The Crown’s royal advisor hits back at ‘obsessive’ fans amid complaints over mistakes in season 4
THE Crown's royal advisor has hit back at obsessive fans amid complaints over mistakes made in season 4.
Major David Rankin-Hunt, who worked for the Royal Family for 33 years, was hired to guide producers on everything from salutes to outfits.
The latest season has been the subject of much furore not only among the Royal Family and MPs but also with viewers, who pointed out several blunders.
These included a "sloppy" salute from the Queen and Prince Philip shooting pheasant in August, which would be out of season for the bird.
Speaking on The Crown's official podcast, Major Rankin-Hunt branded eagle-eyed fans as "anoraks" and explained that they motivated him to stop any historical inaccuracies.
Explaining how he would do this, the former aide revealed that on one occasion he asked Josh O'Connor, who plays Prince Charles, to tuck in the pocket flaps of his suit jacket like the real Prince of Wales does.
Major Rankin-Hunt said: "I felt it was my job to try and minimise the opportunities for people, the anoraks out there, to find something to criticise."
The former aide also added that the environment on set felt more realistic than his time working in Buckingham Palace.
He shared: "It was nice to be introduced to the real world.
"I don't mean that in a disparaging way of the Royal household but obviously it's an institution that is perhaps a tiny bit old-fashioned in some ways."
His comments come as a leading royal expert said the royals must be "kicking themselves" for not fact-checking one of the most popular dramas on Netflix.
ABC royal contributor Omid Scobie said The Crown was shaping the narrative of the Royal Family around the world.
"I always wondered why there wasn't more collaboration between the two," he told
"Those working on the show did reach out to the palace to see if there was an opportunity for fact-checking, but the answer was a firm no.
"But, now we've reached these key years, I wonder if any royals are kicking themselves for not taking advantage of that opportunity, because this narrative is being shaped for many around the world.
"They expect 25 million households to view this new season within its first four weeks. That's 25 million people who will have their opinion of the Royal Family shaped by this."
It comes as Diana's brother Earl Spencer took a swipe at The Crown for "lots of invention" as he said he is "passionate" about defending his sister's memory.
Speaking about the drama and how his sister has been portrayed on Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, the Earl says: "It is very hard, there is a lot of conjecture and a lot of invention, isn’t there?
"You can hang it on fact but the bits in between are not fact.”
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In The Crown, Diana's courtship, marriage and subsequent relationship struggles with husband Prince Charles play out, as well as her battle with bulimia.
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Discussing the show further, her brother tells Alan: "Actually, The Crown asked if they could film at Althorp and I said obviously not.
";The worry for me is that people see a programme like that and they forget that it is fiction."