There's no denying that Queen Elizabeth II's legacy lives on.
The British monarch, who died Sept. 8, was honored with a funeral service Sept. 19 that captured the world's attention. Royal family members, international leaders and countless devoted subjects turned out for the service at Westminster Abbey, proving that the late queen will not be forgotten any time soon.
This isn't surprising, as Elizabeth was the longest-reigning British monarch after 70 years on the throne. And, over the course of those seven decades, the monarch witnessed everything from political strife and economic recessions to the rise of technology. So, it's no wonder that her long reign inspired Netflix's Emmy-winning series The Crown.
And while the period drama has given those outside The Firm a closer look at Queen Elizabeth's fascinating world, it is still a dramatic retelling of her life. Albeit, one of the late queen's grandsons, Prince Harry, admitted to some of its accuracies.
Last year, he told James Corden that the show gives viewers a "rough idea about" royal life, adding, "What that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that."
As we celebrate Queen Elizabeth's illustrious reign following her death, we're also figuring out what is fact and what is fiction on The Crown.
For instance, as depicted onscreen, there was an iconic First Lady of the United States that snubbed her nose at the queen's style and home (a.k.a the grand Buckingham Palace). But did it actually fuel a transatlantic feud? Oh, and have you ever wondered about the queen's very close friendship with Porchey (known as Henry Herbert the 7th Earl of Carnarvon to those outside the royal circle)? We've got the answer for you below.
The perfect nuptials portrayed in season one of The Crown wasn't entirely accurate. For starters, Prince Philip's mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, didn't show up to the wedding dressed as a nun. Instead, the princess, who later founded the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary, wore a silk gown to the royal event.
Additionally, Elizabeth had several wardrobe malfunctions, including a broken tiara, a forgotten pearl necklace and a missing bridal bouquet.
Elizabeth was indeed abroad in Kenya when her father, George VI, passed away in 1952 following a battle with lung cancer. While The Crown dramatizes the events of the King's passing, making it seem like the royal family were unaware how severe his illness was, it's true that Elizabeth was having the adventure of a lifetime when she became queen.
Elizabeth and Philip were staying at the famed Treetops Hotel when news broke of the King's death. According to The Guardian, Philip learned of the death from a reporter, and relayed the news to his wife later in the day. The Crown also accurately showed that a black dress had to be brought onto Elizabeth's plane in London, as she hadn't packed one for her trip.
All couples fight, even the Queen and Prince Philip.
In season one, Elizabeth and Philip, exhausted from their grueling royal tour of Australia, find themselves in a bickering match. Though this may seem like a dramatized conversation between the two royals, the pair actually fought on this tour. Per Fox News, royal expert Ingrid Seward detailed in her book, Prince Philip Revealed, "Their tempers were very frayed...This film crew was standing outside their little holiday villa. The next thing they knew, Prince Philip appeared on the balcony, followed by a tennis racket and a pair of tennis shoes thrown at his head. The queen came out and shouted at him to come back. She then grabbed [Philip] and dragged him back inside."
However, it wasn't Elizabeth who asked for the footage back. The royal press secretary did. Although, it's said the queen did thank the crew for their discretion.
Yes, Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend weren't free to wed when they first fell in love, but it wasn't Queen Elizabeth that stood in the way of their happy ending. In The Crown, the queen is forced to tell her sister that if she marries the divorced Group Captain, she'd no longer be a member of the royal family.
However, per the BBC, papers made available by the National Archives show that Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden drafted a plan which allowed Princess Margaret to marry Townsend while also keeping her royal title and duties. The only requirement? She had to relinquish her succession rights.
Sadly, after having to wait so long to marry, the romance ran its course and the Princess and the Group Captain went their separate ways.
Prince Philip wasn't the only man in Queen Elizabeth's life.
We're, of course, referring to Henry Herbert, who was given the nickname Porchey having grown up with the courtesy title Lord Porchester, as he was the heir to the Earl of Carnarvon title. (Fun fact: Porchey lived at Highclere Castle, which is now known for being the main estate in Downton Abbey.)
In The Crown, the queen and Porchey have a long lasting friendship thanks to their shared love of horses and the countryside. While Philip's jealousy of Porchey is unfounded in The Crown, as Elizabeth only ever had eyes for her husband, the show correctly depicted how close the queen and earl were.
"It was a very equal friendship ranging over many interests," Porchey's son George Herbert told The Telegraph. "They were from the same generation. They had been through the war. They shared a great love of the countryside and wildlife as well as horses. Whether they were walking at Sandringham, Highclere or in Scotland, it was always a great obsession."
Did Jackie Kennedy really insult the queen? The short answer: Sort of.
Season two of The Crown depicted the highly anticipated arrival of President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy. Though the queen and the first lady seemed to get along in their initial visit, Elizabeth later learned that Jackie badmouthed her and the palace, which she called "second-rate, dilapidated and sad."
While there's no proof that the first lady outright insulted the British monarch, author Carolyn Harris told NBC News "there is some evidence that Jacqueline Kennedy was critical of Buckingham Palace and the Queen." According to Harris, photographer Cecil Beaton said that Mrs. Kennedy was "unimpressed with the palace furnishings and the Queen's comparatively old-fashioned wardrobe and hairstyle."
Now did this rivalry inspire the queen to get involved with foreign policy (a.k.a dancing with President Nkrumah of Ghana)? Unlikely, as Harris added, "There is no evidence that the Queen traveled to Ghana in the aftermath of a rivalry."
Not visiting Aberfan sooner may be the queen's biggest regret.
Season three of The Crown took a closer look at the 1966 Aberfan disaster, which killed 116 children and 28 adults. And, as depicted in the show, the queen did wait eight days before visiting the disaster zone, as she didn't want to be a distraction to rescue workers.
Per biographer Sally Bechdel Smith, who wrote Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, the monarch said, "People will be looking after me. Perhaps they'll miss some poor child that might have been found under the wreckage."
One inaccuracy from this episode? The Crown suggests that the queen feigned her emotion when visiting Aberfan, choosing to break down privately at home. However, several eye-witnesses recall the queen getting teary-eyed at the tragedy site.
Jeff Edwards, a survivor of the disaster, said in a 2002 interview with the South Wales Echo, "When she did arrive she was visibly upset and the people of Aberfan appreciated her being here."
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Season three of The Crown showed Prince Philip, once again, pushing the royal family into the future by pitching the idea of a documentary. This royal family documentary did indeed happen for BBC and ITV in 1969, and was supposed to humanize the often untouchable British royals.
While the project was a success, with 40 million worldwide tuning in, critics felt the documentary contradicted the point of the monarchy: to be the embodiment of morality for the British people. And so, the queen locked the film away in 1970. Robert Lacey, a historical consultant for The Crown, told ABC's The Story of the Royals, "They realized that if they did something like that too often, they would cheapen themselves, letting the magic seep out."
No, the queen didn't have a heart-to-heart with Michael Fagan after he broke into Buckingham Palace for the second time. Season four of The Crown examined Fagan's infamous break and one scene stood out above the rest: Queen Elizabeth speaking with Fagan about the state of the country.
While it made for a good story, the in-depth conversation never happened. Fagan told The Independent, "She went past me and ran out of the room; her little bare feet running across the floor."
Seasons one through four of The Crown are available to stream on Netflix.