The Crown’s most explosive storyline in Netflix’s final series revealed – with The Sun taking a starring role
THE Sun gets a starring role in the new series of The Crown — with our scoop about Prince Harry going to a fancy dress party as a Nazi getting more airtime than some of the show’s extras.
Our famous fron page from January 2005 is seen being read by Prince William, Prince Charles and the Queen.
Prince Harry, played by Luther Ford, is also seen sleeping off the effects of the party before reading the paper and getting furious at his gaffe and the coverage it received.
A TV insider said: “There aren’t many storylines in The Crown which are focused on a single newspaper’s scoop quite like this one.
“In this instance this particular edition of The Sun gets more airtime than some members of the drama’s supporting cast.
“But the front page story did seem to typify the problem royal that Harry was becoming when he was a teenager — and a sign of things to come.”
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Harry, now 39, was 20 at the time of the “native and colonial” fancy dress party, held by Olympic show jumper Richard Meade in January 2005.
He later said that it was “probably one of the worst mistakes of my life” not least because it happened two weeks before Holocaust Memorial Day.
The image, taken by fellow partygoers, appeared in many newspapers but it was The Sun’s “Harry the Nazi” splash that became the defining image of the scandal.
In his memoir Spare, Harry tried to partly blame Prince William and Kate Middleton for not discouraging him.
They both attended the same bash but wore inoffensive costumes.
In The Crown, Prince Charles, played by Dominic West, is seen looking enraged about Harry’s antics and flings the newspaper across a table in disgust.
The young prince is then forced by his father to clear out a pig sty as punishment for the fresh embarrassment he has caused the family.
Meanwhile, the Duke of Edinburgh, played by Jonathan Pryce, is seen berating the owners of the fancy dress shop over the phone — because they got the details of the Nazi uniform incorrect.
It also shows Harry getting caught smoking cannabis and being sent to a rehabilitation centre, with the prince saying how no one cares as he is just the spare and not as important as his older brother.
In one bizarre scene, Prince William tries to explain to the Queen how her grandson is partial to “whacky baccy” and “ganja”.
Cracks are also seen emerging between the brothers, with Harry complaining about William’s acceptance of the marriage between Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.
William tells Harry he is just trying to be an adult and his brother is left looking enraged.
The Queen, played by Imelda Staunton, is seen lamenting her grandson’s behaviour in her weekly audience with then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, played by Bertie Carvel.
This sixth and final series covers the years 1997 to 2005 and covers the deaths in 2002 of the Queen Mother and Her Majesty’s sister Princess Margaret.
The Netflix drama shows the Queen worrying about her popularity in 2002, her golden jubilee year, without her sister and parents to support her.
It ends on a bittersweet note, with the wedding of Prince Charles to Camilla, but also a strong hint at the future death of The Queen.
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One scene shows Imelda being joined by the actors who played Her Majesty in previous series — Olivia Colman and Claire Foy — as she stands next to her own coffin covered in the Royal Standard.
The six remaining episodes of The Crown were released on the streaming giant yesterday.
