Prince William is not a fan of seeing his life dramatized on screen, but is reluctant to speak out about productions because he "doesn't like the idea of being seen as a complainer all the time," a new royal biography has claimed.
Since the 1990s, William's life story has been used in multiple film and TV projects, ranging from low-budget productions to Hollywood blockbusters. Most recently, the prince found his early relationship with Kate Middleton, now the Princess of Wales, dramatized for the masses in Netflix's royal series, The Crown.
The six-season show, which aired its final episodes in 2023, chronicled the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II and her family, earning both praise and criticism from audiences and reviewers for its imagined portrayal of real events and people.
Several royals have said they've seen the show, however, one who remains set against it is William.
In The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy due to be published on Thursday in Britain, royal biographer Robert Hardman writes that William is a fan of "box sets" but that "one hit series which the Prince and Princess of Wales will not be watching is the Netflix royal drama, The Crown."
"'The Prince...rolls his eyes when people say that 'it's just drama',' says a source close to him," according to Hardman. "'Yet, he will not give it any greater publicity by complaining. He doesn't like the idea of being seen as a complainer all the time.'"
An insight into William's thoughts of the streaming show were previously given by Oscar-winning actress, Olivia Colman, who played Queen Elizabeth in The Crown's third and fourth seasons.
"I met Prince William at a dinner, and he asked what I was doing at the moment before he quickly added, 'Actually, I know what you're doing,'" she told interviewer Graham Norton in 2019.
"I was so excited and asked, 'Have you watched it?' His answer was a firm, 'No.'"
The prince has a different viewpoint on the show than his younger brother, Prince Harry, who signed a content-creation deal with Netflix in 2020 with Meghan Markle through their Archewell Productions company after splitting from the monarchy.
Speaking to James Corden in 2021, Harry revealed he was ok with the show being seen as a drama, as it didn't pretend to be "news."
"It's fictional but it's loosely based on the truth," he said.
"Of course it's not strictly accurate, of course it's not, but loosely it gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that," he explained.
"I'm way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family or my wife or myself because...that is obviously fiction, take it how you will, but this is being reported on as fact because you are supposedly news. I have a real issue with that."
The final season of the Netflix show, which was released in two installments in November and December 2023, dramatized two key milestones in William's life: First, the death of his mother, Princess Diana in a 1997 Paris car crash when he was 15; And second, his meeting and dating future wife, Kate.
Played by actor Ed McVey in the final episodes, the prince was portrayed as a young man finding it hard to come to terms with life in the royal spotlight and the pressures of being a future king.
The series, which was written and created by Peter Morgan who also wrote the 2006 movie The Queen starring Helen Mirren, ended with scenes depicting Queen Elizabeth's coffin as it appeared at her state funeral in 2022.
The Making of a King: King Charles III and the Modern Monarchy is published in the United States by Pegasus Books.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
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