On Being Anti-Royal and Loving The Crown

I hate to admit it, but I love The Crown on Netflix. It’s not because it’s a bad show. It’s actually one of the most well written shows I’ve ever watched - and that’s saying a lot for a Netflix production. The problem at hand is my morals.

Many have criticized The Crown for being royalist and conservative propaganda, while others have argued that it actually does the opposite by portraying the Royal family as just as ugly and messy as any other family. Despite being a fan of the show, I find myself agreeing with the former sentiment. Whilst the show goes out of its way to portray the bleaker side of family and marriage - from Prince Philip’s alleged affair with Galina Ulanova, to Queen Elizabeth’s strained relationship with Prince Charles, to Princess Margaret’s failed romance with Peter Townsend - it never ventures beyond the emotional, familial, and romantic drama. The show’s writers do not critique the institutions and oppressive legacy of the Royal family. Instead it opts to frame them as simply existing in limbo, almost as victims; prohibited from having a political voice, but neither allowed to simply be abolished. It tells the story of sad rich people without a voice or purpose in the modern world. It is a very interesting story, but it is still uncritical of its subjects nonetheless.

I am half Jamaican. This is a fact that I’m quite proud of and have never hid. This is part of what makes watching The Crown a bit strange for me. In Season Two, when Queen Elizabeth delivered her first ever televised Christmas broadcast, my mother excitedly told me that she remembered watching that same annual broadcast during Christmas in the 1970s. Until that moment, I never truly thought about how close The Crown is to my own household and cultural history. Jamaica has an extensive history of resisting oppression at the hands of the British, from the First and Second Maroon Wars to the Baptist War - which was one of the biggest contributions to the abolition of slavery in the British West Indies. As a descendant of enslaved Jamaicans, I find myself in a moral predicament.

Jeremy Corbyn once stated; “The wealth of [England] that came from Jamaica - it was the jewel in the empire’s crown, the wealth that sits here in London came from there - we owe a lot to Jamaican people.” This quote perfectly encapsulates my dilemma. I’m consuming a show which tells the story of sad rich people, specifically, the sad rich people who are the most direct and highest beneficiary of the oppression and enslavement of my ancestors. I had been watching this show that frames the Royal family in a starkly uncritical light, not once questioning the legacy of the Royal family within its narrative. But it’s also one of my favorite shows of all time. So can I justifiably and sincerely say that it’s wrong to watch The Crown, even if it’s purely for entertainment purposes? Is it wrong of me to empathize with the characters in the show despite this very real and very personal history? This calls into question the limitations of a guilty pleasure…

A guilty pleasure is defined as; “something, such as a movie, television program, or piece of music, that one enjoys despite feeling that it is not generally held in high regard.” Yet The Crown is exceptionally well written and critically acclaimed, even going so far as to receive Emmy, Golden Globe, and BAFTA nominations. In those regards, this show is not a guilty pleasure - but morally, it is.

In my opinion, you can watch anything you please, even if it doesn’t necessarily align with your moral code. However, it’s important to note which morals or politics your guilty pleasure show or film contradicts. Is it arguing the merits of a serious crime such as abuse, for example? No? Then, by all means, watch away. This is where discernment and good judgement kick in. If a show you’re watching, like The Crown, is glorifying an institution or behavior - which most forms of media are guilty of, to some extent - then you must be aware of this fact, but critically. If a piece of media explores the depths of something that is seen as bad, that doesn’t automatically rid it of merit. This is where a hard line must be drawn between entertainment and justification.

My point is not to say that you aren’t allowed to watch The Crown. I still watch it. Instead, I am suggesting that we must be aware of what we’re consuming as viewers. I understand that despite the show being about the Royal family, it’s ultimately a heavily fictionalized version of their home life. Most of what happens on the show is so elaborately speculated to the point where the characters are just that - characters. Watching something that openly discusses something, (a person, institution, or concept), that you consider negative doesn’t make you an immoral person. It doesn’t make you a hypocrite. It makes you human. So go and watch your guilty pleasure shows. But remember: be critical and aware.