Princess Diana's Butler Calls Out The Inaccuracies In The Crown

The former servant of the British Royal Household has called out the inaccuracies of The Crown.

Paul Burrell has rubbished a number of themes that emerge in series four of the hit Netflix show, revealing details about the supposedly frosty relationship between Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and the Queen's dynamic with Prince Philip.

Burrell — who worked as Princess Diana's butler — recalled: "Josh O’Connor plays Prince Charles as a rather uncaring, cold person. And I’m afraid that’s what I saw behind closed doors.

Speaking to The Sun, Burrell, 62, said, "He was married to probably the most beautiful woman in the world. But he didn’t look after her, and that’s what comes across in The Crown.

"Diana said to me, ‘I thought when I got married that my husband would be there for me, to care for me, to support me, to encourage me, but he isn’t’.

"People that jump up and say, ‘Well, that’s not factual’, well, that’s pretty close to the truth.

"You’re seeing an unknown young girl rise while Charles’s star doesn’t and her popularity becomes greater than his. And that’s the whole problem.

"Their popularity in Australia, for example, how she eclipsed him and how he didn’t like it is all true."

By contrast, Burrell suggested that the Queen's relationship with her husband is markedly different to how it's portrayed in the show.

He said: "They’ve given Prince Philip and The Queen a very cold relationship and it’s not. They are not cold to each other."

The former butler also dismissed the idea that the Queen disliked former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Although their meetings were always held in private, Paul saw no evidence of any animosity towards the politician.

He said: "They weren’t at war with each other, and nobody knows what the Queen says to the Prime Minister because that meeting is private. So they’ve made up a lot there."

Burrell's criticism came a few days after the UK government complained to Netflix that the streamer should add a disclaimer to The Crown, making clear to the viewers that the royal drama is partly a work of fiction.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, in an interview with The Mail on Sunday, said, "It's a beautifully produced work of fiction, so as with the other TV productions, Netflix should be very clear at the beginning it is just that.

He added: “Without this, I fear a generation of viewers who did not live through these events may mistake fiction for fact.”— BANG

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