A New Year's Song for Peter Morgan ("The Crown"); PR for Humane Deeds

My 2017 LinkedIn article on The Crown, Season 1, posited that the show's creators (director Stephen Daldry and writer Peter Morgan) had missed a PR opportunity when it reduced Prince Philip’s Mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg (Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark) to an ex-mental patient who showed up in a nun’s habit at Prince Philip’s wedding to Princess Elizabeth. In doing so, the show’s creators had failed to reveal the Princess’ heroism in Nazi-occupied Greece during World War II, when she hid the widow and two children of Haimiki Cohen, a Greek Jewish parliamentarian. The Princess’ actions reflected well on Philip’s family, in contrast to those of his two sisters, who married Nazis and lived in Germany during wartime.

Well here we are in Season 3, with another PR opportunity missed. Princess Alice is back, long enough to escape the revolution in Greece and be spirited back to Buckingham Palace. Alice makes front page news after a journalist seeking an interview with another of the Royals stumbles onto her, in full nun’s garb, exploring the palace. He writes a glowing portrait of her, one empathetic to the Princess, given the abusive treatment to which she was subjected in an asylum. Here, too, the Crown’s script bypasses her heroism in saving Jews from the Nazis, when the journalist character could have at least touched on her bravery—but no, it didn’t happen. Nor did either episode mention that Alice was posthumously designated a “righteous gentile” by Yad Vashem, that Prince Philip had gone to a ceremony there that honored her, that Prince Charles had visited his grandmother’s grave in Jerusalem, and that both had said positive things about her.

Apparently, writer Peter Morgan’s father was a Jewish refugee from Nazi persecution, which makes it even more curious that he would not mention Alice’s bravery in saving a Jewish family from deportation and, probably, death.

Perhaps it was because of the “I” word—you know, the “I” word. The place that a French politician/minister who shall go nameless had famously (or infamously) called “that s----y (expletive) little country.” The “I” was mentioned in Season 2 of The Crown. There was no getting around it, if the show wanted to align with history.

But wait—we are only up to Season Three of The Crown. So let’s be fair to Mr. Morgan and the rest of the creative geniuses behind what is, overall, a brilliantly written, brilliantly executed, and brilliantly acted show.

It’s only the 1970s in Season 3, and it’s taken this long to acknowledge the existence of Wales (wonderful, warm, welcoming Wales), in the two episodes dealing with the Aberfan tragedy and Welsh nationalism. So there is hope that Princess Alice’s rescue of the Cohens might yet come to light. If we can project to the controversial in upcoming seasons:

           Season 4: Northern Island, the IRA, and a Customs-less border (stay tuned to Brexit to see how that one plays out).

           Season 5: Strikes, the clamoring unemployed, and the push to relocate major corporations, including the BBC, in the North.

           Season 6: Scottish independence (Nicola Sturgeon and the looming possibility of another SNP referendum), Scotland possibly pulling out of the UK and aligning with Europe.

           Season 7: Diversity in and out of the palaces

           Season 8: The award to Princess Alice at Yad Vashem, perhaps?

We’re on the heels of the eighth night of Chanukah, and we can always hope for a miracle, n’est pas? Something to look forward to in the New Year? Let’s hope.

Given that I don’t know or have any clout with Peter Morgan, and he is unlikely to read my letters, I might more likely reach him via song, so here goes:

(To the tune of “If I Were a Rich Man”)

Dearest Peter Morgan, yada dada dada yada dada dada dada da,

For three years I’ve wondered why you’ve not

Talked about the Cohens of Greece (OH)

You wouldn’t have to work hard, yada dada dada yada dada dada dada da

Just let Alice Battenberg reveal what she did to save their lives (BOM)

You wouldn’t lose an Emmy or a Golden Globe or any other coveted award

There’s a story true to history, waiting to be told right now (BOM)

Now’s the time to tell it, with the hatred that is taking place throughout the Western world

Please don’t sweep it underneath the rug, yada dada dada yada (BOM)

A story of true bravery, not insanity or off-the-charts misplaced religious zeal

Alice did her son Prince Philip proud, yada dada dada da (BOM)

Tell a tale of kindness, not of scandal or backbiting politicians’ race to rule, 

Why showcase some real perverted creep

When her honors Alice’s heirs do reap

Would it foil some major ratings sweep

If you’d mention Yad Vashem (yada dada dada yada dada dada dada BOM BOM BOM!)

Oh, Mr. Morgan, I forgot to mention that on December 18, The Telegraph reported that Prince Charles will visit the “I” place (The Telegraph actually published its full name) in January for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.