The Crown Got Queen's Annus Horribilis Speech So Wrong It Might Be Problematic
The Netflix series did allow itself to be quite at ease with the royal family's dialogues and some parts of the story, but this is a historical and well-documented speech we're talking about.
Annus Horribilis, meaning "horrible year" in Latin, was a term British media used describing the year 1992 for the UK royal family. It was indeed full of dramatic events, as late Queen Elizabeth had to deal with three of her children separating from their spouses; her beloved childhood home, Windsor Castle, catching fire, and a slew of scandals that the royal family was mired in.
In this same year, Queen Elizabeth delivered a historical speech marking the 40th anniversary of her accession to power. The speech is well-documented, and you can read it here on official website.
The fifth season on Netflix 's show The Crown delved into the "horrible year" of the royal family, with Imelda Staunton portraying the Queen and delivering her own version of the Annus Horribilis speech. And the way the show appeared to change it has caused concerns among fans.
As noted by Twitter user ShadyPinesSam in a lengthy thread, the handling of the iconic speech in The Crown episode 4 is "a clear example of where the inaccuracy of the series can be problematic."
The thread compares excerpts from the real speech with the lines Staunton's Queen Elizabeth said in The Crown. While looking similar, they do have different messages woven into them.
For instance, in the actual speech, the late monarch said: "There can be no doubt that criticism is good for people and institutions that are part of public life. No institution – City, Monarchy, whatever – should expect to be free from the scrutiny of those who give it their loyalty and support, not to mention those who don't."
But in The Crown, Staunton's character appears to slightly change the narrative: "No institution is beyond reproach & no member of it either. The high standards we in the monarchy are held to by the public must be the same benchmark we hold ourselves to personally. If we can't admit the errors of our past what hope for reconciliation can there be?"
According to the fan, the show changed the already available text of the speech in order to have the Queen "offering an indirect apology to her sister Princess Margaret for 'refusing to allow her to marry Peter Townsend'", which, the fan notes, "isn't true of course".
"But the idea that the Queen would use an important public address to resolve a late night quarrel with her sister is not only laughable, it's an insult to the 2 women themselves. It's out of character, it's implausible but then we know by now that Morgan doesn't care about that," ShadyPinesSam continued.
The analysis goes on to suggest that the show's creator Peter Morgan has no other choice but to mess up the dialogues and historic documents in order to make sure that the show falls in line with the continuity he "made up".
"And this is the problem with The Crown. One inaccuracy snowballs until entire truths are sacrificed – regardless of what that might lead to," the fan concluded.
Many other fans have slammed The Crown for being "so inaccurate and wrong" it makes young people who watched the show believe that this was how things actually went on in real life. And while some argue that The Crown is just a fantasy and not a historical documentary, many people refuse to buy it.
"Yes it's just a show. But that's not how they sold it to the public before receiving lawyers threats and many people thinks those oh so private and intimate conversations to be true," Twitter fan MariecoIyefa underlined.
The Crown season 5 premiered on Netflix on November 9.