Buckingham Palace deny Prince Charles had The Crown stars banned from event over affair storyline
28 October 2019, 12:55 | Updated: 6 October 2022, 12:12
Buckingham Palace have released a statement after it was reported Prince Charles’ aides stopped stars of Netflix’s The Crown from coming to a royal event.
It was reported this week that Prince Charles’ staff did not invite stars such as Olivia Coleman or Helena Bonham Carter, who star in The Crown, to a recent event due to the show's storylines in the upcoming third season.
The event was the TV show premiere of David Attenborough’s Our Planet, which was held at the Natural History Museum in April 2019.
Prince William, Prince Harry and Prince Charles were all in attendance at the event.
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The Sun reported that The Prince of Wales’ staff were “paranoid” about The Crown as they are “trying to make him a popular King-in-waiting”.
A royal source told the publication: “But the next few seasons are going to be increasingly focussed on the Prince of Wales’ behaviour, especially around his marriage to Diana and affair with Camilla.
“The timing couldn’t be any more disastrous in terms of Charles’s bid for popularity.
“So his staff made it clear he wouldn’t attend the event if Netflix had any The Crown actors there.”
However, Buckingham Palace have now denied the reports, saying that Prince Charles was unaware of the decision to exclude stars of The Crown.
A Buckingham Palace staffer said: “It was discussed by all the relevant Households and event organisers and agreed that it was hard to see the relevance of attendance by The Crown cast and would be a distraction to the ultimate messages of Our Planet.
“After all, it is a serious documentary about saving the planet not a launch of series three of The Crown.
“The decision was not one at the request of, instruction of, or direction of any of the members of the Royal Family.”
They went on to say that there is no “blanket ban or boycott” of The Crown, and mentioned that Olivia Coleman – who plays Queen Elizabeth II in the third series – will be at the palace for her CBE soon.
“The guest list was decided jointly. It is wrong to assert that the Prince of Wales intervened personally”, the Buckingham Palace spokesperson told The Sun.
