The Crown’s Nightmare ’90s
Will the Netflix series torch the Royal Family as it revisits their worst decade ever?
This week, the scorching new trailer launched for The Crown Season 5 and it’s not going to be comfortable viewing for the Royal Family.
The trailer, which starts with Windsor Castle burning, covers the events of the 1990s, the Windsor’s worst period, which turned out less to be an “annus horribilis,” and more “decade disastrous”.
Critics are saying it’s too close for comfort - royal biographer William Shawcross branded it an “odious series, filled with lies and half-truths encased in lace and velvet,” John Major said it was “damaging and malicious fiction” and Judi Dench dubbed it, “crude sensationalism”. In response, Netflix put a disclaimer on the trailer, which came out on Thursday, calling it a “fictional dramatization.”
So, what can we expect? Here’s why the 1990s were a nightmare for the Royal Family…
Windsor burned: On November 20, 1992, Windsor Castle caught fire, destroying 115 rooms and taking five years and millions of pounds to rebuild. “Nineteen ninety-two is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure,” the Queen said in a speech a few days later. “It has turned out to be an annus horribilis.”
… And so did marriages: It wasn’t just Windsor which was incinerated in ’92, so were three royal marriages. Charles and Diana separated, as did Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York and Princess Anne divorced Mark Phillips.
Charles and Diana told all: Diana: Her True Story came out in 1992 and it was later revealed Diana helped author Andrew Morton write it, plus Jonathan Dimbleby’s biography The Prince of Wales and TV interview in 1994, in which Charles admitted to committing adultery. This was followed by Diana’s contentious Panorama interview in 1995, featured in The Crown, where she said, “there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
Endless scandals: In 1992, pictures were printed in the Mirror of Texan millionaire John Bryan kissing and sucking the Duchess of York’s toes on holiday in France. The same year saw “Squidgygate”, where taped phone conversations of Diana and James Gilbey were published and “Camillagate” between Charles and Camilla in 1993.
Terrible tragedies: In 1996, 16 children and their teacher were massacred in Dunblane by Thomas Hamilton. The Queen travelled to Dunblane and wept with mourners. The same year, in Tasmania, 35 people were gunned down by Martin Bryant. That Christmas she said, “In difficult times, it is tempting for all of us, especially those who suffer, to look back and say, ‘if only’. Better to look forward and say, ‘if only’.”
Diana’s death: However, more bad news was to come, when on August 31, 1997, Diana died aged 36 in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris and the Royal Family would never be the same again. The Queen and family received criticism for staying in Balmoral and not flying the flag at half-mast on Buckingham Palace. “No-one who knew Diana will ever forget her,” the monarch said in a speech to the nation. “I for one believe there are lessons to be drawn from her life and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death. I share in your determination to cherish her memory.”
Wills and Kate pack a punch
Prince William was boxing clever last week, delivering a knockout punch celebrating ten years of Coach Core - a charity helping disadvantaged young people become sports coaches. Alongside the Princess of Wales, the pair rocked up to the Copper Box Arena at London’s Olympic Park in Stratford and William quickly gloved up.
As he sparred with apprentice coach Joshua Jones, the prince revealed that a knuckle injury stopped him from taking boxing more seriously. “It was good to see he had a few skills under his belt,” said Joshua. “He enjoyed it. He told me he had done a bit before, but he’s got a little knuckle injury or something like that, so he wouldn’t be taking it up any time soon.”
The Royal Foundation launched Coach Core in 2012. Since then more than 750 young people have been supported and 600,000 sports sessions delivered to eight million.
“We’ve been expecting you, Mr Bond”
We loved seeing this pic of Daniel Craig – aka James Bond – being presented with the Order of St Michael and St George, by Princess Anne at Windsor, on Tuesday.
It’s the same honour his character James Bond received. Craig was awarded it for his outstanding contribution to film and theatre and we feel sure the late Queen would have approved, after all, she “jumped out of a helicopter” for nobody else.
Craig appeared in five James Bond films, starting with Casino Royale in 2006 and finishing with No Time To Die in 2021.
Meghan's ‘big moment’
Variety is the spice of life and it’s also a famous US entertainment industry media brand that this week has Meghan, Duchess of Sussex as its magazine cover star. With a ‘The Meghan Moment’ coverline, the duchess talks on a range of topics, including the “big moment” of the late Queen’s death, the upcoming Netflix docuseries with Prince Harry and why she thinks it would be “great” if Archie, 3, and Lili, 1, grow up to be Hollywood stars.
Speaking after the official period of mourning, Meghan said of her relationship with Queen Elizabeth II that she was “proud to have had a nice warmth with the matriarch of the family”. Harry and Meghan were in the UK when the monarch died suddenly at Balmoral on September 8. The duchess revealed the following weeks had been “a complicated time,” but she was “grateful that I was able to be with my husband to support him”.
Asked how the Royal Family had “processed their loss”, she said: “In big moments in life, you get a lot of perspective. It makes you wonder what you want to focus your energy on.” Talking about her work, she confirmed there will be a documentary series about the Sussexes and potentially, plans for them to make rom-coms. May we suggest When Harry Met, er… Meghan!
“So much of how my husband and I see things is through our love story,” she said. “I think that’s what people around the world connected to, especially with our wedding. People love love.”
Celebrated as one of Variety’s Power of Women 2022 for her philanthropic and creative work, Meghan also gave an insight into how she relaxes. Seems at the end of day, she’s really just like the rest of us - she loves to do Wordle in bed with a glass of wine. For the full interview click here.
Book a royal fright night
Fancy scaring yourself silly at Hampton Court Palace this Halloween? ’Course you do. What with the Gallery of the Damned, the roaming ghost of the witch-hunting King James I and so much more in Henry VIII’s notoriously haunted home, you’ll have a seriously spooky time. Click here for tickets.