The Crown: Why all the fuss when the facts of what happened still shock as much as the fiction?

Published

3 years ago

November 5, 2022

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Whatever the critics or the Royal Family might think about The Crown, you cannot avoid the fact that the reality of what happened in the 1990s is just as shocking as anything they could have made up.

That is what immediately hit me as I watched season five of the hit TV show.

The soap opera of what played out for the Windsors 30 years ago is still just as unbelievable as any of the fictional events or conversations they made up.

It’s all in there.

The collapse of Prince Charles and Diana’s marriage playing out publicly in such a grotty way through tell-all books and interviews, details of those tapes where Charles said he wanted to be Camilla’s tampon, three of the Queen’s children getting divorced, and discussion of those pictures of the Duchess of York sucking the toes of a lover.

The basics, what we know is true, are a dream for any scriptwriter.

You couldn’t make it up, but it all happened right at the heart of one of Britain’s most important and influential institutions.

Of course, the debate over whether the programme needs a health warning because not everything we see is real is very much alive.

There’s been outrage that such a painful part of the Royal Family’s history should have been made into entertainment, almost pantomime.

I couldn’t help but think how ironic it is that newspapers and commentators who relished the scandal and the implosion of the Royal Family at the time are now so critical of the events being raked over again.

From the start you have a very clear villain.

Prince Charles is again portrayed as an uncaring cheating husband, but also this time shaped as a man desperate to get his hands on the crown, and setting up a rival court to compete with his mother.

It’s a narrative that couldn’t be put into the minds of the viewers at a more sensitive time as now, in real life, he settles into his life as King.

So far the settling in period has played out very well for him, with the King and his team getting the right balance between respectfully mourning the Queen and setting out his stall on how he wants to reign.

Can a TV programme really sway how people feel about his motives?

Don’t forget season four of The Crown did cause concerns for the palace, as it dragged up the Diana days, bringing that story to a younger demographic.

At the time one journalist who works for US magazines told me how it had played particularly badly with American audiences, making a visit by Charles and Camilla unimaginable.

The appearance of a young Prince William and Prince Harry makes it uncomfortable to watch at times.

Both have now spoken about the trauma of living through their parents’ break up and their mother’s death.

The hoards of photographers and reporters you’ll see on screen following their every move were real to them, a reminder of why they felt hounded and are now doing everything they can to stop it happening to their families.

At points you can’t help but feel this walk down memory lane is also designed to be a commentary on how the institution is viewed now.

Such as the writers weaving in make-believe monologues from the likes of Charles, Andrew, Margaret and Anne to question the monarchy’s role and the way it functions as they all talk about the constraints of “the system”.

In one scene the actor playing Andrew explains how they’d been excited about Sarah Ferguson marrying into the family, talking about how newcomers “make us look all modern, normal, human”.

But he adds: “No one with any character or spark has a place in the system.”

You could say a less than veiled dig about Meghan and Harry’s experience within “the firm”.

Of course, all this comes just two months after the Queen’s death.

The programme could not feel more distinct from the glowing tributes that have flowed since she died.

There are moments that reflect on her sense of duty, her influence on the world stage, but you can’t escape that the 1990s was one of the most difficult periods of her reign.

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While it may reflect badly on some of her living relatives, it is more positively a reminder of how remarkable it was that the Queen got things back on track.

During the 2000s she adapted to rebuild the monarchy’s reputation, and leave the overriding legacy of a much-loved monarch who rarely put a foot wrong.

It’s now her son, her other children and grandchildren who must face the added scrutiny that may come from The Crown, and more significantly deal with the other family issues that will undoubtedly come.

Season five of The Crown streams on Netflix from 9 November.

Entertainment

Author Dame Jilly Cooper has died

Published

4 hours ago

October 6, 2025

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Author Dame Jilly Cooper has died, her publisher has said.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Dame Jilly Cooper, DBE who died on Sunday morning, after a fall, at the age of 88,” a statement said.

The Queen paid tribute to Dame Jilly, calling her a “legend” who was a “wonderfully witty and compassionate friend”.

The best-selling author was renowned for her raunchy, so-called “bonkbuster” novels, which portrayed the scandals and sex lives of wealthy country social circles, including Rivals, Riders and Polo.

She was praised for her blend of risqué storylines and critique of Britain’s class system, personified by showjumping lothario Rupert Campbell-Black.

Her children Felix and Emily said: “Mum was the shining light in all of our lives. Her love for all of her family and friends knew no bounds.

“Her unexpected death has come as a complete shock.

“We are so proud of everything she achieved in her life and can’t begin to imagine life without her infectious smile and laughter all around us.”

Dame Jilly was propelled to commercial success in the 1980s, and sold 11 million copies of her books during her more than fifty-year career.

Last year, Rivals was adapted into a successful TV series, which she worked on as an executive producer.

Tributes to author who created ‘a whole new genre’

Dame Jilly was a long-standing friend of the Queen.

In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, she said: “I was so saddened to learn of Dame Jilly’s death last night.

“Very few writers get to be a legend in their own lifetime but Jilly was one, creating a whole new genre of literature and making it her own through a career that spanned over five decades.

“In person she was a wonderfully witty and compassionate friend to me and so many – and it was a particular pleasure to see her just a few weeks ago at my Queen’s Reading Room Festival where she was, as ever, a star of the show.

“I join my husband the King in sending our thoughts and sympathies to all her family.

“And may her hereafter be filled with impossibly handsome men and devoted dogs.”

The author’s many fans included former prime minister Rishi Sunak, who said the books offered “escapism”.

‘Dame Jilly defined culture’

Her agent Felicity Blunt said: “The privilege of my career has been working with a woman who has defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over fifty years ago.”

She added: “You wouldn’t expect books categorised as bonkbusters to have so emphatically stood the test of time, but Jilly wrote with acuity and insight about all things – class, sex, marriage, rivalry, grief and fertility.”

The executive producers of the Disney+ adaptation, Rivals, said they are “broken-hearted” and “her legacy will endure”.

Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Alex Lamb added: “Jilly was and always will be one of the world’s greatest storytellers, and it has been the most incredible honour to have been able to work with her to adapt her incredible novels for television.”

As tributes rolled in on Monday, TV presenter Kirsty Allsopp wrote on X: “I know 88 is a good age, but this is very sad news.

“A British institution, funny, enthusiastic and self-deprecating, we don’t see enough of it these days.”

Her publisher Bill Scott-Kerr said: “Jilly may have worn her influence lightly, but she was a true trailblazer.

“As a journalist she went where others feared to tread, and as a novelist she did likewise.

“With a winning combination of glorious storytelling, wicked social commentary and deft, lacerating characterisation, she dissected the behaviour, bad mostly, of the English upper middle classes with the sharpest of scalpels.”

The ‘unholy terror’

Born in Essex in 1937, Jilly Cooper came from a Yorkshire family known for newspaper publishing and politics.

Her writing career began in 1956 as a junior reporter on the Middlesex Independent, covering everything from parties to football.

She had said she was known as the “unholy terror” at school, and was sacked from 22 jobs before finding her way into book publishing.

Dame Jilly started writing stories for women’s magazines in 1968, and found her break in 1969 when The Sunday Times published a story on being an ”undomesticated” homemaker. It gave rise to a column that lasted over 13 years.

In 2019 she won the inaugural Comedy Women in Print lifetime achievement award, and in 2024 was made a dame for her services to literature and charity.

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Entertainment

Robbie Williams forced to cancel world tour gig in ‘interests of public safety’

Published

1 day ago

October 5, 2025

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Robbie Williams forced to cancel world tour gig in 'interests of public safety'

Robbie Williams has said he is “deeply sorry” his concert in the Turkish city of Istanbul has had to be cancelled “in the interests of public safety”.

The former Take That singer said it was his “dream” to perform at Atakoy Marina on Tuesday but the decision by city authorities to cancel the show “was beyond our control”.

Williams’ Britpop world tour began in May and has taken him to cities including London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Helsinki and Athens.

The 51-year-old Angels singer said in a post on Instagram to his 3.7m followers: “The last thing I would ever want to do is to jeopardise the safety of my fans – their safety and security come first.

“We were very excited to be playing Istanbul for the first time, and purposely chose the city as the final show of the Britpop tour.

“To end this epic run of dates in front of my Turkish fans was my dream, given the close connections my family have with this wonderful country.

“To everyone in Istanbul who wanted to join the 1.2 million people who have shared this phenomenal tour this year with us, I am deeply sorry. We were so looking forward to this show, but the decision to cancel it was beyond our control.”

Williams is still expected to perform a small ticketed gig on Thursday at Camden’s Dingwalls venue in London.

He will run through his upcoming album Britpop, which is yet to be released, in full, with his first solo LP, Life Thru A Lens.

After leaving Take That in 1995, Williams released his chart-topping debut album in 1997, and has achieved seven UK number one singles and 15 UK number one albums.

Entertainment

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sentenced to more than four years in prison

Published

3 days ago

October 4, 2025

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs sentenced to more than four years in prison

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to more than four years in prison over prostitution charges relating to his former girlfriends and male sex workers.

Judge Arun Subramanian handed down his 50-month sentence – including a $500,000 fine – at the end of a long and emotional full-day hearing, which saw the hip-hop mogul speak out for the first time in court.

Combs, 55, admitted his past behaviour was “disgusting, shameful and sick”, and apologised personally to Cassie Ventura and “Jane”, another former girlfriend who testified anonymously during the trial.

But despite his plea for “mercy” and expressions of remorse, the judge told him he had abused his “power and control” with women he professed to love – and rejected the defence’s characterisation that “freak off” sexual encounters were consensual experiences, that his was just a “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll story”.

Addressing Cassie and “the other brave survivors who came forward”, the judge said. “We heard you… I can only say your families are proud of you and your children will be proud of you.

“You weren’t just talking to the jury you were talking to the women who feel powerless – you gave them a voice, you stood up to power, it’s not easy.”

Combs showed no visible change of emotion as his sentence was delivered, looking straight ahead as the judge spoke. Afterwards, he seemed subdued – with no sign of the enthusiasm or feeling showed earlier in the day.

Ahead of his own speech, the court heard from six of his seven children – causing the rapper to break down in tears as they spoke about how much they loved him, how he has changed, and how much they and their younger two-year-old sister need him.

The sentencing brings to an end a sordid case that featured harrowing testimony – not just from Cassie and Jane, but also from former employees and associates of Combs.

He was convicted in July of flying people around the US and abroad for sexual encounters, including his then girlfriends and male sex workers, in violation of prostitution laws.

However, he was cleared of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking that could have put him in jail for life.

‘I hate myself right now’

On the eve of his sentencing, Combs submitted a letter to the judge pleading for “mercy” and apologising for the “hurt and pain” he has caused others.

He expanded on this in court, saying he wanted to “personally apologise” to Cassie for “any harm” he caused her “emotionally or physically”, and to Jane – and all victims of domestic violence.

He told the court he got “lost in my excess and lost in my ego”, but since his time in prison he has been “humbled and broken to my core”.

Combs continued: “I hate myself right now… I am truly sorry for it all.”

Once one of the most influential hip-hop producers of the 1990s and 2000s – the founder of Bad Boy Records and a Grammy-winning artist in his own right – he has led a very different life since his high-profile arrest.

He was facing a maximum of 20 years in prison for the prostitution-related charges, so the sentence is towards the lower end of the scale.

Prosecutors had argued he should spend at least 11 years behind bars, while Combs’s lawyers were calling for him to be freed almost immediately due to time already served since his arrest just over a year ago.

Christy Slavik, for the prosecution, told the judge sparing the rapper serious prison time would excuse years of violence.

‘Make the most of that second chance’

The judge, who had rejected bail for the rapper several times before sentencing, told him that he would get through his time in prison. It will be hard, he said, but he will still “have a life afterwards”.

Combs has “a chance for renewal and redemption”, he added. “What went wrong can be made right… I am counting on you to make the most of that second chance.”

Outside the courthouse, journalists and onlookers swarmed the pavements as TV crews stood in a long row across the street, echoing scenes from the two-month high-profile trial.

It included four days of testimony from Cassie, now Cassie Ventura Fine, who told the court she was coerced and sometimes blackmailed into sexual encounters with male sex workers, referred to as “freak offs”.

Cassie responds

Jurors were also shown video clips of Combs dragging and beating her in a Los Angeles hotel hallway after one of those sessions in 2016.

Combs referred to this in court, saying it was a “heavy burden” that he will forever carry, and that he was “sick from drugs” and “out of control” at the time, “lost in my excess and lost in my ego”.

Ahead of the sentencing, Cassie also submitted a letter to the judge, calling Combs a “manipulator” and saying she would fear for her safety should he be immediately released.

Responding to the sentence, her lawyers Douglas Wigdor and Meredith Firetog (Wigdor LLP), said: “While nothing can undo the trauma caused by Combs, the sentence imposed today recognises the impact of the serious offences he committed.

“We are confident that with the support of her family and friends, Ms Ventura will continue healing knowing that her bravery and fortitude have been an inspiration to so many.”