Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ must be called ‘fiction’, says UK Culture Minister – Fox News

The British Minister for Culture is adamant that the royal drama “The Crown” is a work of fiction.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told the Mail on Sunday that the hit Netflix series should include a warning amid criticism of the historic freedoms that have been taken on the real British royal family.

“It’s a beautifully produced work of fiction,” he told the outlet. “So like other TV productions, Netflix should be very clear at first, that’s just it. Without it, I fear that a generation of viewers who have not experienced these events will take fiction for fact.

Dowden is expected to write Netflix this week to express his views. The streaming service did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. However, a spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that it had previously been reported that “The Crown” is a drama based on real events.

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Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin star as Prince Charles and Princess Diana in ‘The Crown’.
(Netflix)

The show, which premiered in 2016, traces the long reign of Queen Elizabeth II, 94, which began in 1952. While “The Crown” has been dissected over the years for its dramatic performances of the Royal Family, Season 4 has sparked the most debate and headlines to date.

The current season, which takes place in the 1980s, focuses on the much-publicized marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, as well as the 11-year tenure of Tory Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which transformed and divided the Britain.

Diana died in 1997 at the age of 36 from injuries sustained in a car accident in Paris. Thatcher died in 2013 at the age of 87.

Charles and Diana’s troubled relationship, played by Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin, is a major storyline in the series. Former royal press secretary Dickie Arbiter called ‘The Crown’ ‘ax work’ on Charles, 72, who is heir to the British throne, as well as Diana.

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Gillian Anderson plays Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in “The Crown”.
(Netflix)

Arbiter also accused the series of “extending the drama license to the extreme,” The Hollywood Reporter reported.

Charles and Diana divorced in 1996, a year before his death. The prince remarried in 2005 to Camilla Parker Bowles, who is now the Duchess of Cornwall. The referee told the BBC that ‘The Crown’ has portrayed Charles and Camilla, 73, as ‘bad guys’.

Diana’s brother Charles Spencer also said the show is expected to carry a notice that “it’s not true but it’s based on actual events.

“I’m afraid people will think it’s the gospel and it’s unfair,” the 56-year-old told ITV.

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Emerald Fennell plays Camilla Parker Bowles in “The Crown”.
(Netflix)

Some Conservatives have also criticized Thatcher’s portrayal on the show, played by Gillian Anderson. Britain’s first female Prime Minister is described as being in conflict with Olivia Colman’s Elizabeth to an extent some say exaggerated.

“The Crown” creator Peter Morgan, whose work also includes recent history dramas “The Queen” and “Frost / Nixon,” defended his work, saying it was well-researched and true in it. mind.

In a 2017 discussion of “The Crown,” Morgan said, “Sometimes you have to give up accuracy, but you never have to give up on truth.

Steven Fielding, professor of political history at the University of Nottingham, said the suggestion that “the Crown” carried a disclaimer was “reasonable and yet unnecessary.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.