The ghost of Diana haunts our screens. The new queen is on edge in the polls. But could The Crown’s controversial finale deliver an unexpected VINDICATION for Camilla?
There is a lot of good news for the royals in the recent polls.
We are still in favor of the monarchy; Charles is doing well as king, while William and Kate, the future of the institution, are becoming more popular by the week.
However, there is one thing that doesn’t seem to change.
Almost two decades since Camilla married her prince at the Guildhall in Windsor, surveys show that our new queen remains firmly out of favour.
Olivia Williams, who plays Camilla in the latest series of The Crown, describes her character as a ‘good-natured woman who I would love to be my friend with’
Dominic West and Olivia Williams as they recreate Charles and Camilla’s 2005 wedding
The real Prince Charles and Camilla at the Guildhall in Windsor on their wedding day
A MailOnline poll in April found that only 14 percent thought it was appropriate to give her the title ‘Queen Camilla’ (rather than Queen Consort). The abuse on social media continues.
The reason is not difficult to guess: even today, Camilla is enshrined in public opinion as the “other” woman whose backstabbing helped destroy a fairytale romance.
So she could be forgiven for viewing the upcoming – and final – series of The Crown with apprehension.
The material will be set close to home, depicting Diana’s tragic death in 1997 and ending with Charles and Camilla’s fraught wedding in 2005.
Diana, we’re told, will appear on screen as a ghost.
These were turbulent years for the Windsors, a period when the Queen regarded Camilla – at least for a while – as ‘that bad woman’ and refused to attend her son’s fiftieth birthday party when it was clear the mistress would be present.
The couple was abused in public. Camilla was allegedly pelted with sandwiches outside a supermarket.
But based on what the actors had to say, The Crown could be an unexpected source of support for the king and queen.
“We want to justify them,” says Olivia Williams, who has taken over the role of Camilla, describing her as a dignified “good-natured woman who I would like to be my friend with.”
Speaking to the Netflix companion site, Williams lamented the “huge intrusion” Camilla had faced, suggesting she had been “completely exposed to the mud that was thrown at her.”
Olivia Williams and Dominic West as Camilla and Charles in The Crown
The 1990s were brutal for Mrs. Parker Bowles, who was vilified by the public and the press
Camilla Parker Bowles arrives for the 50th birthday party she hosted for Prince Charles. The queen was not present
A Mail Online poll in April this year found that only 14 percent said they thought it was appropriate to give her the title Queen Camilla – which was done with the approval of the late Queen Elizabeth.
There was certainly enough.
“We were fighting for their side,” agreed Dominic West, who plays Charles.
It may seem quite a turnaround for a drama often cited as republican in spirit and hateful to its characters – ‘cruelly unjust to the individuals and damaging to the institution they represent’, in the words of Dame Judi Dench.
But with a global audience for The Crown reportedly reaching 73 million, it could come as a small relief for a woman who has made enormous personal efforts to take on a new and unusual role.