The Crown | Season 5 Official Trailer | Netflix / Netflix adds disclaimer under The Crown's trailer for series five

Netflix adds disclaimer under The Crown's trailer for series five

Published

1 day ago

 

By Paul Glynn and Helen Bushby

Entertainment reporter

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63341010?at_campaign=64&at_custom3=BBC+News&at_custom4=8564F254-5134-11ED-A9DE-4879FC756850&at_custom2=facebook_page&at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_medium=custom7&fbclid=IwAR2AmG9xqFSZQwXCc5T2swzmKBqWYEBJ6rwyeSVlKYYqamSwpnAA8lgJvZk

 

Netflix has added a disclaimer to its marketing for The Crown, saying the show is a "fictional dramatisation", "inspired by real-life events".

 

It appears under the YouTube trailer for the upcoming series five and on the streaming site's title synopsis page.

 

Netflix told BBC News the show "has always been presented as a drama based on historical events".

 

Dame Judi Dench and ex-Prime Minister Sir John Major have raised concerns about the accuracy of the royal drama.

 

The description of the series says: "Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatisation tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign."

 

Similar language has been used in press statements before, but no previous trailers or synopsis descriptions have carried the word "fictional".

 

This week, Dame Judi became the latest high-profile figure to call for The Crown to have a disclaimer at the start of each episode, to make clear the series is not necessarily true.

 

The actress, who is close to King Charles and the Queen Consort, said Netflix "seems willing to blur the lines between historical accuracy and crude sensationalism".

 

She added there was a risk that "a significant number of viewers" would take its events as historical truth.

 

The Oscar winner, who has portrayed Queen Victoria on screen, said suggestions expected to be made in the new series were "cruelly unjust to the individuals and damaging to the institution they represent", especially coming so soon after the death of the Queen.

 

'Scrutinised and well documented'

Netflix has defended The Crown, saying series five is "a fictional dramatisation, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors during a significant decade for the royal family - one that has already been scrutinised and well documented by journalists, biographers and historians."

 

The trailer for the new series, which airs on 9 November, was released on Thursday. It suggests the series will focus heavily on Diana, Princess of Wales, and the fallout as she and Prince Charles, as he was then, prepare to divorce.

 

It includes a recreation of Princess Diana's 1995 interview with Martin Bashir. The real footage will not be shown on the BBC again after an inquiry found "deceitful" means were used to obtain it.

 

Diana, played by Elizabeth Debicki, is seen telling Bashir, portrayed by Prasanna Puwanarajah: "I won't go quietly, I'll battle until the end." In real life, Princess Diana did not say that in the interview.

 

Netflix defends The Crown after John Major rebuke

Dame Judi's comments followed concerns by former prime minister Sir John Major, who said an upcoming scene that is said to include a conversation between him and Prince Charles, as he was then, about the Queen abdicating, was "a barrel-load of malicious nonsense"