Controversial ‘Crown’ episode explores male Royal Family member’s bisexuality

Netflix series The Crown is the ultimate “behind the red velvet rope” ride, taking viewers inside the most intimate experiences of the historically private British Royal Family.

One of the plotlines of season two follows the love life of Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby), younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy).

Margaret takes up with a man named Antony Armstrong-Jones (Matthew Goode), who would later be known as Lord Snowdon when the couple wed in a lavish ceremony.

The Crown does not shy away from the numerous rumors that Armstrong-Jones had affairs with both men and women, and even goes so far as to suggest that the Queen knew about it as early as the 1960’s.

Armstrong-Jones was an avant-garde photographer when he met Margaret, and their courtship was a sharp departure from a traditional royal one.

At one point in the episode, Margaret and the Queen discuss his sexuality:

“He’s maybe a bit like Cecil, in that he’s obviously queer. Though interestingly, Elizabeth [Cavendish] denies it,” Margret tells Elizabeth.

Later, Armstrong-Jones is seen in a postcoital bliss with his friends Jeremy and Camilla Fry.

In reality, Armstrong-Jones never came out publicly, though rumors swirled for decades.

He once said: “I didn’t fall in love with boys — but a few men have been in love with me.”