‘Charles did discuss his regency with a Prime Minister – just not with John Major’

Patrick Jephson, former private secretary to HRH Princess Diana, was on high alert for falsehoods in The Crown, but couldn’t find any

I didn’t watch The Repair Shop: a Royal Visit in October, but from several accounts it was an enjoyable and wholesome slice of palace PR – a chance to see the Prince of Wales (as he was at the time it was recorded) as the relatable, accessible and sympathetic figure he surely is. No former prime ministers or archbishops jumped into print to tell us not to watch it. Which is a pity, really, because if they had, the programme might have achieved even higher ratings. 

By contrast, a cauldron of disdain has been upended over the latest season of The Crown by these and other august personages. As a result, it’s a fair bet they have successfully pushed the award-winning Netflix series’ viewing figures even higher. 

This goes to the heart of a dilemma faced by royal press secretaries. In a perfect world, all TV shows about royal folk would show them as admirable, lovable, hard-working servants of the common good. But sadly, the world is not that tidy and nor are the lives of people born to royal status. This creates an opportunity for dramatists to fill the gap between the sanitised talking points dispensed by courtiers for public consumption, and what we might suspect is the more pungent reality.

If the creative classes decide to fill that gap, how they do it is up to them. That’s called freedom of speech and it’s a right worth defending, even against those who live and work in palaces. In fact, especially against those who live and work in palaces, given their controlling instincts. What’s more, no playwright ever did as much harm to them as they have done – and continue to do – to each other. Ultimately, if the luvvies get it wrong then the market (and the courts) will punish them accordingly.