Fifth season of The Crown
Netflix references “fictional story”.
The family life of Charles, Diana and their children William and Harry will play a major role in the fifth season of “The Crown”.
© 2021 Netflix, Inc./Keith Bernstein
So far, Netflix has avoided labeling “The Crown” as a “fictional story.” This has now happened with the trailer for season five.
The Netflix series “The Crown” is highly praised, sometimes heavily criticized – and that’s from season one onwards. But the closer the events shown are to the present, the more voices are increasing that the streaming service should use a text panel to indicate that the creators have taken various artistic liberties in depicting the British royal family. At least in the case of the new trailer for the fifth seasonwhich will be available from November 9th, this has now happened.
The disclaimer on the German-language Netflix YouTube channel reads as follows: “This true-life drama series tells the fictional story of Queen Elizabeth II and portrays the political and personal ups and downs of her reign.” This sentence makes it clear in two respects that “The Crown” has no claim to 100% biographical truth.
Judi Dench demands even more
It will probably only be shown from November 9th whether the streaming service will also pack this notice before the respective episodes of season five. That’s exactly what lady Judi Dench (87) had shortly before demanded in an impassioned open letter. The portrayal of the British royal family in the TV show is “cruelly unfair,” says the actress. The Oscar winner also stressed that she supports artistic freedom, but urged Netflix to add an explanation to each episode. These are intended to alert viewers that the series is a fictionalized account of historical events.
So far, the decision-makers at Netflix had spoken out against such a notice. A little less than two years ago quoted “The Los Angeles Times” from a statement: “We have always presented ‘The Crown’ as a drama – and we are confident that our subscribers will understand that it is a work of fiction based largely on historical events. As a result, we have no plans – and see no need – add a hint.” At least with a view to the latest trailer, the said necessity seems to have been identified.
Will King Charles III. portrayed as an inhuman?
The reason for this should be primarily that “The Crown” with season five penetrates into the turbulent 90s not only for the royals. An era that is likely to be more present to many more people than the previous epochs shown. Dealing with Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki, 32) and her estrangement from her husband, the then Prince and now King Charles (Dominic West, 53), is considered particularly delicate.
The Telegraph has already reported, the palace is concerned about the potentially negative portrayal of Charles III. (73). Former Prime Minister John Major (79), who is embodied in the series by Jonny Lee Miller (49), also expressed criticism in this regard.
The biggest concern, however, is how the series will deal with the tragic death of Princess Diana, who died in a car accident in 1997 at just 36 years old. The alleged statement of a Netflix spokesman, quoted from The Sunonly partially clears up these worries: “The exact moment of the accident collision is not shown.”