How much do you think a new King and his Queen Consort are dreading the next few weeks? Surely there are more important matters to be addressed by His Majesty, Senior Royals, Courtiers and the British Media - like Britons unable to put food on the table or heat their homes this winter - but it's fairly certain that the special friends and unofficial spokespeople have scripts in hand, ready to speak the words King Charles III wants believed when Season Five of "The Crown" drops November 9th on Netflix.
After the bollocks about "not dredging up the past," it's going to be hard to credibly explain away the Charles/Diana/Camilla dynamic as anything other than the real-life history of the current head of the monarchy. The history and continuity are supposed to be the whole point of having royalty. Haven't all writers and entertainers throughout time taken bits of the truth and added creativity to present tales that became a part of humankind's lore? Or was Billy Shakespeare making documentaries?
Even though The Crown is a dramatization, there's plenty of material both in print and on film -- in Charles and Diana's own words. Trying to pretend they don't exist will only draw so much more attention to the whole thing. Streisand Effect Turbo Chargers are on lock. The next few weeks should be entertaining and it could even veer into stunning to see how far they'll go trying to discredit the show. New generations have been taking notice and those very people the monarchy needs supporting them are already drawing conclusions about how Diana's and Meghan's stories are similar. Old dogs and all that.
How delectably ironic that a fictional work will spotlight the worst of it.
Having lived through the Diana years, I'm not ashamed to admit my heart is a little giddy with pre-emptive approval that at least this one deceitful man doesn't get to brush his cheating and mistreatment of the woman he made vows to, then used and tossed away, under the carpet forever. Some projection, sure, but the popcorn is ordered and the caramels are melting. I may as well enjoy it.
