Advertisement

Queen Elizabeth's close friend, Lady Glenconner, says 'The Crown' makes her 'so angry' and that it's unfair to the royal family

A side-by-side of Queen Elizabeth and Imelda Staunton in costume as Queen Elizabeth on "The Crown."
Queen Elizabeth II, left, and Imelda Staunton as The Queen in Netflix's "The Crown," right.Anwar Hussein Collection / Getty Images / Netflix
  • Queen Elizabeth's close friend Lady Glenconner has criticized "The Crown."

  • Glenconner, who was the Queen's bridesmaid, said the show is unfair to the royal family.

  • "The trouble is, I suppose, people in America believe it completely," she said.

Anne Tennant, a close friend to the late Queen Elizabeth, has criticized "The Crown," saying the series is unfair to the royal family.

Tennant, who is known formally as Lady Glenconner, was a bridesmaid at the Queen's wedding to Prince Philip in 1947 and also served as Princess Margaret's lady-in-waiting, a non-salaried role given to aristocratic women who carried out duties similar to that of a personal assistant.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's "Woman's Hour" on Thursday, Lady Glenconner said there are many aspects of "The Crown" that are untrue, including one episode that suggests Prince Philip was responsible for his sister Cecilie taking the flight that resulted in her death in 1937.

She added that a scene where Princess Margaret made up rude limericks with US President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 was also fabricated.

"I don't watch 'The Crown' now because it just makes me so angry, and it's so unfair on members of the royal family," Lady Glenconner said.

"The trouble is, I suppose, people in America believe it completely," she added.

queen and bridesmaids

She added that Helena Bonham Carter, who played Princess Margaret in the third and fourth season, asked her for advice before taking on the role. She said she taught the actress how Margaret smoked and how she walked.

"I saw Helena after she'd been in 'The Crown' and she said, 'What did you think?' And I said, 'Well, rather disappointed.' And she said, 'I know. But the thing is, I'm an actress, and I have to do what's written for me," Lady Glenconner said.

It isn't the first time someone close to the Queen has shared disapproval over the Netflix drama. In October, a friend of the Queen's who spoke anonymously to The Times of London said she was "horrified" by Netflix for "vilifying the royal family."

"It would have destroyed her," the friend said of how she thought the Queen would have reacted to the series.

Netflix did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Read the original article on Insider