LOS ANGELES (AP) – In ‘The Crown’, a nasty naval officer captures the heart of a future queen. But he wants to play the royal second violin and transcend the boundaries of decor and perhaps marriage. Eventually he finds his way as a trusted partner and family patriarch.
How does the portrayal of Prince Philip, who died on Friday at the age of 99, compare in the Netflix drama with the man himself and the life he lived with British Queen Elizabeth II?
Prince Philip remained in the shadow of his wife, and the same goes for Philip in ‘The Crown’, as the title makes clear. But some sections measure the man, or at least the character (played successively by Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies, with Jonathan Pryce in the wings).
Peter Morgan, the creator of the series that is in silence before the fifth and penultimate season arrives in 2022, said ‘The Crown’ is the product of historical research and imagination, and contains scenes that should not be considered a fact .
If, for example, we do not tell about the parties involved, we do not know whether Philip was so rigid in the approach of the son Charles, as he was sensitive to daughter Anne as “The Crown” says. Or what to make of the drama’s graceful hints of marital infidelity by Philip.
The series so far has brought Philip to middle age and covers only half of the nearly 100 years of the real kingdom. Also absent from “The Crown” is Philip’s indifferent penchant for humiliating one-liners about women and coloreds.
But there are aspects of the Greek-born prince’s life that justify comparison with the fictional version, which present ‘The Crown’ in a mostly flattering light: a brave and restless spirit, one bound to the end by duty and devotion to queen and country.
DOMESTIC BUSINESS
“The Crown”: Philip does not want to give up their traditional male privilege, and wants their children to wear his surname (Mountbatten), not her (Windsor). The answer is no.
When the death of Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, brings her to the throne, Philip leaves military service for the role of a company. Arguments with Elizabeth follow, among other things over his unwillingness to kneel for her during her coronation.
They find a balance, with Philip a worthy half of a loving marriage.
In fact, when Philip lost his attempt to use Mountbatten as a family name, according to Gyles Brandreth’s “Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Royal Marriage,” he complained, “I am nothing but a bloody amoeba.” his children his name.
Eight years later, it was decided that the couple’s descendants would use a hyphen – as in Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, the son of Harry and Meghan.
In protest or not, Philip knelt before the newly crowned queen in 1952 and promised to become her ‘liar of life and limb and of earthly worship’.
On their 50th wedding anniversary, Elizabeth called him ‘my strength and joy’.
MAN OF ACTION
“The Crown”: Philip was immersed in 1969 in TV coverage of the first lunar landing and compares his life in comparison. After prosaic royal engagements at dental and textile facilities, the trained kite has the opportunity to take control of a private jet.
He pushes the plane to the edge of space and while the pilot argues that the trembling plane is at its limit, Philip replies, ‘Maybe. But look, we lived too. Just for a moment. ‘
Philip meets the American astronauts when they visit England as part of a victory round, and tells them that his position and marriage kept him from ‘the things I would like as a man, as an adventurer.’
In fact: during World War II, Philip acted while serving on battleships and destroyers, decorating and at the age of 21 achieving the rank of first lieutenant in the Royal Navy.
While performing a full schedule of royal duties and leading hundreds of charities, he learned to fly in the 1950s and was an avid polo player and yachtsman, as well as a painter and art collector. He was still driving at 97 and dropped his Land Rover in an accident.
MAN OF FAITH
“The Crown”: Philip is asked to allow a spiritual refuge to be created on the grounds of Windsor Castle for clergy who need medieval inspiration. He mocks the plan as ‘hot air’, but agrees to it and eventually finds solace in his version of a men’s therapy group.
“How is your faith?”, He remembers his mother asking him with concern and then saying to the congregation and the dean, “I am here to admit to you that I have lost it … I come to says: ‘Help. ”
In fact: Robin Woods, the then dean of Windsor, founded the St. Proposed George’s House in 1966 and Philip became the co – founder and enthusiastic fundraiser, according to a companion to ‘The Crown’ by historian Robert Lacey. The center promotes discussion of contemporary issues, the website reads.
Woods and Philip were lifelong friends, and the prince delivered his sermons in the St. George’s Chapel in Windsor criticized. Philip’s funeral will be held there on April 17.
Baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church – although he was a practicing Anglican, married to the supreme governor of the Church of England – Philip was a visitor to Mount Athos, a monastic community and religious shrine in Greece. Leaders of various faiths in Britain say he was deeply interested in spiritual matters.
His weapon carries the motto: “God is my help.”
ON TEAM DIANA
“The Crown”: When Diana Spencer is introduced during a family reunion at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, she and Philip commit a day of deer hunting and he supports her marriage to Charles.
The relationship becomes bitter, and Diana tells Philip that she is considering dating Charles and the royal family whom she finds careless. Philip warns her against the move and errs her perspective: everyone is an outsider, apart from the queen, the ‘one person, the only person, who matters’, he says.
In fact: in letters between Diana and Philip that are said to have leaked, Philip supports Diana and is critical of his son’s extramarital affair with current wife Camilla.
But after Diana’s candid TV interview and a revealing biography, Philip’s tone allegedly got stricter and he wrote that she ‘should fit in’ or leave the family.