Silver screen portrayals have always been successful in offending the British Monarchy. The most recent one would be The Crown, which has been covering the reign of Queen Elizabeth II since its premiere on Netflix.
The first three seasons were stellar, from depicting Queen Elizabeth's ascension to the throne in 1952 to her Silver Jubilee in 1977. But since the fourth season, everything about the British monarchy has become explosive after Dianna's portrayal.
The controversies surrounding present-day King Charles III and Dianna only grew bigger in the fifth season, and creator Peter Morgan didn't shy away from depicting them, even after the death of Queen Elizabeth.
The new season centres around a few life events of the queen, though almost all affected her life deeply.
It's the '90s. The Falkland Wars have ended, and Margaret Thatcher is no longer the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The biggest political event of that time was the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Apart from that, Queen Elizabeth now faces public backlash for wanting to spend taxpayer money to maintain her lavish royal yacht.
But tragedies in her personal life are yet to happen. When they happen, they strike with full force.
Season four of The Crown already depicted the fragile marriage between Prince Charles and Princess Diana Spencer. In this fifth season, they become more controversial. They've been cheating on each other for a long time. Charles admitting his infidelity in a televised interview makes it a public scandal.
Diana doesn't remain amidst the chaos; she leads a glamorous public life and participates in the most controversial Panorama interview. The silent battle between the couple worries the royal family, but they find no solution.
Charles' tumultuous marriage is not the only thing that affects the queen. Her worst year was 1992 when three of her children got divorced. To make matters worse, her favourite residence Windsor Castle catches fire, burning many royal valuables.
Amidst them, the queen is yet to celebrate her Ruby Jubilee, celebrating 40 years of her reign. She describes 1992 as 'Annus horribilis,' or a horrible year in her speech.
Princess Diana steals the spotlight in season five, and Elizabeth Debicki does brilliant acting. Later episodes in this season also depict her post-divorce personal affairs.
The third episode is completely dedicated to portraying Mohamed Al-Fayed's life, who is the father of Dodi Fayed. The audience can witness Al-Fayed's rise to be the lead businessman in the United Kingdom and his son's encounter with the princess.
Besides showing Dodi and Diana's relationship, this season also gives some glimpses of what will happen in the final season, possibly their shocking deaths. Apart from Diana's life, the rest of the season becomes relatively dull -- only depicting the change in the British government after 18 years, with Tony Blair taking power after the 1997 election.
Season five might be the most controversial season of The Crown, but it is a disappointment that it has nothing interesting to offer other than Diana Spencer's personal life.
It feels like this show only wanted to maintain its popularity by exploiting her, resulting in critics' backlashes. Nevertheless, Peter Morgan succeeded in his objective, and it's up to him to pull off the final season in this post-Elizabethan era.
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