Princess Diana's Brother Reveals Why He Rejected The Crown's Major Request

We've never tired of royal gossip, but ever since "The Crown" hit Netflix a few years ago, the royal family seems to be all anyone can talk about. For those who haven't tuned in, "The Crown" is exactly what it sounds like. It is a critically acclaimed drama that chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth from childhood through the '90s. The advent of "The Crown" has sparked renewed interest in royal drama. What was the queen's relationship with Diana really like? Did Prince Phillip really cheat? And what about poor Princess Margaret? All these questions and more are explored in "The Crown," but the one thing that everyone has been consistently curious about is whether or not the royal family tunes in.

Prince Harry has admitted to watching the drama during a 2020 appearance on the "The Late Late Show with James Corden." "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. It might be a loose portrayal but it's damn entertaining. So entertaining, in fact, that the queen herself reportedly takes time away from her packed schedule to binge the show. Vanessa Kirby told Harper's Bazaar that Princess Eugenie once let it slip at a party that her grandmother is a major fan.

Does the royal family actually have anything to do with the production of the show, though? Apparently, the producers are in touch every now and then for favor or permission, and occasionally, the family has to put its foot down and say no.

The queen, Princess Eugenie, and Prince Harry might love "The Crown," but unfortunately, the feeling isn't mutual across the family. When it came time to film Princess Diana's portion of the story, her family wanted nothing to do with it.

During a recent appearance on "BBC Breakfast," Princess Diana's younger brother, Charles Spencer, explained that producers had recently asked for permission to film some scenes at their family estate, per Hello! "They applied," he said. "They wanted to shoot here. But I don't really do that stuff." Spencer went on to explain that he is far from a fan of the show. "Actually, to be honest, I don't watch 'The Crown' so I just said: 'Thank you but no thank you.'"

This isn't the first time Spencer has landed in the news for his opinions about "The Crown." In a 2020 appearance on "Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh," Spencer shared some thoughts. "The worry for me is that people see a program like ['The Crown'] and they forget that it is fiction," he explained, per Town & Country. "Americans tell me they have watched 'The Crown' as if they have taken a history lesson. Well, they haven't." Spencer feels protective of his older sister's legacy and does not like the overdramatized portrayal of her private life. "I feel it is my duty to stand up for her when I can," he said. "So yeah, I feel very passionately that I have a role to honor her memory."