Eating Disorders: The Crown, Season 4
Photo: IMDB
Spoilers below (sort of!)
Netflix’s The Crown features Queen Elizabeth II of England, covering several decades of her life thus far. As a South Asian-American whose grandparents (and many previous generations) lived under British colonial rule, I must admit I feared this series would do nothing but glorify the brutality of colonialism. However, starting with the first season, I was pleasantly surprised by its nuanced approach to history and politics - and its strong focus on psychological themes and family dynamics! In Season 4, we are introduced to Diana Spencer, who will go on to marry Elizabeth’s son, Charles, and become known as the much beloved Lady Diana. The real life Lady Di was open about her mental health struggles, including bulimia (hence my odd spoiler alert - it’s only a spoiler if you are new to this history!), and this Journal post will focus on how her eating disorder is depicted in Season 4.
Eating disorders involve severe disturbances in eating behavior and a preoccupation with body shape and size. Furthermore, eating disorders are the deadliest of all mental illnesses - in particular anorexia, which involves severe caloric restriction for the sole purpose of altering one’s appearance; beyond psychological effects, eating disorders have many serious physical health consequences as well. While body image is a central focus of eating disorders, the underlying causes involve much more than food and weight. People who develop eating disorders often feel they lack control in key areas of their lives, and thus seek control through disordered behavior and mindsets. There’s often struggles with emotional pain and low self worth, similar to many other mental illnesses. Societal standards of beauty and a widespread tendency to casually reinforce disordered mindsets also contribute to these disorders - think of how common it is in our society to say things like: “Did you lose weight? You look so great!” Finally, similar to any illness, there are biological and genetic contributors as well.
As Diana herself has stated, she experienced a specific type of eating disorder known as bulimia, which involves binge episodes (eating large quantities of food in one sitting, often accompanied by feeling out of control) and subsequent purging via self induced vomiting, use of laxatives, or over-exercising (eg. exercising excessively, including when sick or injured). We first see this behavior in Season 4, Episode 3: Charles proposes to Diana and she moves into the palace prior to their wedding, in order to avoid the intense media coverage that has already begun, and to become accustomed to royal traditions. We see the contrast of her carefree life sharing a flat with close friends, to a life of isolation, loneliness, and feeling out of place once she moves into Buckingham Palace. Combined with her knowledge of Charles’s affair with Camilla Parker-Bowles, and feeling alienated and shunned by him, all of this appears to be much too daunting for this young 19-year-old. We see two separate incidents of binge and purge behavior in Ep 3, which are quite graphically depicted. In Episode 6, we again see Diana yearning to be heard, understood, appreciated - and when this fails to happen, we witness another binge/purge episode (this time, poorly juxtaposed with a Māori ceremonial dance).
There are some aspects of Diana’s bulimic episodes that are portrayed very well, for example illustrating the complex triggers for eating disorders, rather than a surface level focus purely on body image, as is often the case in many media depictions of these issues. Netflix worked with a UK based organization, BEAT, to help guide how they portrayed Diana’s bulimia, and they very intentionally did not glamorize eating disorders. Emma Corrin, the actress who plays Diana in Season 4, has spoken about wanting to be honest and transparent about Diana’s history - which I firmly believe is important for raising awareness and reducing stigma. Indeed, Diana’s own openness about her struggles led to what’s called the ‘Diana Effect’: the number of individuals seeking help for bulimia in the UK more than doubled after Diana shared her history in the 1995 BBC interview I reference in the first paragraph. Eating disorders thrive in secrecy, perhaps more so than other disorders, so clearly depicting all that they involve can be very powerful in reducing shame and stigma.
On the other hand, some have felt the depiction is too triggering for those in recovery, as well as too instructive - that is, it could provide a ‘how-to guide’ for others dealing with bulimia. To avoid this risk, psychologists and other experts recommend that media portrayals focus not only on symptoms and behaviors but also on recovery, treatment, and hope. Unfortunately, Season 4 doesn’t cover much of the latter. In Episode 9, we see Diana very briefly talking with someone who appears to be a therapist - but there is no backstory around how, when, and why she seeks treatment. In Episode 10, we see her in the bathroom about to purge after a heated conflict with Charles - which is already a questionable portrayal, since purge episodes almost exclusively follow a binge, and in this scene there doesn’t appear to be any preceding binge - but ultimately she stops herself and does not purge. Are we meant to assume this is the end of her bulimia? It’s unclear where Diana is in the trajectory of her illness by the end of the season. Only focusing on the binge/purge episodes, then, appears to somewhat sensationalize her disorder, rather than place it within a full arc of distress, trigger, symptoms, treatment, and recovery. Doing so would also allow for fuller character development - something The Crown usually excels in, but, in my opinion, failed to do for Diana (and Charles) this season, as well as a more honest depiction of her story. Perhaps we’ll get more in the next season!
In the end, I do recommend watching this season (and all others!) of The Crown, and gauging your reactions for yourself. Overall, it’s thrilling that media productions aren’t shying away from depicting eating disorders. I sincerely hope more productions take on this topic, especially those with diverse casts; there’s a misconception about eating disorders known as the SWAG myth: that they only impact ‘skinny, white, affluent, girls’. This, of course, is false - people of all genders, including men, experience these disorders, as well as people from all backgrounds. But, as this study illustrates, due to this myth many people not in the SWAG category can be misdiagnosed or overlooked by clinicians who fall prey to this myth, or may fail to seek treatment due to their own lack of awareness - hence the importance of telling diverse stories around eating disorders. As we know from the Diana Effect, shedding light on something as stigmatized and deadly as eating disorders is often a powerful driver for others to help themselves and their loved ones. Plus, when done properly, audiences seem more than ready for this type of intensely compelling content.
** Two suggestions for this production, and others that aim to address similar issues: Firstly, while it’s excellent that Emma Corrin took such initiative to portray Diana’s mental health struggles - including advocating for the bulimia storyline to be prominently featured in the script and working with a ‘movement coach’ around its portrayal, decisions about psychological content should happen very intentionally, responsibly, and carefully by the whole production team. Guidance should be sought from professionals about the full arc, from disorder to treatment (in this case, just one or two additional lines for context during Diana’s therapy scene could have sufficed), and having psych experts on set would likely provide stronger guidance than a movement coach alone. How mental health is portrayed on screen not only impacts the quality of the production, it can also have serious ramifications on viewers’ health and wellness. Secondly, while it’s commendable that Netflix sought consultation from BEAT and even created a resource page, linking this type of collaborative content within the series or as ‘video extras’ would be highly recommended in order to provide additional resources and context around a very sensitive, vulnerable topic.
Some additional resources:
Art can be a powerful mode of treatment for eating disorders; the Renfrew Center has an excellent art therapy program. I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with the Renfrew Center and their art therapist (referenced in the article below) on art shows - their work and the patients’ stories are truly inspiring.
Former Renfrew Center patients discuss recovery via art therapy // WHYY
Reconnecting with Art Therapy: Artwork by Alum Maia C. // Renfrew Center
