Dominic West as Prince Charles in The Crown season five. Photo / Supplied
Dominic West as Prince Charles in The Crown season five. Photo / Supplied
It will trawl through one of the royal family’s darkest and most tumultuous periods.
But the sixth and final series of The Crown will end on a high for King Charles when it is released next year, show insiders have insisted in the wake of a slew of criticism.
The last episode will depict the wedding of Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles in April 2005, highlighting what proved to be a notable turning point for the monarchy and leaving viewers with a feel-good, positive image of the institution.
The dramatisation of the civil ceremony at Windsor Guildhall will bring the curtain down on one of the most successful yet controversial dramas in recent history.
There is understood to be concern at both Buckingham Palace and in political circles that the series, to be released on November 9, could inflict significant damage to the new King and his reputation.
But after romping through Queen Elizabeth II’s “annus horribilis” and the marriage breakdowns of three of her children, the show will reflect royal events as they took an upward turn.
Olivia Williams as Camilla Parker-Bowles and Dominic West as Prince Charles in The Crown season five. Photo / Netflix
The final series, which is currently being filmed and is likely to be released next November, will turn its spotlight on the “adventures and misadventures” of New Labour.
A source told The Telegraph that a “chief focus” will be the premiership of Tony Blair.
It will also cover the death of Diana in a Paris car crash and chart the lives of Prince William and Prince Harry in the immediate aftermath of their mother’s death.
The series will depict Queen Elizabeth II’s thawing towards her future daughter-in-law.
It was a period all too familiar to writer and co-creator Peter Morgan, who wrote the scripts for 2003 television film The Deal about Blair and Gordon Brown as well as for 2006 film The Queen, starring Helen Mirren, which depicted events following the Princess’s death in 1997.
The moment Prince William and Kate Middleton met at the University of St Andrews will also be covered in the sixth series, as will the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002.
For the King and Queen Consort, as they are now, such celebratory scenes and a focus on largely positive developments will come as a welcome relief.
A scene from the Netflix series The Crown. Photo / Supplied
In tracing the lives of the royal family through events that shaped Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, from her 1947 marriage to Prince Philip onwards, the show has drawn attention to certain aspects of history they would rather forget.
In doing so, the worldwide audience of millions has relived it all, while younger generations have been introduced to a world of which they had no knowledge.
With success has come the inevitable criticism, from calls for disclaimers to remind viewers that it is a fictional drama to complaints about accuracy.
As the storylines have gradually edged closer to the present day, they have provoked increasing ire from critics and subjects alike, many of whom are still alive and resent the fictional retelling of events.
As the writer, Morgan said he could not continue beyond the early 2000s as he believed here should be at least a decade between a real-life event and its fictionalised retelling in order to gain “proper perspective”.
He is said to have become irked by the recent criticism, having been keenly focused on historical research and determined not to convey events purely to be “sensational”.
Bashir, played by Prasanna Puwanarajah, will now be shown forging documents and lying to Earl Spencer before assuring the Princess that she would be in safe hands, “protected by the best brand name in the world for integrity - the BBC”.
A source defended the high-budget drama, arguing that the royal scandals dramatised by Morgan were of the family’s own making.
“He purposely seeks to dramatise historical events as they happened,” they said.
