The Crown creator defends decision to include historically unsubstantiated Charles plotline

Peter Morgan addressed a specific scene involving a fabricated letter

The Crown’s creator Peter Morgan has defended some of the fabricated scenes in the fourth season of the series.

Netflix’s hit royal drama has faced criticism from some viewers in recent days for its deviation from known fact.

Some of the criticism has focused on scenes involving Prince Charles (played in season 4 by Josh O’Connor) and Lord Mountbatten (Charles Dance).

Mountbatten is seen writing a letter to the prince condemning his courtship of Camilla Parker Bowles, who was then married to Andrew Parker Bowles.

The letter, which Charles reads following Mountbatten’s assassination by the IRA in 1979, warns that he will bring “ruin and disappointment” to the royal family, should he continue to pursue Camilla. However, no record of any such letter exists.

Josh O’Connor as Charles in season four of The Crown (Des Willie/Netflix)

Nonetheless, Morgan addressed the plotline on the official Crown podcast, saying: “What we know is that Mountbatten was really responsible for taking Charles to one side at precisely this point and saying, ‘Look, you know, enough already with playing the field, it’s time you got married and it’s time you provided an heir’.

“As the heir I think there was some concern that he should settle down, marry the appropriate person and get on with it.”

Morgan asserted that even though the letter was his own fabrication, the interpersonal relationships on the show were rooted in well-researched truth.

He said: “In my own head I thought that would have even greater impact on Charles if it were to come post-mortem, as it were. I think everything that’s in that letter that Mountbatten writes to Charles is what I really believe, based on everything I’ve read and people I’ve spoken to, that represents his view.

“We will never know if it was put into a letter, and we will never know if Charles got that letter before or after Mountbatten’s death, but in this particular drama, this is how I decided to deal with it.”

The Crown is currently available to stream on Netflix. A dissection of the show’s historical accuracy can be found here.