We soon learn that the damning criticism is the consensus of a Sunday Times<\/em> poll about the monarchy, a detail that historian Sarah Gristwood writes for HistoryExtra<\/em> was \u201cnot invented \u2013 but the presentation of it was skewed\u201d. In The Crown<\/em>\u2019s presentation of the poll, 47 per cent of the public \u201cbelieve the Queen should hand over the throne to Prince Charles\u201d. What is more, \u201c88 per cent believe Charles would make a good king\u201d \u2013 an \u201cemphatic vote of confidence in the 42-year-old prince\u201d.<\/p>\n But were there really calls at that time for Elizabeth II to abdicate? It was a key idea in the tabloids of the time that Charles was getting increasingly restless as he sought a meaningful role as a monarch-in-waiting, and talk of the Queen\u2019s abdication was a preoccupying factor. In a 1991 issue of the New York Times<\/em>, Christopher Hitchens wrote that \u201ceach week brings rumors of marital stress, of tension over the succession, even of abdication.\u201d<\/p> This episode of The Crown<\/em> portrays the Queen\u2019s heir \u2013\u00a0Prince Charles<\/a> (played by Dominic West) \u2013 as unable to contain his delight in hearing that almost half of the newspaper\u2019s readers would support an abdication of his mother in his favour. He is informed that readers think of him as \u201cyoung, energetic and empathetic\u201d. Public support for the Queen\u2019s abdication did peak in 1990<\/a> when, according to Ipsos MORI stats, almost half of the country were keen to see her pass on the reins of power.<\/p>\n In 1991, Prince Charles was often regarded as searching for a purpose. \u201cPublicly,\u201d wrote Charles\u2019s unofficial biographer Anthony Holden in 1988, the prince\u2019s role was \u201cthat of a caring and thoughtful man in search of good to do \u2013 not merely a prince in search of a role, but a crusader in search of a crusade.\u201d Yet, The Crown<\/em>\u2019s depiction of Charles\u2019s popularity at that time contrasts with other factors; his passions of farming and architecture were often mocked, his stances or speeches on issues including the environment and education led some critics to believe he overstepped his constitutional role, and endless speculation about his marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales was a key feature of any coverage about the prince. Their subsequent marital breakdown in 1992 is often cited as influencing the significant decline in public enthusiasm for the Queen\u2019s early abdication.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Crown<\/em>\u2019s choice to reinterpret the poll and accompanying newspaper article make explicit reference to the episode\u2019s title, \u201cQueen Victoria Syndrome\u201d. It\u2019s a phrase used to describe what happens when \u2013 according to the show \u2013 \u201cthe public begins to perceive a long-reigning monarch to be out of touch with her people.\u201d This is a recurring theme in the episode, and the phrase is indeed a real one used at the time. \u201cQuestions of Elizabeth II\u2019s retirement were being mooted as early as 1980,\u201d explained historian Sarah Gristwood in a 2015 article for Huffington Post<\/a>. \u201cBy the end of the decade, courtiers had begun to talk about QVS or Queen Victoria Syndrome, whereby a nation could become tired of an ageing monarch and a parasitic royal family.\u201d<\/p>\n There are many similarities between Elizabeth II and her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria<\/a>. Both were never intended for the crown; Victoria only became heir because the three uncles ahead of her in the succession had no surviving legitimate children; while Elizabeth became queen after the unexpected abdication of her uncle, Edward VIII<\/a>, and premature death of her father, George VI<\/a>.<\/p>\n Both queens also reigned longer than all of their predecessors, with Elizabeth overtaking Victoria\u2019s 63-year rule on 9 September 2015. In season five of The Crown<\/em>, Elizabeth rebukes the QVS criticism by saying that she is pleased to have been compared to Queen Victoria. \u201cIt could only ever be taken as a compliment,\u201d she remarks.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more certain is the Queen\u2019s own feelings about calls for abdication, which she made clear in her Christmas broadcast in 1991. \u201cNext February will see the fortieth anniversary of my father\u2019s death and of my Accession. Over the years I have tried to follow my father\u2019s example and to serve you as best I can,\u201d she told the Commonwealth. \u201cI feel the same obligation to you that I felt in 1952. With your prayers, and your help, and with the love and support of my family, I shall try to serve you in the years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n Is The Crown<\/em>\u2019s choice, then, to centre a public opinion poll simply attempting to capture the ebbs and flows of anti-monarchy sentiment? As royal historian Philip Ziegler told Hitchens in 1991<\/a>: \u201cThere\u2019s always been a problem with irresponsible behaviour on the part of fringe members of the royal family,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I suppose there always will be. But it\u2019s a mistake to confuse public alarm at this with resentment of the monarchy itself.\u201d<\/p>\n The new season also introduces a new prime minister, John Major (Jonny Lee Miller). A key scene shows him reluctantly admonishing the Queen for requesting public funds to pay for the refurbishment of her beloved royal yacht Britannia<\/em> \u2013 reinforcing the sentiment that she is, indeed, out of touch with public mood and the realities of everyday life in Britain during an economic downturn. (Britannia<\/em> would indeed be decommissioned as a royal yacht in 1994, with the Queen\u2019s final use of the vessel in 1997.)<\/p>\n Late in the episode, the new prime minister is also portrayed discussing with Prince Charles the possibility of the Queen\u2019s abdication \u2013 something that the real former prime minister has since come out and refuted.<\/p>\n \u201cSir John has not co-operated in any way with\u00a0The Crown<\/em>. Nor has he ever been approached by them to fact-check any script material in this or any other series,\u201d a spokesperson for Major said<\/a>. \u201cThere was never any discussion between Sir John and the then Prince of Wales about any possible abdication of the late Queen Elizabeth II.\u201d Major has also since written in a letter to the Daily Telegraph<\/em><\/a> that the season\u2019s portrayal of the Queen \u201cwill be profoundly hurtful to a family who are still grieving for the very person on whose life the entire drama was founded.\u201d<\/p>\n So what do we know about the real relationship between John Major and the Queen? It is true that Major took the decision that Britain could no longer afford the royal yacht Britannia<\/em><\/a> (a decision often wrongly attributed to Tony Blair). However, he is also on record as having described the real Elizabeth II as \u201ccompassionate, shrewd, well-informed, pragmatic and wise, with an unshakeable commitment to duty\u201d. He has also said that \u201cany prime minister would be foolish not to consider [her counsel] with care. All of them soon learn that the Queen, far from being cut off from her people, is very much aware of the shifting tides of public opinion \u2013 indeed often ahead of it.\u201d<\/p>\n And did he ever express anti-monarchy sentiments, as alluded to in The Crown<\/em>? Historian Richard Toye describes Major as \u201ca convinced monarchist\u201d, who in 2022 \u201cappears to be a sincere admirer of Britain\u2019s new king.\u201d When presenting Charles with the 2013 Sir Winston Churchill Award, Major commented: \u201cOur recipient tonight has \u2013 over the years \u2013 faced his own criticism, his own setbacks, yet held firm to his own beliefs. That is the first of many reasons he is truly worthy of the award made to him.\u201d<\/p>\n The breakdown of Charles and Diana\u2019s marriage<\/a> was well on its way to decline in season four of The Crown<\/em> \u2013 and it suffers further blows in the opening episode of season five. The couple initially put on a dazzling public display of affection as they arrive for their \u2018second honeymoon\u2019 in Italy. In August 1991, the royal couple did take a boat trip with their sons, Princes William and Harry, when they stayed on the naval yacht Alexandra off Naples.<\/p>\n As the crowds welcome them to the country, Charles leans in to kiss Diana before they both deliver beaming smiles to waiting paparazzi cameras. \u201cCharles and Di cruise back to happiness,\u201d is the headline of a fictional Daily Express<\/em> later delivered to the Queen.<\/p>\n But appearances are deceptive, and in The Crown<\/em> their marriage is not the same behind closed doors.\u00a0The Crown<\/em> chooses to make their differences are all too apparent during a dinner party with friends; when Charles speaks eagerly about wanting to visit various historical sites in Italy, Diana (played by Elizabeth Debicki) states that she would prefer to go shopping. \u201cShow of hands \u2013 would anyone apart from Diana like to go shopping?\u201d Charles demands. There is a brief awkward silence \u2013\u00a0but then the couple\u2019s eldest son, Prince William, pipes up: \u201cI\u2019d like to go shopping.\u201d \u201cMe, too,\u201d adds his brother, Harry. At bedtime later, Diana later thanks both of her children for \u201cdefending\u201d her.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a touching moment between Diana and her children, and we know that she was incredibly close with her sons in real life too. Photographs taken in October 1991, just months after the Naples holiday showed Diana greeting her sons on the deck of Britannia with delighted and emotional hugs, and cemented the princess in the public\u2019s image as a loving and warm royal mother.<\/p>\n Harry and William have always spoken incredibly fondly of their mother in public interviews. Interviewed for a 2017 TV documentary, marking the 20th anniversary of his mother\u2019s death, William remembered that \u201cshe was very informal and really enjoyed the laughter and the fun\u2026 She understood that there was a real life outside of palace walls.\u201d<\/p>\n We also know that Diana was \u00ad\u2013\u00a0according to this HistoryExtra<\/em> article<\/a> \u2013 an incredibly hands-on mother. \u201cThe first sign that this was not to be a traditional royal motherhood came early in William\u2019s life, with Diana\u2019s first official overseas visit in 1983,\u201d writes BBC History Magazine deputy editor Matt Elton. \u201cHistorically, other royals would have left their offspring with a nanny, but the prince\u2019s parents brought him with them for\u00a0a tour of Australia<\/a>\u00a0and New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n It is impossible to know whether a private dinner scene like the one in episode one of The Crown<\/em> really unfolded, as many details are speculative. The scene does, however, highlight the increasingly difficult nature of Diana and Charles\u2019s relationship \u2013 and their glaringly obvious incompatibilities \u2013 as they approached their separation in 1992.<\/p>\n In the show\u2019s version of events, Charles actually leaves the Italy trip early.\u00a0While this particular departure is uncertain, much was made in the coverage of the time that Charles and Diana were leading increasingly separate lives. In May 1991, it was widely reported that during an official visit to Czechoslovakia, Charles and Diana occupied separate suites on different floors of their Prague residence. It had also been noted in the press that, when the prince had broken his arm following a polo accident the previous year, he had stayed in a separate royal residence to the princess and the princes for a month.<\/p>\nWhat was Queen Victoria\u2019s syndrome?<\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>What did prime minister John Major think of the royal family?<\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Diana and Charles: did they go on a \u2018second honeymoon\u2019?<\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Did Charles really leave Diana on their second honeymoon in Italy?<\/h2>\n