‘The Crown’ enrages insiders with 'cruel' portrayal of Prince Charles’ courtier

Latest season's depiction of the Prince's secretary is being deemed 'unfair and inaccurate'

The Crown, because of its latest season, has had a viewership surge around the world. But as much as the audience is loving it, the British royal family has been taken aback. 

As per the latest intel, the palace's insiders are furious at the portrayal of Prince Charles’s courtier Edward Adeane, who in actuality was a “wonderful, decent and honourable man," according to sources.

Adeane’s goddaughter told The Telegraph, “I haven't watched the series, but from what I’ve been told the representation of my godfather is completely at odds with the memories of all those who knew Edward.”

“Viewers have been told often enough that the scenes in The Crown are fictional. As the media have recently observed, this is even more the case with the current series,” she added.

Edward Adeane, who died in 2015 aged 75, was private secretary and treasurer to the Prince of Wales from 1979 and 1985, and is portrayed in the Netflix series by Richard Goulding. 

The ex-wife of one of Charles’ friends also said, “It’s not true at all that Edward was nasty to the Princess of Wales and it's awful to suggest he was. He was a bachelor and perhaps he didn’t find it easy to talk to an 18-year-old teenage girl, but in my experience he was lovely.”

The drama shows Adean being cruel and abrasive towards the Princess of Wales, at one point callously telling her she 'signed up' to be separated from her children, and made cruel jibes about her mental health.    

Not to mention, acclaimed royal historian Hugo Vickers also noted, “It’s a very unkind portrayal of Adeane. Another private secretary at the palace told me Adeane was not very at ease with Diana.”

“He was quite shy and had no point of contact with her, but he did his best. He was certainly not unkind to her, but she got rid of him just as she got rid of everyone. It’s typical of The Crown to paint every courtier as a grey suited snake and it's a very unfair representation of him,” he added.

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