Prince Philip ‘wanted to sue 'The Crown' series over portrayal of sister’s death: Reports

The fictional Portrayal of the British Royal Family in the Netflix Series “The Crown” has garnered a lot of popularity in a few years. But there have been instances when the members of the Royal Family were uncomfortable, looking at their life being played out on screen. One such incident was when the Former Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip was seriously furious over one of the scenes. 

On Sunday, The Sunday Times reported that Prince Philip was considering “suing Netflix” for airing an episode in The Crown that implied he was blamed for his elder sister’s death. Royal commentator Hugo Vickers told The Sunday Times, “Philip contacted his advisors at London firm Farrer & Co about his desires to seek legal retribution from Netflix for an episode in season two of the hit show.” However, the Representatives of the Farrer & Co and Buckingham Palace refused to comment on the assertion.

Episode “Paterfamilias” triggered the Prince

In season 2 of the show, one of the episodes titled “Paterfamilias” portrayed the death of Philip’s older sister Princess Cecilie who was 26 when she and her newborn passed away in a plane crash in 1937. The fictional retelling of the tragedy portrayed the young prince getting yelled at by his father Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark at her sister’s funeral.

In the scene, Philip’s father was shown yelling at Philip and blaming him for his sister’s death. While talking about how furious the Duke of Edinburgh was when he came across that episode, Vickers told The Sunday Times, "The Prince was very upset about the way that was portrayed. He was human. He could be hurt like anybody else." 

In the end, Philip didn’t sue the streaming platform giant. Speaking on the reason for not pursuing the lawsuit, film critic Richard Fitzwilliams told Insider, “The problem with the Royal family, the moment they sue, if they decide to sue or if they decide to go to court, it means that there's the most enormous amount of attention," adding, “The reason he didn't do it was because the whole world would've heard of this and perhaps some would've believed that it might have been true."