Prince Philip death: How accurate was the Duke of Edinburgh’s portrayal on Netflix’s The Crown?

While Netflix’s The Crown has been slammed for its dramatisation of the royal family, the Duke of Edinburgh’s portrayal has for some parts held true.

Prince Philip will go down in history as a loyal consort to his majesty the Queen. And rightly so.

But as is unsurprising in a 73-year union, there have been moments along the way that have painted an occasionally fractured picture.

Despite controversy over its portrayal of the British royal family, Netflix’s The Crown has – what many royal experts would no doubt attest – somewhat accurately portrayed the Duke of Edinburgh’s story in its controversial fictionalised series.

He appears quite resentful and cold in the earlier seasons, before progressing to be more comfortable in his dutiful role as the show recently dropped its fourth season.

In the first two seasons of The Crown, in which Philip was played my UK actor Matt Smith, the series accurately explored the duke’s troubled childhood whereby he and his parents were smuggled out of Greece in an orange crate when he was a toddler.

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Resentful of royal life

Seasons one and two feature Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth and Matt Smith as Prince Philip. Picture: Supplied/Netflix

When he married a then Princess Elizabeth in November 1947, they couldn’t have forecasted how quickly Elizabeth would ascend to the throne after her father King George VI died aged just 56.

Philip was able to remain in the navy prior to Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953, but then had to abruptly quit when his wife took on her role as Queen.

The Crown shows Philip’s resentment toward assuming a life of great responsibility and sacrificing his own ambitions to be a full-time consort.

Philip himself has shown there is some truth to this, telling an interviewer in 1992, “I’d much rather have stayed in the navy, frankly.” He later called his resignation from his naval career “naturally disappointing”.

Another grievance of Philip’s was the royal family’s rejection of his bid to create a House of Mountbatten rather than House of Windsor. “I am nothing but a bloody amoeba. I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children,” he reportedly said.

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The Crown shows Philip’s resentment at giving up his own ambitions to become a consort. Picture: Supplied/Netflix

Connection to Nazis

Three out of four of Philip’s sisters were indeed married to Germans who were members of the Nazi Party and German army.

After the death of his older sister Cecilie in a plane crash in 1937, Philip was pictured alongside German soldiers at her funeral.

Philip is later played by Tobias Menzies in seasons three and four.

But Philip has never appeared to make any anti-Semitic comments or views in the past. In fact, he fought against Hitler’s party during WWII, and his sisters didn’t attend his wedding to Elizabeth.

In the 2006 book Royals and the Reich, Philip admits to European history scholar Jonathan Petropoulos that there was jealousy about the success of Jews in his family but that he was not “conscious of anybody in the family actually expressing anti-Semitic views”.

Strong denial of womanising ways

The Queen and Prince Philip were married for 73 years. Picture: Carl Court / POOL / AFP

While The Crown shows some Philip accuracies, there are instances of which it may have taken creative licensing too far.

The second series depicts a rocky period in the Queen and Prince Philip’s marriage. A scene shows the royal pair aboard their yacht in Lisbon, where Philip brands their partnership a “prison” as it’s heavily implied he was being unfaithful.

In real life, rumours have surfaced that Philip had multiple affairs during his marriage, including with a dancer, however this has always been strongly denied by all parties.

Addressing the controversy surrounding Philip’s cheating portrayal, The Crown creator Peter Morgan said: “I’m trying to make them human beings but, at the same time, I’m aware that nobody has come forward and identified people with whom Prince Philip did or did not have affairs. I’m not going to be the one to do that.”

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Relationship to Princess Diana

Princess Diana – played by British actress Emma Corrin – was introduced in the most recent season of The Crown.

Philip is shown to take a strong liking to Diana, firstly on her debut trip to Balmoral.

At the time and over the years the pair are known to have had a close familial bond. It has even been claimed Philip took Diana’s side during her messy affair scandal with his own son, Prince Charles.

After hearing of Charles’ affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, Philip wrote a letter to Diana saying, “I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind leaving you for Camilla.” The letters emerged during the inquest into Diana’s 1997 death.

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Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh viewing floral tributes to Diana, Princess of Wales, after her death in 1997. Picture: AP Photo/POOL

In her own letters addressed to Philip, Diana referred to him as “Dearest Pa”. She wrote, ‘‘I was particularly touched by your most recent letter which proved to me, if I didn’t already know it, that you really do care.”

However as Diana grew increasingly estranged from the royal family, which in turn caused damage to the reputation of the institution, she did too from Philip.

This is shown in The Crown when the pair have a terse discussion, as Diana tells him she feels she has “no option but to break away, officially”.

Philip says, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you … Let’s just say I can’t see it ending well for you,” to which Diana replies, “I hope that isn’t a threat, sir?”

Emma Corrin as Princess Diana in The Crown.

A friend of Diana’s, US billionaire deal-maker Teddy Forstmann, said prior to his 2011 death: “She hated Prince Philip. Diana told me she had grown to dislike Philip when I saw her at Kensington Palace shortly before her death in 1997.”

Though there has been criticism over The Crown’s dramatised version of historical events, earlier this year, Prince Harry said the show is “loosely based on the truth” in an interview with British TV host, James Corden.