The Guardian - 07.09.2019

Section:GDN 1N PaGe:15 Edition Date:190907 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 6/9/2019 15:45 cYanmaGentaYellowbl

Saturday 7 September 2019 The Guardian •

National^15

▲ Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles

and Olivia Colman as the Queen

in the new series of The Crown

PHOTOGRAPH: DES WILLIE/NETFLIX

The writer of The Crown

reveals he keeps royal

household in the picture

Mark Brown
Arts correspondent

Peter Morgan , the writer of The Crown,
has revealed that he meets high rank-
ing members of the royal household
four times a year and tells them what
he has in mind for the series.
The Crown returns for its eagerly
awaited third season on Netfl ix on 17
November, with Olivia Colman and
Tobias Menzies taking over the roles
of the older Queen and Prince Philip
from Claire Foy and Matt Smith.
Over the course of a year, the
Guardian’s chief arts writer, Charlotte
Higgins, was given exclusive behind-
the-scenes access to the meticulous
and lavish production process, talk-
ing to the cast and creatives of one of
the most compelling and popular TV
dramas of recent years.
Morgan reveals that he has a rela-
tionship with the royal household,
meeting “people who are very high
ranking and very active within the

organisation” four times a year.

“Respectfully, I tell them what I have

in mind, and they brace themselves

slightly.”

The protocol adviser for the series,

David Rankin-Hunt , who spent 33

years working in the royal household,

said he had no idea whether the Queen

watched the show but was convinced

other royals did.

“Very senior members of the royal

household have said to me, ‘Oh, we

love The Crown.’ If there were some

indication from on high that it was

some kind of scandalous production,

that might be refl ected in their view,

don’t you think?”

Rankin-Hunt, a former army offi cer,

is known as “Major David” and off ers

advice on such matters as bowing

and curtseying and the fact that the

Queen would never, ever say “cheers”

when raising her glass. She would say

nothing.

The new season will tell the story of

the monarchy in the 1960s and 1970s.

Central to it will be the development

of the young Prince Charles, played by

Josh O’Connor.

Helena Bonham Carter, who plays

Princess Margaret, believes O’Connor’s

performance will refl ect well on the

real Prince of Wales. He “is going to do

Charles so much good ”, she predicted.

“It’s so interesting, the interplay of this

series with reality, as PR.”

All eyes, though, will be on Colman,

an actor recently described by t he

Daily Telegraph columnist Charles

Moore as having “a distinctly leftwing

face ”. If viewers’ eyes are literally on

Colman’s eyes they will see that the

Queen’s eye colour has changed from

blue to brown.

‘Respectfully,

I tell them

what I have

in mind, and

they brace

themselves

slightly’

Peter

Morgan

The director of the fi rst four epi-

sodes, Ben Caron , tells Higgins that

Colman was initially given blue con-

tact lenses to match her eyes to Foy’s. It

was a disaster which made it seem as if

Colman was acting behind a mask. “It

was as if we had taken all of her acting

ability and put it in a safe and locked

it away.”

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