Prince Charles believes he is ‘nowhere near’ his portrayal on The Crown, a senior politician revealed yesterday.
The next in line to the throne has never publicly commented on the Netflix series, which critics claim is full of inaccuracies.
But Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has revealed that Charles gave his opinion to MSPs when he attended the state opening of the Scottish Parliament last October.
Normal protocol is that politicians should not disclose what royals say to them.
However, speaking at an Edinburgh Fringe event, he said that when Charles met MSPs at a multi-faith ceremony in Edinburgh before the state opening, ‘he came over and went, ‘Hello, nice to meet you all. I’m nowhere near how they portray me on Netflix’.
Mr Sarwar added: ‘I thought that was a really interesting way of how you describe yourself.’ He then told the audience at the Gilded Balloon: ‘I’m going to be in so much trouble for this because I don’t think you are meant to tell private conversations!’ Clarence House declined to comment.
Critics have said The Crown’s account of the breakdown of Prince Charles’s marriage to Diana is ‘distorted and at times downright inaccurate’ during its fourth series and that viewers were misled into believing its fictionalised account of events.
Prince Charles believes that he is ‘nowhere near’ his portrayal on The Crown. Pictured: Actor Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles and Emma Corrin as Princess Diana in season four
Despite reports of concerns within Buckingham Palace about the portrayal of events, Prince Charles has so far made no comment.
During yesterday’s event, Mr Sarwar also said that when they met at Holyrood, Prince Charles had joked about the politician’s previous job as a dentist.
Describing him as ‘very funny’, Mr Sarwar said: ‘So, Prince Charles is with the Queen [at the opening of parliament) and he says to me, ‘You’re the dentist’.
The Prince of Wales shared his opinions of the Netflix show to MSPs at the state opening of the Scottish Parliament last October. Pictured: Arriving at Parliament back in October with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
‘I said, ‘That’s right, happy to be of service any time’. And he goes, ‘Perhaps for the Duchess’ and pointed at her.’
Asked how she responded, he said she ‘just kind of grimaced’.
Asked about Mr Sarwar’s account of the Netflix exchange, a Clarence House spokesman said: ‘We don’t comment on private conversations.’
The Crown, one of Netflix’s most popular series, portrays the life of the Queen from her wedding in 1947 until the early 21st century.
During an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden last year, Prince Harry said he was comfortable with The Crown’s portrayal of the Royal Family, noting that while it is ‘not strictly accurate’, it does give a ‘rough idea’ of the pressures of being a Royal.
Meanwhile, Mr Sarwar condemned criticism he received from pro-independence supporters when he wished Pakistan a happy independence day on Sunday.
He said: ‘It does annoy me when people try and pretend that Scotland somehow was a victim of empire, when in fact Scotland was at the heart of empire… Regardless of your position on Scottish independence, let’s not pretend or conflate that Scotland was somehow colonised or was a victim.’