Camilla, Queen Consort Reportedly Approves Of The Crown

While millions will rush to watch and dissect the fifth season of The Crown, there is also one key person whose views will be much discussed: Camilla, Queen Consort. Depicted as Prince Charles’s long-standing mistress and partner, the now Queen Consort is now played by Olivia Williams, opposite Dominic West’s Prince of Wales. The IRL Camilla has previously been quite playful about the Netflix series, but what does she really think The Crown?

As ever, it is impossible to truly say, given the royal family’s history of not commenting on such matters (a policy the shows depicts quite accurately). However, from personal encounters actors have had with the Queen Consort, it would seem she has given the Netflix drama her royal (or personal, at least) seal of approval. Speaking to RadioTimes, West said he “bumped into” Camilla, then the Duchess of Cornwall, at a party in 2021 after being cast as Charles in the fifth season of The Crown. Camilla reportedly addressed him as “Your Majesty,” perhaps indicating her approval of his role, though, of course, she would’t have seen his take on her husband at the time. Still, very cheeky remark, all things considered.

During an International Women’s Day 2022 event hosted at Clarence House, the Queen Consort met her on-screen counterpart. Emerald Fennell, who played Camilla in Season 4, said she was “very impressed” by the royal. “I was nervous I might be thrown in the Tower, but so far so good,” she said at the time. According to reports, Fennell and the Duchess of Cornwall spoke for a few minutes, but both parties kept the intimate details of their conversation largely private. “I’m going to be very discreet – because if I've learnt anything, it’s ‘loose lips sink ships’,” Fennell told The Telegraph.

There’s more, too. According to Vanity Fair, Camilla, Queen Consort has watched – and reportedly enjoyed – previous seasons of The Crown. Before the release of Season 4 in 2020, a source told the publication: “I imagine she’ll be tuning in with a glass of red wine to watch it; she has seen the previous series…” the source is quoted saying. “I don’t think she has any real issue with it. Her feeling is very much ‘never complain, never explain.”

The fifth season of the celebrated Netflix drama sees Imelda Staunton take on the role of Queen Elizabeth II, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, Princess of Wales. It follows what show creator Peter Morgan described as a “difficult time” for the royal family (the 1990s included the breakdown of several royal marriages, Charles and Diana’s included). Ahead of its release, the show came under heavy criticism from the likes of Sir John Major who said it was “nothing other than damaging and malicious fiction,” and Dame Judi Dench, who called on the streaming service to use disclaimers and accused the show of “crude sensationalism.”