It sure seems real, sumptuously produced and beautifully acted. But how much truth? How much fiction?

Season 2 of the successful Netflix series The Crown that premieres Friday, December 8,  kicks off with a taboo subject: the rumored infidelity of the British monarch’s husband, Prince Philip, with a fictional ballet dancer (which is based on rumors at the time of an affair with the actress Pat Kirkwood.)

At the same time, some biographers like Sarah Bradford in her book Queen Elizabeth II: Her Life in Our Times, present his infidelity as a fact, adding that she talked with two women who had been romantically involved with the royal consort.

The answer about how close is The Crown to the real life of the British royals, though, is very nuanced. After all, throughout its history the royal family has become quite adept at keeping secrets.

“The series is incredibly accurate and true to the history,” Robert Lacey, a historical biographer and consultant for the series who just published his new book, The Crown: The Official Companion, Volume 1: Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill and the Making of a Young Queen (1947-1955), told royal correspondent Tom Sykes. “If you go into the Left Bank offices—Left Bank being the company producing the series for Netflix—the first thing you see is a huge newsroom with eight full-time researchers working away, and that’s just the start, the raw material.” | Read More at : The Crown, Season 2: How True Is It?