Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Pen & Sword, and author Catherine Curzon for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

I was a big fan of the Netflix television series The Crown. As I watched the series, I knew in the back of my mind it was a dramatisation of history, but I was always curious just how much was based on fact and how much was speculation. In The Royal Family vs ‘The Crown’, author Catherine Curzon attempts to set the record straight. Curzon has written numerous books on British royalty, so she has the experience to tackle the series.

The book can be read while watching the series. Curzon broke it down into seasons and then the individual episodes. She explains what they got right, what they got wrong, and when they just rewrote what happened while ignoring history. It was curious to see how much drama the series creators added to the show. I mean, just from what I know about the Royals in my era, there seems to be plenty of drama to go around without having to create more. Curzon sums up each episode, then follows it with a discussion of what is actually known. There are numerous times events are moved around to occur at a time when it is more dramatic. Members of the staff appear on screen long after they retired in real life, or even long after they passed away! In some cases, I think the creators just took the easy way out by combining characters so the audience has some familiarity. At other times, they seem to be way off the mark.

One of the big things Curzon challenges is the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher. In real life, Thatcher had a respect and admiration for the Royal Family and would never have talked to the Queen the way she’s depicted near the end of her tenure, even if they disagreed. There are many issues like this that Curzon points out.

Initially, her writing tone seemed to be serious about setting the record straight. As the book went on, she seemed to become more acerbic and sarcastic. It almost felt like she was not just evaluating the show for how close it resembled reality, but she was now judging the creators for how much drama they injected into it.

Curzon also does a great job of pointing out that for a show where the monarch is a female, they spend a lot of time focused on the men surrounding her. This is true of Philip, who is shown brooding a great deal of the time about his status beneath her. You would think, having been raised in a royal family himself, he was well aware of what he was getting himself into. Instead, we get a man who seems to resent the woman he married.

Prince Charles (now King Charles) is also depicted as brooding, feeling overshadowed by both his mother and his first wife. Curzon also calls out the creators for their complete neglect of Princess Anne. There is also a near-constant battle in the first two seasons with Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne to marry the woman he loved. As things went, even if he hadn’t abdicated since he produced no heir, Elizabeth would have been the Queen eventually.

I did enjoy reading The Royal Family vs ‘The Crown’. It was a fairly quick read, and showed me how much was dramatized by the creators – a lot more than I originally thought when I first watched the show. I recommend this book to anyone who watched the show. It does a great job of setting the record straight.