The Crown is perpetuating negative stereotypes about private schools, the head of an education group has said.
Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, suggested that the portrayal of elite schools attended by Royals in the Netflix series is damaging the public’s perception of the sector.
The new series six of the fictional show about the monarchy portrays Prince William and Prince Harry’s school days at Eton College, the £50,000-a-year boarding school in Windsor, Berkshire.
In series two of The Crown, King Charles is shown having an unhappy school experience at Gordonstoun near Elgin in Scotland.
One episode shows rain flooding in through a broken dormitory window, soaking the future King’s sheets as he lay shivering in bed.
Could be that Fritz – as all knew Peter Morgan – just didn’t like Downside and so disses all such schools. Or perhaps he really liked it, therefore all others are second and third rate?
Clearly, Harry Potter gives a much better impression of private schools.
In series two of The Crown, King Charles is shown having an unhappy school experience at Gordonstoun near Elgin in Scotland.
Charles was born with the gift of being unhappy anywhere. We all knew a boy like him at school, and – let’s be honest lads – probably bullied said boy for being a wimp.
Bit of artistic licence¹ there.
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1) Socialist lies
The son of one of my old neighbours went to Gordonstoun and later became a member of the SAS. I once asked him if “all the yomping around the Brecon Beacons clad only in smeared rabbit-fat, carrying a Bergen full of rocks” hadn’t been bloody awful… He said that “after Gordonstoun it was a piece of piss!”. 🙂
I think its generally considered that Gordonstoun in the 60s was pretty grim. But Eton in the 90s/early 00s? Private school were more 5* hotels by that point. Tom Brown’s Schooldays they were not.
Is this ghastly oik some sort of Wykehamist ?
Gordonstoun in the 60s was pretty grim
But the royal cherry brandy ration made up for any slight grimness.
In my year at Downside……strangely, the Harris brother he used in The Crown was the one in the year ahead, not the one we both new better in our year.
“probably bullied said boy for being a wimp”
I never bullied anyone at school. What would be the point? I was a big, strong lad and had a big, even stronger brother with a short fuse. Anyone who meddled with us would have been an idiot.
My only real interest in bullying was trying to stop it when I saw someone doing it. Twice I had to throw a punch: otherwise a bark was usually enough. I don’t want a medal for it; I just hate and despise bullying. Maybe that’s why I’m so anti-socialist.
They say ‘Downside is the Catholic Eton ‘when in actual fact ‘Eton is the Protestant Downside’