Reader\'s Digest Australia & New Zealand - June 2018

28 | June• 2018

FOOLING WITH THE FACTS

In October last year, Peter Morgan,

the series writer, an anti-monarchist,

publicly described the monarchy as

“deranged” and “insane”. With a

string of hit movies including The

Queen (20 0 6), Frost/Nixon (20 0 8) a nd

American Sniper (2014), in an inter-

view with he Sunday Times Culture

magazine, Morgan went on to say

the Queen’s length of reign was like a

“mutating virus” – impossible to stop.

Firm words, indeed.

To see how free with the facts

Morgan is, we set out to separate

real-world fact from fiction in the

award-winning series.

PHILIP, THE ‘FAILURE’

I

t’s hard to escape the idea that

the Duke of Edinburgh must

have, at some point, snubbed

Peter Morgan. hroughout the series,

he portrays Philip as rude, unsuita-

ble, childish and obsessed with titles.

While he can be rude, the rest makes

for drama at the expense of truth.

Philip was born Prince Philip of

Greece and Denmark and was a

decorated naval oicer when he be-

gan his relationship with Elizabeth.

Doubts about his suitability as a

husband were over his perceived

‘foreignness’, not character or rank.

Parts of his childhood were spent in

Germany, but most of his education

was completed in England and Scot-

land. While his sister and her family

did die in a plane crash, the idea that

it was his fault and that his father

blamed him is pure iction. Philip did

make a stand for his children to take

the name Mountbatten, and both he

and the Queen fought to stay at Clar-

ence House after her ascension to the

throne, because it was a better family

home than Buckingham Palace.

But far from demanding a title, as

portrayed in episode nine, there had

been discussions for years about

styling Philip as a Prince. The Royal

Archives reveals an exchange between

Winston Churchill and the Lord Chan-

cellor from 1954 where they discuss

him being either Prince Consort or

Prince of the Realm. A minute from

Churchill dated June 23, 1954, states

the Queen “made the suggestion to

the Duke of Edinburgh and that His

Royal Highness refused to consider

accepting any new title at present”. 

Complex character: Matt Smith

as Prince Philip