Carlos Boyero, a film critic for the Spanish radio station La SER, says, “I believe that this series is a tremendous boon for the British Monarchy….Talented film-makers are trying to show us….that these are very human people in almost constantly difficult circumstances….”
I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. The majority of the English believe that this series is yet another nail in the coffin of the monarchy. What it does show us is the coldness of the Queen, the self-serving behaviour of the whole family in their perpetuation of their image at all cost, quite prepared to sacrifice whoever gets in the way; it shows us that the marriage of Prince Charles with Diana Spencer was arranged by the family in psychopathic style to serve as a cover for his “inappropriate” relationship with the married Camilla Parker Bowles; it shows the ensuing coldness and the cruelty with which they treated poor Diana when she became aware of the set up and expressed her repulsion at what was going on. Then, when every member of the royal family ignored her protests, they labelled her as hysterical or mad, showing us their collective lack of humanity. Charles comes out of this portrayal particularly poorly.
And what does Señor Boyero think of the episode which concerns the two female cousins of the Queen who are declared dead in the newspaper, whereas, in reality, they have been locked away in an institution for people with learning difficulties in an attempt to protect the image of a family with an impeccable genetic structure?
In The Crown every member of the royal family, other than the Queen, appears to be merely selfish, spoilt and bored. Throughout series 4 there is nobody, apart from the Queen, who has any redeeming features. No señor. This series has been a real disaster for the British royal family.
Señor Boyero says that he has watched all the episodes (ten hours) of the series, but I suggest he goes back and takes another look at them all. Because, the first time around, he didn’t get the message at all.
This series shows us a collection of pampered, irritable and superficial characters who have no pity for anyone. Practically the only mention that señor Boyero makes of them is when he professes his love and fascination for Princess Margaret, (“To me, she is a great beauty, she has always seemed extremely attractive”) something which tells us more about his personal sexual frustration than anything else.
Is señor Boyero’s programme, La Ventana en el cine, a serious window on the world of films?
How is it possible that anyone can watch such a brilliant and complex series for ten hours and then have nothing to say other a few trivial remarks? Don’t the trials and tribulations of the British Royal Family represent anything other to Señor Boyero than the ups and downs of any average family: we’re all the same wherever you go?
Then, I thought, perhaps I ought to be a little more understanding with this man. It might be that his lack of criticism of the Royal Family, whether it be the real Windsors or the Netflix invention, indicates his desire to celebrate a royal family unsullied by the financial corruption that has blackened the name of the Borbons and has severely reduced their popularity in Spain; however many problems and defects the British Royal Family might have, they are still a royal family in the old style, full of personal intrigue and somewhat old fashioned, but at the end of the day, an innocent institution and a fine repository for Spaniards who are looking for a trustworthy abode in which to place their monarchist sentiments, a substitute royal family, a foster royal family for Spanish monarchists who feel let down by the home side.
Because, whatever you say, you have to admit that the recent mishaps of the British Royal Family are not very serious in comparison with the extravagant deceitfulness of their Spanish colleagues.
Ingleses 