As the digital news director for Town & Country, Caroline Hallemann covers everything from the British royal family to the latest episodes of Outlander, Killing Eve, and The Crown. The British Royal Family has long captured the interests and imaginations of the world, and the success of Netflix's original series The Crown proves that audiences everywhere are still enraptured and enthralled by royal intrigue. Generally speaking, the Queen is rarely emotional in public, instead maintaining a stereotypical British stiff upper lip. Episode three centers on the harrowing tale of a mining disaster that struck the Welsh village of Aberfan in 1966 and the Queen’s response to the crisis. But the question of just how faithful the series may be is one many of us continue to wonder about. Here's the real story behind the drama on screen. ". The tragedy of the 1966 Aberfan disaster has been brought into the public eye once again with the latest series of The Crown. But in Aberfan, she let her guard down, even crying a little. "It felt like she was with us from the beginning.". The Crown season three left viewers sobbing over the show’s heartbreaking depiction of the 1966 Aberfan disaster, which claimed the lives of 116 children and 28 adults. "We kept presenting the arguments," an advisor of the Queen's told her biographer Robert Lacey, "but nothing we said could persuade her.". The Crown season 3 depicts the heartbreaking scenes in the Welsh village of Aberfan following the 1966 disaster that claimed the lives of 116 children, Get our daily royal round-up direct to your inbox. Aberfan survivor “uneasy” with The Crown’s depiction of the Queen’s “callous” reaction to tragedy. On October 21, 1966, the students and teachers of Pantglas Junior School in Aberfan, a small village in Wales, were about to begin their lessons when disaster struck. Something went wrong, please try again later. In 2016, the Queen sent a personal message, delivered by Prince Charles, to the people of Aberfan to mark the 50th anniversary of the tragedy. This warm and intimate level of comfort was not reflected by the rest of the royals, but Prince Philip arrived on the the following day to visit the village, while for The Queen it was over a week later. Her brother-in-law Lord Snowdon, traveled there on his own as well. I think everyone involved in the production realizes what an awful tragedy Aberfan was.". Here's what really happened at the Aberfan disaster portrayed on The Crown, and how Queen Elizabeth II reportedly feels about her reaction years later. It was a prefect's badge, the only thing by which he had been able to identify his child...". Edwards told the BBC that he has been in touch with the show's production team, and that he also helped set up meetings for members of the community to discuss the show. It was one of the few occasions in which she shed tears in public," Sir William Heseltine, who served in the royal press office at the time, revealed in the documentary Elizabeth: Our Queen. The Crown is a brilliant tv show nevertless. According to Lacey, Lord Snowdon immediately rushed from London to Aberfan when news of the disaster spread. "We were still in shock, I remember the Queen walking through the mud," one woman told ITV reporter Penny Marshall. “There is a great element of cruelty … That said, the makers of The Crown gave themselves little choice but to use Aberfan as a storyline, having made the decision to feature the 1960s in … Ben Daniels portrays a highly emotional Lord Snowdon who races to Aberfan in the third episode of season 3, while the Queen is portrayed by Olivia Colman. “For the Queen to do what she did, to show sympathy in the way that she did with the people she had only just met, must’ve been very difficult," he said. While some viewers of The Crown praised the show for raising awareness of the Aberfan disaster, others criticised the period drama’s treatment of the tragedy. Upon his arrival, Armstrong-Jones immediately went to the Bethania chapel where around 50 shaken parents were waiting to identify the bodies of their children. The Crown The Crown viewers react to "harrowing" episode depicting Aberfan disaster The Crown season 3 tackles a national tragedy in its third episode Aberfan … Olivia Colman with the mayor in the crown, left (Netflix); the Queen with the Aberfan mayor in real life, right (Stan Meagher). editoriallinks id='0dafde79-bac5-4b8d-90a9-eb62d6fee8ee'][/editoriallinks], How The Stars of 'The Crown' Compare to Real Life, The Crown Season 4: Everything We Know So Far, This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. A colliery spoil tip, or a pile of waste material removed during mining, was overlaid atop a natural spring on a mountain slope in Aberfan. Lord Snowdon pictured with the Bishop of Llandaff during his visit to the Aberfan. Fairytale (Season 4, Episode 3) Fairytale starts on a happy note for everyone (except Charles, that is) … The third season of The Crown tackles a dark moment in the history of the United Kingdom: In 1966, a coal waste tip collapsed and slid into a school in the mining village of Aberfan in … This is a study of faith issues presented in the third episode season three of the Crown. Queen Elizabeth II visits Aberfan in South Wales on 29th October 1966. Aberfan is said to be the Queen's biggest regret. RELATED: Surprising star at the heart of The Crown In October 1966, the small mining village of Aberfan in south Wales became the site of one of Britain’s worst-ever disasters when heavy rain caused a colliery waste tip from a mine to collapse, causing thick sludge to … October 1966, Olivia Colman as The Queen visiting Aberfan in The Crown. According to Sally Bechdel Smith's biography, an advisor of the Queen's told her biographer Robert Lacey, Snowdon told WalesOnline in 2006, for a story about the 40th anniversary of the tragedy, one onlooker told the BBC about the film set, Queen Elizabeth's Hair Is Deceptively Complicated, First Photo of Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth. "When I heard the news of the disaster on the wireless I felt I should be there because I was Welsh and thought the Welsh should stick together. "If the Queen does regret not coming here straight away, I think that is misplaced," Jeff Edwards, who survived the disaster when he was eight years old, told the South Wales Echo in 2002. "People will be looking after me, she said according to Smith. Season 3 of 'The Crown' dropped on Netflix yesterday. Our. You can unsubscribe at any time. So I just got on a train and went straight down," Snowdon told WalesOnline in 2006, for a story about the 40th anniversary of the tragedy. In this episode, Prince Charles is invested with the title Prince of Wales. He wrote to Princess Margaret, "Darling, it was the most terrible thing I have ever seen.". "The queen realizes that many who watch The Crown take it as … From taxes to furlough to Universal Credit, here's what it means for you, Student shares 10 supermarket tricks that have saved him 'thousands' on food.