The heartbroken Queen holds Philip in ashes of the Windsor Castle fire… Except this image is yet another case of pure Netflix fiction
Standing in the charred ruins of Windsor Castle, and comforted by Prince Philip, the Queen is moved to tears in a new scene from controversial drama The Crown.
The Netflix show recreates the blaze of November 20, 1992, when 115 rooms were destroyed in a fire started by a faulty spotlight in Queen Victoria’s private chapel. It took five years to rebuild the castle.
The picture showing the Queen, played by Imelda Staunton, and Philip (Sir Jonathan Pryce) consoling each other is another example of fictionalisation by The Crown.
It was reported at the time that the Queen visited the scene with Prince Andrew on the night of the blaze and returned the next morning, but it is doubtful she embraced Philip amid the ruins.
Standing in the charred ruins of Windsor Castle, and comforted by Prince Philip, the Queen is moved to tears in a new scene from controversial drama The Crown
Prince Andrew was the only member of the Royal Family present when the fire started and helped to organise a human chain to save precious paintings. Amid growing controversy about the way The Crown blurs reality and fiction, Netflix has now updated its description of the series to add a disclaimer to its trailer on YouTube which says it is a ‘fictional dramatisation’.
The show’s home page also now stresses that it is ‘inspired’ by real events. The previous fourth series of the drama was criticised for not doing enough to tell viewers it was a work of fiction. The fifth series of The Crown, which will cover the years leading up to Princess Diana’s 1995 Panorama interview, has already sparked anger before its release on November 9.
Acting royalty Dame Judi Dench, who is close to King Charles and Camilla, accused the programme of being ‘crude and hurtful’. Former Prime Minister Sir John Major criticised a scene which shows him having a conversation with then Prince Charles about the possibility of the Queen abdicating as ‘malicious nonsense’.
It was reported at the time that the Queen visited the scene with Prince Andrew on the night of the blaze and returned the next morning, but it is doubtful she embraced Philip amid the ruins
Burghley House near Stamford in Lincolnshire stood in for Windsor in the fire episode and the burnt-out shell of the castle was recreated at Elstree film studios in Hertfordshire.
Sources say the challenge of depicting the blaze required smoke and fire simulations and ‘real elements’.
It was filmed over two days with around 60 extras playing firemen and soldiers, carrying works of art and furniture to safety.
The scene of the aftermath was shot at Elstree, in a set based on the Great Hall at Burghley House, with the burned walls, windows and roof created as computer-generated special effects.
The fire came at the end of a tumultuous year for the Royal Family following a series of scandals. The Queen famously dubbed 1992 an ‘annus horribilis’
The Netflix show recreates the blaze of November 20, 1992, when 115 rooms were destroyed in a fire started by a faulty spotlight in Queen Victoria’s private chapel. It took five years to rebuild the castle
The fire came at the end of a tumultuous year for the Royal Family following a series of scandals. The Queen famously dubbed 1992 an ‘annus horribilis’.
A new cast is in place for series five and six of The Crown, with Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki playing Diana and Dominic West as Charles.
It was claimed last night that the sixth series will finish on a high for King Charles. Currently being filmed, it will cover Diana’s death in 1997 but will end with the wedding of Charles and Camilla in 2005, show insiders told the Daily Telegraph. Sources said its chief focus will be on the ‘adventures and misadventures’ of Tony Blair and New Labour.
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