History That Inspired ‘The Crown’

By Jamie Samhan. 21 Nov 2020 5:16 PM

Everyone knows that Netflix’s hit show “The Crown” is based on the British Royal Family and while many of the scenes are fictionalized, many are also based on real life events.

Photo by Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Hulton Royals Collection/Getty Images

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Lady Diana Spencer
Photo by Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Hulton Royals Collection/Getty Images
A young Lady Diana Spencer really didn't have much of a clue what she was in for when marrying into the Royal Family.

As shown in "The Crown", Diana went from cleaning her sister's house and living with flatmates to moving into Buckingham Palace, all at the age of 19.
Diana And Lady Fermoy
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Princess Diana's grandmother Lady Fermoy was one of the Queen Mum's ladies-in-waiting but the reports that she help set up the union between Diana and Prince Charles are false.

As written in Andrew Morton's biography Diana: Her True Story, Lady Fermoy was against the relationship, saying, "Darling, you must understand that their sense of humour and their lifestyle are different, and I don't think it will suit you."
Royal Engagement
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Right down to Lady Diana's outfit, she awkward glances at Prince Charles and the famous line "whatever in love means," this was one scene in "The Crown" that was pretty spot on.
Charles And Camilla
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The timeline of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles' relationship was changed for the show, but the love between the two of them was certainly not.

Prince Charles did not continue his affair with Camilla during the first five years of his marriage to Princess Diana, but deep down he always loved her.
Royal Wedding
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Sadly, there was no recreation of Princess Diana and Prince Charles' 1981 wedding, but Diana's iconic 25-foot train wedding dress was given its glory.

"Costume designer Amy Roberts wanted to capture the same spirit and style of David & Elizabeth Emanuel’s original design, without creating a replica," the show's official Twitter account revealed before the fourth season was released.
Princess Margaret And Mustique
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Princess Margaret's love of the Caribbean island of Mustique is often shown in "The Crown" as she escapes there.

Here she is pictured with Colin Tennant, who owns the private island that is still favoured by the Royal Family.
Royal Love Of Outdoors
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Queen Elizabeth and Princess Anne's love of stalking on the Balmoral estate continues to this day.

Season four takes a look at the competitive nature of the family when it comes to the sport.
Michael Fagan
Photo by R. Brigden/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Michael Fagan really did enter Buckingham Palace in search of Queen Elizabeth in 1982.

“I walked straight in,” Fagan later said. “I was surprised I wasn’t captured straight away. I could have been a rapist or something.”

Fagan also later shut down the reports that he had a long conversation with the Queen after she woke up to find him sitting on her bed (which is how the show plays it out to be).

"Nah," he said. at the notion of a long conversation with Her Majesty. “She went past me and ran out of the room; her little bare feet running across the floor."
The Queen's Favourite
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Queen Elizabeth has always had a soft spot for her son Prince Andrew, which viewers see in "The Crown" as the Queen tries to figure out which child is her favourite.

It is often said her first two children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne, were the heir and the spare, but Andrew was just for her.
Diana In NYC
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Princess Diana really did head to New York in February 1989.

The trip was her first solo engagement to NYC and the fact that Prince Charles was not with her raised eyebrows on the state of their marriage.

Nevertheless, Diana "won over New Yorkers."

History That Inspired ‘The Crown’

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