“Peter Morgan realised the royals are a blank screen on to which speech can be projected
IT IS THE BEGINNING OF THE END for The Crown, much praised for its A-list acting and circa $277,000-per-minute production values, but widely criticised for its screenwriter Peter Morgan inventing dialogue for the royal family in actual and imagined situations. Netflix has now released the first four parts of the sixth and final series, with the last six to follow next month. This run begins with the death in Paris of Diana, Princess of Wales – though with actress Elizabeth Debicki reappearing as the princess’s ghost, which suggests that Morgan and the producers (Left Bank Pictures) have not been cowed by rows over taste.
But as it ends, it’s increasingly clear what The Crown started: a seismic shift in royal representation on stage and screen. Take two new plays just
