Prince Charles Candidly Reacts to His Portrayal on “The Crown”

So it turns out Prince Charles has watched The Crown after all!

The Prince of Wales candidly spoke of his portrayal on the hit Netflix show at an event in Edinburgh, Scotland, according to Anas Sarwar, leader of the Scottish Labour Party (and per The Mirror). And, according to the future king, his portrayal—chronicled so far in four seasons, with a fifth on the way later this year—is “nowhere near” who he really is.

At an event at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, held before the opening of Scottish Parliament, Sarwar says Charles led with a mention of The Crown’s inaccuracy. “There was a group of MSPs all standing, and he came over and went, ‘Hello, nice to meet you all,’ and he went, ‘I’m nowhere near how they portray me on Netflix.’ I thought that was a really interesting way of how you describe yourself.”

Heretofore Charles has been played by Josh O’Connor; going forward, he will be played by Dominic West. Charles has yet to publicly comment on The Crown, and his office at Clarence House refuses to comment on private conversations (of which this exchange was).

Charles isn’t the only member of the royal family to watch the show—so have Princess Eugenie, Prince Edward, and even the Queen herself. (Who could blame her? The show is all about her, after all.) Prince Harry, who alongside wife Meghan Markle signed a lucrative deal with Netflix to produce content, has also admitted to watching the show, but he says it’s more accurate than people think.

In an interview with James Corden, Harry says the show is “loosely based on the truth” and that the show doesn’t “pretend to be news. It’s fictional, but it’s loosely based on the truth. Of course, it’s not strictly accurate, but loosely, it gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that.” He added “I am way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family, or my wife, or myself.”

Now, thanks to Sarwar, we know that Charles watches, too. For his part, the politician jokingly added (according to PureWow) “I’m going to be in so much trouble for this, because I don’t think you are meant to tell private conversations!”