Is Meghan Markle watching The Crown? What the Netflix series tells us about royal relationships

Matt Smith and Claire Foy in The Crown
Matt Smith and Claire Foy in The Crown Credit: Netflix

Forget about public scenes, avoid giving your future in-laws cutesy nicknames and never, ever act like a celebrity: what can The Crown teach us about royal love affairs?

In a widely admired new statement, issued by Kensington Palace, Prince Harry has hit out at intrusive press coverage of his girlfriend Meghan Markle, and at the offensive way in which the couple's relationship has been discussed by online trolls.

Historically speaking, however, love and matrimony have never been easy for British royals. There has always been gossip about the private lives of public figures – James Gillray drew cartoons depicting George IV in bed with his mistresses, for instance – and those marrying into the royal family have often faced harsh scrutiny, not to mention (in the case of two of the wives of Henry VIII) the occasional beheading. 

Netflix's lavish new series The Crown, meanwhile, has illuminated some of the pitfalls and problems attached to royal relationships in the mid-20th century. Yes, some of the dramas depicted might feel like relics of a bygone age – but others are eerily reminiscent of modern day conflicts.

Here are seven things The Crown has taught us about royal relationships:

1. Playing second fiddle to your spouse gets old very quickly

Claire Foy and Matt Smith in The Crown
Claire Foy and Matt Smith in The Crown

In The Crown, we see Prince Philip (Matt Smith) feeling somewhat emasculated by his marriage to Elizabeth (Claire Foy), the most prominent women in Britain. “My work is as a naval officer, not grinning like a demented ape while you cut ribbons,” he growls in the very first episode of the show after learning that he must accompany his wife on her Commonwealth Tour...and throughout the first season, we see the couple's marriage come under strain due to the pressure of Elizabeth's office.

Of course, Philip's frustration is heightened by the fact that, at heart, he's  a fairly traditional man of his time: in the 1950s, most men would expected their career to come above their wive's (if, indeed, their wife even had a career).

2.  You can forget about keeping your own name

Matt Smith in The Crown
Matt Smith in The Crown

Just to add the the aforementioned emasculation, The Crown also depicts Philip's and Elizabeth's struggle to ensure that their children bear Philip's surname, Mountbatten.... a request that is eventually turned down by parliament. 

"Word has reached me that it is your desire that you and your children keep your husband’s name, Mountbatten,” Prime Minister Winston Churchill tells the young Queen. “You must not. It would be a grave mistake. Mountbatten was the adoptive name your husband took when he became a British citizen. His real name, you’ll not need reminding, was Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg of the royal house of Denmark and Norway and of Greece." 

Later on, we see poor Philip rail against the decision. "What kind of marriage is this? What kind of family? You’ve taken my career from me, you’ve taken my home, you’ve taken my name,” he says.

3. Thinking about falling in love? Make sure you've got the Queen's permission

Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret in The Crown
Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret in The Crown

Poor Princess Margaret's doomed love affair with divorced army captain and Second World War hero Peter Townsend is a key storyline of the first season of The Crown. 

The pair are in love and plan to marry, but Margaret's status as  a member of the royal family keeps them apart, due to the fact that the divorced Townsend is not considered a suitable husband for a member of the royal family.

At first, we learn that because she is under the age of 25, the Princess (played in The Crown by Vanessa Kirby) is not allowed to marry without her sister's permission.

To delay a politically  contentious decision (she must choose between disappointing her sister and disappointing her government and undermining the status of the royal family), Elizabeth decides that the pair must wait a few years.

But after she turns 25 Margaret finds that the church and parliament remain opposed to her request – breaking the Princess's heart, and turning her against her sister.

4. No matter how well you think you know your future royal in-laws, cutesy nicknames are best avoided

Vanessa Kirby and Ben Miles in The Crown
Vanessa Kirby and Ben Miles as Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend in The Crown

At one point in The Crown, Townsend believe that things are going well between him and Margaret, and that Elizabeth is on his side. Consequently, he decides that it's time to  cement his relationship with the woman sees as his future sister in law by addressing her informally, using her childhood nickname of "Lilibet". Needless to say, it doesn't go down all that well with Elizabeth.

In other words, dating a royal – and even being engaged to the Queen's sister – isn't a license to casually disregard protocol.

5. Never, ever act like a celebrity

Vanessa Kirby and Ben Miles as Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend in The Crown
Vanessa Kirby and Ben Miles as Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend in The Crown

In addition to suggesting that over confidence might have played a part in Townsend's downfall, The Crown also suggests that the dashing war hero's taste for publicity may have cast him in a bad light. In episode six, we see the handsome captain lapping up attention from crowds in Northern Ireland, and we see Elizabeth clocking the fact that he's relishing the limelight. Yes, attention inevitable for anyone involved with a royal – but openly enjoying this attention (or, even worse, upstaging the Queen) is a big no-no.

6. Risking all for love can backfire

Alex Jennings and Lia Williams in The Crown
Alex Jennings and Lia Williams in The Crown

Fascinatingly, The Crown portrays the Duke of Windsor and former King Edward VIII (Alex Jennings), who abdicated in 1936 so that he could marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, as a bitter and spiteful man, desperate to retain the privileges and financial security associated with his former position.

Whether he's trying to cajole Churchill into giving his wife a title, bad-mouthing members of his own family (the “fat and common” Queen Mother is nicknamed "Cookie")  or complaining about his alleged "poverty" and begging for a financial allowance, it's clear that while the Duke may have theoretically abandoned everything for love, he's not exactly happy with the resulting situation.

We also see how the fall-out from the abdication made Edward an outcast among his own family: at one point, his mother Queen Mary describes him as:  “A son who gave up the throne and effectively killed my other son.” 

7. Public scenes (not to mention the hurling of badminton racquets) must always be avoided

Claire Foy and Matt Smith in The Crown
Claire Foy and Matt Smith in The Crown

Yes, all couples argue. But if you're the head of state, it's imperative that you keep marital issues private...and that you remember the press are always, always on the look out for a scandal.

In episode eight of The Crown, Elizabeth and Philip engage in a blazing row while staying in Australia. Voices are raised, and vases and badminton racquets thrown. To the Queen's horror, she then discovers that the entire thing has been captured by a reporter's video camera: a reminder of the increasingly all-pervasive nature of the media.

Luckily, the cameraman in question takes pity on the stricken monarch, after she attempts to bargain for the return of the footage, and offers her the film for free (would a modern-day tabloid reporter be this generous?).

The chilling underlying lesson, however, is clear: if you're a royal, your private life is fair game for the papers.

 

License this content