Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Crown season 5!The Crown season 5 sets a dark tone with its sixth episode "Ipatiev House" by placing the British Royal family to blame for the brutal murder of the Romanovs, positing the query whether they could have been saved by King George V. As the last imperial family to rule Russia, the Romanovs stayed in power from 1894 until 1917 when Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate. Often criticized for its refusal to project a disclaimer on The Crown’s dramatized historical events, Netflix makes a dangerous fact and fiction coalescence for entertainment purposes, and the Romanovs massacre is unfortunately a chosen occurrence to receive this treatment.
Becoming a plot point emphasizing Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth’s distanced marriage and the Queen’s historic 1994 state visit to Moscow, Russia, the Romanovs' slaughter is a contentious conversation throughout The Crown season 5, episode 6. While The Crown's dialogues are often questionably non-evidenced and the sequencing of real-life events posit more in-depth research, the episode “Ipatiev House” showcases a true-enough account of the Romanovs’ quandary and gruesome fate. However, the Crown season 5 shrouds the flashback and episode 6's storylines in mystery and speculation to further the narrative but was later debunked by Imelda Staunton's Queen Elizabeth herself. So what exactly happened between the Royal family and the Romanovs?
What Really Happened With The Royal Family & The Romanovs?
Given that all of Europe's royalty are actually blood-related, thanks to the Mother of Europe, Queen Victoria, King George V (Queen Elizabeth's grandfather) and Tsar Nicholas II were first cousins (and close friends) during the most inopportune time: World War 1. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 overthrew the Imperial family and placed a Provisional Russian Government in their stead, the Romanovs (the Tsar, Tsarina Alexandra, their five children: Grand Duchesses Anastasia, Maria, Tatiana, Olga, and Tsarevich Alexei) were taken as prisoners in Ipatiev House, Yekaterinburg. With Russia wanting to get rid of the Romanovs, they inquired nations (particularly other royals) to take them off their hands under asylum.
Despite the British government agreeing to harbor the Romanovs, the offer was quickly retracted by the monarchy because of uprising fears like Russia, and also considering Tsarina Alexandra was German-born; a precarious position considering Britain was warring with Germany. When the Bolsheviks seized Russian power, they atrociously executed the Romanovs (and their servants) via firing squad which took approximately 25 minutes to finish because of the small basement space. After the deed was done, the family was later dragged into a mass grave, stripped of their finery, and showered with acid. Russia admitted to the crime only in 1926, and the bodies were found in 1991 and 2007.
Why The Crown Season 5 Flashes Back To The Ipatiev House Story
Netflix's The Crown season 5, episode 6 uses the flashback to further drive the plot and its drama. Focusing on the Queen's meeting with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, there is actually no evidence that the Queen and President Yeltsin negotiated on the proper burial of the Romanovs or that Jonathan Pryce's Prince Philip and the Queen were having marital incompatibilities at this point in their lives. So as to masterfully enmesh the 1990s conflicts leading to the British sovereign's Moscow-relations visit and explain Philip's preference of talking with Penny Romsey instead of his wife, a controversy is required to tie everything elegantly together, and The Crown season 5, episode 6's "Ipatiev House" does just that.
Although the British Royal family, in due part, had a hand in the Romanovs deaths, they weren't entirely at fault. Reportedly, Nicholas II was only en route to his family's location when the asylum call was made. And when he reunited with them, the offer was already rescinded. Hence, even if the British Royal family (or any other royals at that) proceeded to retrieve them, it was always inadvertently too late. And while The Crown and history persist to blame King George V's political interests, saving the Romanovs would've worsened the World War, ultimately affecting the nations involved.