'The Crown' Creator Peter Morgan Reveals Why He Skipped Prince Harry's Memoir

When Prince Harry's tell-all memoir, Spare, hit shelves in January, we were almost certain that The Crown creator Peter Morgan would be among the first to get his hands on a copy. After all, wouldn't he want all the hot royal goss for his show? So, you could imagine our surprise when Morgan revealed that he hadn't read a single word of it.

In an interview with Variety, the British playwright and screenwriter was asked if he'd read the Duke of Sussex's controversial book, which sold over 1.4 million copies on the first day of its official debut, according to a report released by Penguin Random House. Although the memoir could've provided plenty of inspiration for season six, Morgan revealed his decision to avoid the book and focus on his initial vision for the series.

He said, "I've not read a word of it. Not that I wouldn’t be interested. But I didn’t want his voice to inhabit my thinking too much. I’ve got a lot of sympathy with him, a lot of sympathy. But I didn’t want to read his book."

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Rather than diving into Harry's personal story—which would've likely influenced how the story unfolded on The Crown—Morgan said that he wanted to stick with the direct line of sucession, including Queen Elizabeth, King Charles and Prince William. This explains why fans haven't seen much of Harry in the series. Morgan said, “I do little bits of dramatization of Harry but mainly only in relationship to William.”

While the duke doesn't appear in the Emmy-winning series too often, he revealed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he actually watches The Crown. When asked if he also fact-checks the show, he said, "I do, actually. Which, by the way, is another reason why it’s so important that history has it right."

In another interview with James Corden, the prince also opened up about watching the series with his late grandmother. He said, "They don’t pretend to be news—it’s fictional, but it’s loosely based on the truth. It gives you a rough idea about what…the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else—what can come from that.”

Given how much time and research Morgan has put into the hit series, we can't say we're too surprised that The Crown has Prince Harry's stamp of approval.

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