Netflix urged to apologise over ‘shockingly malicious’ Prince Philip scene in The Crown following duke’s death
Scene concerns the death of the duke’s sister
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Your support makes all the difference.Netflix has been urged to issue an apology over a “shockingly malicious” scene in The Crown following the Duke of Edinburgh’s death.
Prince Philip’s recent death has prompted remarks from royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith concerning a particular scene in Netflix’s hit drama, which chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II.
Season two of The Crown featured flashbacks to the death of Prince Philip’s sister. Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark died in a plane crash aged 26 in 1937, when the Duke of Edinburgh was 16 years old.
It was implied by the series that Prince Philip was blamed by his father, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, for his sister’s death.
The storyline depicted in The Crown suggested that Princess Cecilie was on board the flight to England to see her brother after he had been prohibited from visiting her in Germany due to poor behaviour in school.
During the funeral scene, his father is heard saying to a young Prince Philip (played by Finn Elliot): “You are the reason we are all here, burying my favourite child.”
Royal biographer Smith has since urged Netflix to apologise to the royal family over the scene, telling The Daily Mail: “[Prince Philip] had nothing to do with his sister’s death… Cecilie did die in an air crash but that’s the only thing that was true. Everything else was invented in a shockingly malicious way.”
Smith added that the streamer “should emphatically apologise” over the scene. She also stated that she believes “a disclaimer is necessary more than ever”.
“Now that he is gone, what they have done to his reputation is in even sharper relief,” she said.
In the wake of The Crown’s fourth season, which aired last November, many critics pointed out that a number of key scenes had been invented.
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Some people called on Netflix to add a disclaimer to the beginning of episodes to warn viewers that the series is a work of fiction.
Amid criticism against The Crown for inaccuracies in its storytelling, Prince Harry admitted that it gives viewers a “rough idea” about royal life.
Here, you can see a list of the biggest aspects that the series got right about the Duke of Edinburgh, and the parts that it got wrong.
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