Historians and Royal watchers reacted with anger last night after it was revealed that the new series of The Crown will resurrect rumours of Prince Philip’s supposed philandering.
Explosive scenes from the Netflix show portray a marriage rocked in its early years by betrayal and unfounded tales of the Duke of Edinburgh’s adultery.
‘I have learned more about humiliation in the past few weeks than I hoped I would in a lifetime,’ is the cry of the Queen – played by Claire Foy – who glowers with dagger-eyed jealousy at a beautiful ballet dancer. In despair, the Queen turns to Lord Mountbatten, played by Greg Wise, who cautions her: ‘You married a wild spirit – trying to tame him is no use.’
Greg Wise, who plays Lord Mountbatten, counsels the Queen: ‘You married a wild spirit – trying to tame him is no use’
Even when Philip attempts to assure her by saying, ‘There are some of us who are there for you no matter what’, the young Queen’s disbelieving reply is: ‘If only.’ She is also heard later lamenting: ‘The rumours still haven’t gone away.’
Such moments draw upon unsubstantiated gossip that dogged Philip long ago and are to be broadcast as the 96-year-old begins to enjoy his retirement.
Royal biographer Hugo Vickers said it was ‘shocking’ that Philip was being vilified for the sake of dramatic tension in the second series, to be shown from December. He said: ‘It’s extremely unfair that they should choose to make Prince Philip the villain of the piece when he has been supporting the Queen and serving this country for all these years. In November they will have been married for 70 years.’
Mr Vickers said while he was sure the Prince would ignore the drama, there was a danger some viewers would mistake the storyline for historical fact.
A young Queen Elizabeth, played by Claire Foy, looks distressed as she laments: ‘The rumours still haven’t gone away’
He said: ‘Intelligent people know this is just a drama but my worry is that the general public, younger viewers and particularly audiences in America will take it all to be true. Of course Prince Philip is never going to respond. He will treat it with the contempt he always does.’
Historian Philip Ziegler said any storyline which implied the Prince had been unfaithful was reliant on unsubstantiated rumours. He said: ‘I think they are making bricks with very thin straw. The rumours and speculation about Prince Philip have been circulating for decades but there is not a jot of evidence to back them up.’
The new series of The Crown, which stars Matt Smith as Philip, picks up where the last series left off and looks at the Queen’s reign in the 1960s. It will explore Princess Margaret’s relationship with society photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, who later became her husband Earl Snowdon, and the Profumo sex scandal, which contributed to the fall of Harold Macmillan’s Conservative Government. Artist Stephen Ward, who was at the centre of the scandal, was a social acquaintance of Prince Philip.
ROVING EYE: Philip is shown ogling a waitress in the first series
But despite being spoilt for choice with storylines, the drama is going to paint Philip as a playboy Prince with a wandering eye – evidenced by the newly released trailer for the show.
Rumours about the Prince’s private life have circulated ever since he became a public figure. In the 1940s he reportedly dined with the late actress and singer Pat Kirkwood while the then Princess Elizabeth was pregnant with Prince Charles. Kirkwood is said to have exchanged letters with the Prince but she always denied claims of an affair.
The Prince’s subsequent friendships with women including the Duchess of Abercorn, the actress Anna Massey, and Penny Romsey – his former carriage riding partner – have also fuelled speculation.
The Queen is seen glowering at a beautiful dancer, above, and says: ‘I have learned more about humiliation in the past few weeks than I hoped I would learn in a lifetime’
In the last series of The Crown, the drama claimed Philip became jealous of the Queen’s friendship with Lord Porchester, or Porchie as he was known to those close to him. But this time it is the Queen who is fearful for the future of her marriage.
Royal biographer Margaret Holder said while the affairs may be unproven, it was clear that the Prince was unhappy in the early years of the marriage.
She said: ‘There were some strains in the marriage and Prince Philip was sidelined by the Court and this affected him as a man.’
Peter Morgan, the creator of The Crown, declined to comment on the storylines last night.