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Minister demands that Netflix warn viewers that The Crown is ‘fiction’

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Updated on July 7, 2021

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Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has stated that he will write to Netflix and urge that a “health warning” be put at the beginning of each episode of The Crown to alert viewers that it is “fiction,” not reality.

Mr Dowden expressed his dissatisfaction with Netflix’s popular series depicting Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. The fourth season of The Crown caused controversy because of its depiction of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s relationship.

It also goes into Diana’s bulimia problems, which she discussed in her notorious Panorama interview in 1995.

‘It’s a beautifully produced work of fiction, so as with other TV productions, Netflix should be very clear at the beginning it is just that,’ he told The Mail on Sunday.

‘Without this, I fear a generation of viewers who did not live through these events may mistake fiction for fact.’

The fictionalized TV drama portrays Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, with actress Olivia Colman presently playing the queen. The most recent series has included cautions at the beginning of episodes depicting Diana’s bulimia, telling viewers that it may be “harmful” to watch, but critics have demanded that every single episode include a notice that what is being acted out is not necessarily the entire truth.

The fourth season of The Crown focuses on Princess Diana’s eating problem as well as Prince Charles’ rumored romance with Camilla Parker Bowles.

Controversy over fabricated scenes, particularly the erroneous notion that Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles’ romance persisted during his marriage to Diana, led the Princess’s brother to join demands for a disclaimer.

Earl Spencer told ITV’s Lorraine Kelly on Thursday that “it would help The Crown an enormous amount if, at the beginning of each episode, it stated that: ‘This isn’t true but it is based around some real events’”.

“Because then everyone would understand it’s drama for drama’s sake and obviously Netflix wants to make a lot of money, and that’s why people are in the business of making these things.”

“I worry people do think that this is gospel and that’s unfair,” he said.

Even Diana, played by Emma Corrin, has acknowledged that the show “has its roots in reality and in some fact,” but that “Peter Morgan’s scripts are works of fiction.”

I understand why people would be upset, because this is history… I do really understand,” the newcomer said on the Tamron Hall Show earlier this month.

Mr Dowden, whose official title is Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Secretary, is also under pressure to remove a “loophole” that forces British fans who wish to complain about The Crown to go to the Dutch TV regulator since Netflix is headquartered in the Netherlands.

The Crown has also been lauded for portraying the royals as “real people.” Others have pointed out that Charles and Diana’s adultery and marital difficulties have been widely documented, including in interviews they both gave.

Others are not persuaded by his reasoning. Sir Simon Jenkins labeled the program “fake history” in an op-ed headlined “The Crown’s fake history is as corrosive as fake news.”

“False history is reality hijacked as propaganda. As Morgan implies, his film may not be accurate, but his purpose is to share a deeper truth with his audience: that the royal family were beastly to Diana, and out to get her,” Sir Simon wrote.

“Will we next be told they really killed her?” he added

The Crown’s creator, writer Peter Morgan, has acknowledged that parts of the show’s scenes were “made up in my head.”