Prince Harry Reportedly Wanted The Crown To End At A Crucial Point In His Family's Life
It's been nearly six years since "The Crown" debuted on Netflix, and the world hasn't been the same since. Created by Peter Morgan, the series follows the world's most famous monarch along with the personal and political occurrences that defined her time as queen (via IMDb). This global phenomenon has become even more popular since the heartbreaking death of Queen Elizabeth II. According to CNN, the series logged 17.6 million hours on Netflix the week following the queen's death, making it the "seventh-most watched English-language show on Netflix."
But we mortals aren't the only ones who have been lapping up this fictional drama. Some of the British royals have also tuned in to watch the lives of their on-screen selves unfold, including Queen Elizabeth, as noted by Town & Country. "I heard the queen had watched it," Matt Smith, who played Prince Philip in the first two seasons of the show, shared on "The Today Show." Smith recalled a source telling him Her Majesty "watched in on a projector on a Sunday night."
Other avid fans? The Duke and Duchess of Sussex. According to Mirror, Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, "quite liked" the show but has reservations about the upcoming seasons for a certain reason.
Prince Harry is nervous about how he and his brother will be portrayed on The Crown
While "The Crown" can be viewed as a fictional recount of Queen Elizabeth II's life and reign, according to Prince Harry, the show is actually "loosely based on the truth," as noted by Mirror. "Of course it's not strictly accurate, but . . . it gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that," the 38-year-old royal shared on "The Late Late Show with James Corden."
Perhaps it's for this reason that Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, is slightly worried about his storyline in the series. According to Angela Levin, who wrote a biography on Prince Harry, the royal "was starting to get a bit nervous" about where the series was headed. "His 'red line' was clear: he wanted the show to end before the point of his own life — and that of his brother, Prince William — would be shown on-screen," Levin wrote in "Harry: A Biography of a Prince" (via Mirror).
So far, "The Crown" has only portrayed Prince William and Prince Harry as very young kids. But in Season 5, which is set to debut on November 9 (via Harper's Bazaar), viewers may see a little bit more of the two brothers. In a teaser photo released by Netflix, Prince William and Prince Harry can be seen on a boat with their parents.