The fifth and penultimate season of The Crown – the first new season released since the deaths of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip – sees a fractious House of Windsor at the crossroads between a traditionalist past or a progressive future. The monarchy is at its lowest point since the abdication of Edward VIII. Parents don’t understand how their children turned out the way they did, spouses have grown estranged, and the public is increasingly frustrated by the exorbitant costs of maintaining a scandal-plagued royal family widely seen as out of touch. Nothing less than the survival of the monarchy is on the line. Regrets and retribution take center stage. Sprinkle in several major historical moments and the introduction of an entirely new main cast and The Crown Season 5 has a lot to balance. But keep calm and carry on because showrunner Peter Morgan and his team pull it all off with the grace, thoughtfulness, and gravitas we expect from Netflix’s awards darling.
There’s nothing like a new season of Netflix’s “The Crown” to get viewers to open their phones and search for the truth about the British royal family.
The glitzy drama series, which returned for a fifth season with a new cast this month, is a fictionalization of the reign of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II (Imelda Staunton), but that doesn’t stop American viewers from wondering what really happened when Charles (Dominic West) and Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) got divorced or Windsor Castle caught on fire.
Members of the royal family and their allies, according to reports, have never been ardent fans of the show. And as The Crown launches its newest installment only months after the Queen’s death, they seem more concerned than ever. Season 5, which started streaming this week, depicts the tabloid turbulence of the 1990s, including the breakdown of Charles and Diana’s marriage and various related scandals, such as “Tampongate” and Diana’s BBC interview with the now-disgraced journalist Martin Bashir. In the weeks leading up to the season’s release, Prince William reportedly complained about the series, the former Prime Minister John Major criticized the show’s inaccuracy, and even Dame Judi Dench called for Netflix to add a disclaimer, writing that The Crown is “cruelly unjust to the individuals and damaging to the institution they represent.”
Whatever the origins, the Royal Stewart tartan nonetheless has a longstanding royal pedigree. King George IV (Queen Victoria’s uncle) wore the tartan during his 1822 tour of Scotland, and Victoria later officially adopted it as the tartan of the royal family. During his reign, King George V, Queen Elizabeth’s grandfather, attempted to enact rules making it impossible for anyone to wear the tartan without the express permission of the monarch, however the plaid’s popularity, numerous variations, and widespread use ultimately made it too difficult to enforce such restrictions. He wasn’t completely unsuccessful on that front, however, as he did set aside the Balmoral tartan for the private discretion of the royal family.
