to the United Arab Emirates two years earlier.

However, according to Jephson, this change doesn’t affect the integrity of The Crown, on the contrary: “Does it make the story a damnable ‘Crown’ lie – or a truth rightfully twisted to meet the demands of a coherent and Satisfy essentially accurate narrative? If so, does it have the incidental effect of tempering the prince’s rash taunt by moving it from a very public setting, in front of royal hosts, to the relative privacy of a family vacation.”

“There were scenes so real I forgot to breathe”

Patrick Jephson also emphasizes that “The Crown” not only tells the story of his former employer truthfully, but that some scenes particularly touched him. “What I saw in the preview set up a story in my head that was consistent with the reality I was experiencing,” he writes, adding, “There were scenes that were so real I forgot to breathe, my heart was pounding alarmingly and my palms were clammy with cold sweat.”

Source used: telegraph.co.uk

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