Friend of the Queen says that 'The Crown' makes her "so angry"

A close friend of Queen Elizabeth has taken aim at Netflix’s The Crown, claiming it to be a “complete fantasy” that sheds the Royal Family in an “unfair” light. Lady Glenconner has said that the biopic series “just makes me so angry.” The show has come under heavy criticism over claims that it has fabricated several of its events.

Lady Glenconner had been the Queen’s maid of honour during her coronation in 1953 and has said that one particularly irritating thing about The Crown is the fact that an American audience will likely “believe it completely”. The Queen’s good friend recently discussed the show on Woman’s Hour. She said, “It’s so irritating. I don’t watch The Crown now because it just makes me so angry. And it’s so unfair on members of the royal family.”

In particular, Lady Glenconner was annoyed at an episode in season two in which it is implied that the Duke of Edinburgh ought to be blamed for the death of his sister Cecilie. “That was completely untrue,” she said. “And I think to say something like that about people is terribly hurting. Nobody wants to have their relations trashed like that.”

When Helena Bonham portrayed Princess Margaret in the third and fourth seasons of the show, she sought out Lady Glenconner for advice on how she ought to play her. “She came for about two hours, Lady Glenconner said. “I told her how Princess Margaret smoked, how she walked.”

However, Lady Glenconner was not afraid of revealing to Bonham Carter her true feelings on the show. She added, “I saw Helena after she’d been in The Crown, and she said, ‘What did you think?’ And I said, ‘Well, rather disappointed.’ And she said, ‘I know. But the thing is, I’m an actress, and I have to do what’s written for me.'”