The Crown season four is a big problem for Charles and Camilla

Charles and Camilla have spent decades trying to make us forget the controversial origins of their relationship. It’s all been undone in an instant.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall appeared, serene and smiling, in a new official portrait posted to the Clarence House Instagram account on November 5.

Royal-watchers lapped it up. A sample of the top comments underneath the photo:

“She’s proved to be a great asset to the firm.” “Beautiful lady. Smiles with her eyes always.” “Amazing, hardworking, passionate person and perfect queen-to-be.” “This lady is an absolute star.” “Magnificent portrait of a splendid woman.”

Two weeks later, the Royal Family’s Instagram account posted another, similar picture of the Duchess, smiling as she met with students who had entered the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay competition.

The top comments underneath this photo? “Diana Forever.” “Long live the memory of Princess Diana!” “In a world full of Camillas, be a Diana.” “Diana is still the real MVP.” “Please stop forcing Camilla down our throats.”

Charles’ wife of 15 years Camilla is facing a social media battering at the moment. Picture: Sean Gallup/Getty

Indeed, even Charles and Camilla’s own Clarence House Instagram account has been flooded in recent days with thousands of messages of support for the late Princess Diana:

Clarence House's social media is being flooded by Diana fans.

The reason for this instant change in public opion? Netflix released season four of The Crown on November 15, with millions now glued to a season that examines the implosion of Prince Charles’ disastrous marriage to Princess Diana.

It’s an excoriating portrayal, particularly for Charles (Josh O’Connor), who is depicted as a petulant, raging brat, entering into a marriage with a naive young woman 13 years his junior (Emma Corrin, magnetic as Diana) all while still in love with Camilla (Emerald Fennell).

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Charles and Diana on their wedding day. Picture: AFP

Charles and Diana as they’re portrayed in The Crown. Picture: Netflix

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Through the season, Charles’ initial frustrations with Diana turn to outright hostility. In contrast, the fragile, lonely young princess is shown making several desperate attempts to connect with her husband and save their marriage.

And as Diana’s popularity among the public grows, Charles’ attitude towards her ferments into a deep, raging resentment. In one shocking scene, Charles berates Diana for daring to be more beloved by the public than the woman he actually loves.

Throughout, Camilla is always on the sidelines, his confidante and lover, always available for not-so-secret rendezvous.

Of course, The Crown is presenting a fictionalised account of a marriage – and affair – that was splashed across the headlines for years. The Crown depicts Charles and Camilla’s affair as a constant through his time with Diana — but real-life reports suggest Charles had virtually no contact with Camilla for the first five years of his marriage.

But it seems many viewers find it difficult to separate fact from fiction:

Prince Charles & Camilla: It's been 23 years. We are now able to move on and heal and the public doesn't hate us as much anymore.#TheCrown Season 4: pic.twitter.com/QHloanLbLn

— ivyarchive (@ivyarchive) November 18, 2020

Me thinking about how Prince Charles & Camilla spent the last 30 odd years rebuilding their reputations and Season 4 of #TheCrown gets dropped in 2020 of all years pic.twitter.com/4sXnyqKgbM

— Ellen McConville (@McConvilleEllen) November 19, 2020

Diana in Heaven watching #TheCrown knowing Charles and Camilla reputation is in shambles once again. pic.twitter.com/DScl7zG6Pu

— MusesoftheMind (@musesoftheminds) November 22, 2020

Finished season 4 of #TheCrown, and THE AUDACITY of Charles getting angry at Diana because she was more loved than his mistress?? pic.twitter.com/bmsbGKAKfu

— Norma Lopez 🌹 (@Lopez99Mn) November 19, 2020

It's almost physically painful to see how cruel the monarchy, Charles & Camilla were to Diana. I cannot imagine how neglected & alone she must've felt in that marriage & still be able to give so much love to her people. She truly was and still is The People's Princess. #TheCrown pic.twitter.com/xtLTLlrdZu

— Subashini Parthiban (@Suba_Parthi) November 18, 2020

Diana: *isn't Camilla*
Charles:#TheCrown pic.twitter.com/6XN1CBx36u

— lauren (@spectacularLo) November 16, 2020

me the next time I see Charles and Camilla at royal events after watching #thecrown season 4 pic.twitter.com/SMSlBoy09V

— ᴮᴱAlexandra⁷ (@fakelovesgf) November 16, 2020

Me watching Prince Charles annoyed with Diana’s other relations whilst he’d been shacking up with Camilla for YEARS THE DOUBLE STANDARD PRI...#TheCrown pic.twitter.com/Rl6ksxyj07

— Alun (@alunwilliams31) November 18, 2020

This tidal wave of criticism couldn’t come at a worse time for Prince Charles: While his mother Queen Elizabeth II has no plans to abdicate the throne, she is now six months shy of her 95th birthday. Charles is waiting patiently in the wings for his time to ascend to the throne.

Keenly aware he is nowhere near as popular as his mother, Charles and Camilla have worked hard to rebuild their image in the public eye for more than two decades as he prepares to take the throne – work that The Crown now threatens.

It’s something the fictionalised Camilla notes in the final episode of this season of The Crown, as she and Charles debate whether he can escape his unhappy marriage to Diana and start a new life with her.

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Camilla (left) and Diana are being pitted against each other once more. Picture: AP

She does want to be with him, she insists, but, “I want to be humiliated and attacked even less. That’s what’ll happen if you put me in a popularity contest against her. I will lose: I’m an old woman, I’m a married woman, nowhere near as pretty, nowhere near as radiant. Someone like me has no place in the fairytale.

“She will always defeat me in the court of public opinion.”

It seems that, 23 years after Diana’s death and 15 years after Charles and Camilla finally wed, the court of public opinion is pitting the two women against each other once more.

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