Britain’s new King is a “tragic hero” because he “had to marry a virgin”, The Crown’s Dominic West has said.
Season 5 of The Crown dramatises the turbulent and often miserable lives of the British Royal Family during the 1990s.
Queen Elizabeth II famously described 1992 as “not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an 'Annus Horribilis'.”
Windsor Castle caught fire and Charles and Diana announced they were to separate; Dominic West, who plays the Prince of Wales, says the marriage permanently damaged Charles’ image.
“I’m a huge admirer and I think what he did as Prince of Wales - particularly with the Prince’s Trust - is extraordinary,” Mr West told Newstalk Breakfast.
“The marriage with Diana was a sort of tragic flaw in a way and at this time he is sort of a tragic hero. That tragic flaw came about, you could say, for one reason - because he had to marry a virgin.
“That’s not, thank God, something his son had to do.”
Mr West has won numerous acting awards over the years but said he found playing one of the most famous men on the planet a particularly nerve wracking prospect.
“It was really hard,” he said.
“It was really daunting anyway because everybody knows what he looks like and how he sounds and how he moves and can tell the gap between that reality and whatever I’m doing.”
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Historical accuracy
The Crown has come in for criticism for using its dramatic licence during certain episodes; Dame Judi Dench said she disliked its “crude sensationalism” and urged it to begin each episode with a disclaimer about historical accuracy.
While former British Prime Minister Sir John Major said a scene in which Prince Charles urged him to ask Queen Elizabeth to abdicate is a “barrel-load of nonsense peddled for no other reason than to provide maximum - and entirely false - dramatic impact”.
“What Peter [the director] was very interested in was showing a man in his prime who hadn’t fulfilled his destiny and a man worrying that he’s not going to get to the top job until he’s an old man,” Mr West explained.
“I personally think that he’s able to achieve far more as the Prince of Wales because as monarch he’s not allowed to do anything; he’s not allowed to go to COP27.
“The way I played it was, this man is in a unique position where he’s at the prime of his life and he’s still having to obey his mother, basically.”
The Crown will be available to view on Netflix from Wednesday 9th November.
Main image: Split screen of Charles and Diana and Dominic West. Picture by: Alamy.com
