We already said it according to the trailer that this season 5 of ‘The Crown’ was waking up, before its premiere, too many counter reactions from personalities. Something that already happened during the previous season, with government requests and critical voices even from the cast (Helena Bonham-Carter, himself).
Although Netflix decided not to act on it, this time it has been forced to clarify that ‘The Crown’ is fiction, a dramatization of the story of Elizabeth II. This has been done by changing, for the first time, the description of the trailer to add this clarification. Specifically, in the Spanish version (from Spain), it reads:
“This fact-based series dramatizes the story of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the political and personal events that shaped her reign.”
A clarification that comes after a few hot weeks with various personalities both from the world of politics and acting angry at the creative licenses that Peter Morgan’s team was taking with this biopic of the queen, which faces its penultimate season.
The most controversial seasons
Some seasons, this and the sixth, which are also those of the most turbulent period of the British royal family in the 20th century and that include fires, divorces, controversial memoirs and, in addition, the tragic death of Lady Di. An accident that we will see in season 6 and that will happen “off camera” as they say from the platform.
With so much controversy at this time it is normal that we have so much backlashas the Anglo-Saxons say. The last to raise her voice was Judi Dench, who joined the anger of former Prime Minister John Major (who will appear in the series played by Johnny Lee Miller), scandalized by a plot that implicates him in a conspiracy to force the queen to abdicate so that the throne jumps to Carlos III (Dominic West).
“Sir John Major is not alone in his concerns (…). In fact, the closer the drama gets to the present times, the freer they seem to want to blur the lines between historical accuracy and crude sensationalism. (…)
Given some of the hurtful suggestions this new season apparently contains — that King Charles plotted to have his mother abdicate, for example, or that he once suggested that her upbringing had been so poor that she might deserve a jail sentence — they are so cruelly unfair to individuals and harm the institution they represent.”
Major, in fact, called for the boycott:
«All individual conversations [entre la reina y el primer ministro] you see on the screen are fiction and some scenes have been created from scratch for commercial and dramatic purposes regardless of the truth. People should boycott it.”
Netflix, which has already avoided having to clarify that a fiction series is, well, fiction, had to make a statement about it just a few days ago:
“Season 5 is a fictionalized dramatization, imagining what would have happened behind closed doors during an important decade for the royal family, one that has been scrutinized and well-documented by journalists, biographers and historians.”
But this has not been enough with Netflix finally giving in to requests to include this disclaimer. What we are not clear about is if this will also be included in the new chapters, which will arrive in block on November 9.