The Crown actor Jared Harris, who played the dying King George VI in the first season of the Netflix show, says the royal family would be ‘delighted’ by the series because it ‘humanises’ them
The royal family would be ‘delighted’ by Netflix’s The Crown because it ‘humanises’ them, a former star of the series has said.
Jared Harris, 62, portrayed the ailing King George VI in the show’s first season.
The Crown has been widely criticized for its portrayal of key figures in the royal family and its historical inaccuracies.
Harris acknowledged the controversy, admitting on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘There’s always a little bit of, if you did this, whether they told this story or not, is it somehow disrespectful ?’
But he added: ‘My opinion is: I haven’t heard this, but I think it is true Royal family I’d be happy because it makes them more human, you know?’
The royal family would be ‘delighted’ by Netflix’s The Crown because it ‘humanises’ them, says a former star of the series. Jared Harris, 62, portrayed the ailing King George VI in the show’s first season. Above: Harris with Claire Foy in a scene depicting the Queen’s wedding day in 1947
Queen Camilla and King Charles III pose together earlier this month during a state banquet at Buckingham Palace, held to mark the visit of the president of South Korea and his wife
Harris portrayed George VI as he was dying of lung cancer. The king died in February 1952, while the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip were in Kenya.
According to Vanessa Kirby, who played Princess Margaret in the first two seasons, the late Queen Elizabeth would have enjoyed watching The Crown.
She claimed that a friend of hers heard Princess Eugenie say at a party: “My grandma watches it and really likes it.”
Prince Harry also said he has been watching episodes of the show, including the most recent series depicting his late mother, Princess Diana.
“Yes, I’ve seen The Crown,” he told American presenter Stephen Colbert.
Season five of the series drew bitter reactions for its “evil” storylines, including painful depictions of the breakdown of Charles and Diana’s marriage, as well as a fictional scene in which the king plotted to overthrow his mother.
The first four episodes of the final season of The Crown appeared on Netflix earlier this month.
The final six parts will be available on December 14.
Harris (pictured above in 2020) was speaking to promote his role in a new adaptation of Harold Pinter’s play The Homecoming, showing at the Young Vic in south-east London.
Harris as King George VI with Victoria Hamilton, who played the Queen Mother in the first and second series
The Daily Mail’s Robert Hardman recently accused the show’s creators of “retrofitting Harry and Meghan’s story into the show.”
One of the available episodes portrays a lunch between Diana and then Prime Minister Tony Blair, as the Princess of Wales begins her post-royal life in July 1997, with Mr Blair reporting to Queen Elizabeth that Diana wants to take on an official role for the palace.
“As a divorcee – and no longer an HRH – Diana is now learning the difference between being officially in the family and being out,” says the queen, played by Imelda Staunton.
Speaking in the first episode of the new Mail podcast The Crown: Fact or Fiction, Mr Hardman said: ‘It’s clear that this very much fits the story of Harry and Meghan into the story of Diana and Charles.
“We do know that this lunch took place, I believe it was at Cherie Blair’s invitation, not Tony Blair’s.”
Harris was speaking to promote his role in a new adaptation of Harold Pinter’s play The Homecoming, which is showing at the Young Vic in south-east London.