The Crown's Most Horrifying True Event Is Worse Than You Think

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Netflix's The Crown has covered many of history's most shocking events, including The Great Smog of London, but the horrors unfolding under the 1950s London fog were far bleaker in real life. Across its four seasons to date, The Crown has garnered widespread critical acclaim by depicting major historical events with poise and accuracy. Yet despite its reputation, The Crown barely scratched the surface of London's Great Smog, and there are multiple horrifying reasons why its true events are not common knowledge.

In The Crown season 1, the city of London is plunged into a dark cloud of sooty smoke known as The Great Smog of 1952. This unbreathable smog was caused by a sudden drop in temperature trapping pollutants in the air, which formed a thick layer, suffocating London for five days and claiming at least 4000 lives according to the Met Office. The horror and extreme death toll of this tragedy depicted in The Crown sparked discussion in 2016 as to why The Great Smog was not better known in contemporary culture at the time, uncovering horrifying facts regarding 1950s London.

Related: The Crown Season 3 True Story: What Netflix's Show Changed (& Ignored)

In short, the Great Smog was downplayed in London largely thanks to an active serial killer at the time. John Reginald Christie, a Notting Hill resident, was one of the UK's most prolific serial killers, killing at least eight women between 1943 and 1953. According to Radio Times, Christie, who hid the bodies of his victims in the walls of his home and under the floorboards of his home, was finally arrested and sentenced to death in 1953 — gripping the public's attention. In addition, the prime minister at the time, Winston Churchill, sought to downplay the Great Smog and