“The Crown” has not only been criticized since the fifth season. The creators of the Netflix series have been accused of missing warnings and the unsympathetic portrayal of characters for years. Actress Helena Bonham Carter is now calling for the format to end.
British actress Helena Bonham Carter played the late Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, in the third and fourth seasons of the British Netflix television series “The Crown” (since 2016). The sixth and final season is currently being filmed.
In an interview with The Guardian, Bonham said the series, which began with then-Princess Elizabeth marrying Prince Phillip in 1947, is no longer a “historical drama.” Therefore, she is of the opinion that she should not be continued. And she added: “I act in it and I loved my episodes, but it’s very different now. When ‘The Crown’ started it was historical drama and now it’s plunged into the present.”
The series is often the subject of heated debates. A controversy erupted last year when prominent figures criticized the portrayal of the characters in the previous season and called for a disclaimer to clarify that the series is fictional. Actress Dame Judi Dench wrote at the time that Netflix “seems poised to blur the lines between historical accuracy and gross sensationalism.” She said there was a risk that “a significant number of viewers” would take the drama series as historical fact.
Bonham Carter also requested a disclaimer and warnings from Netflix. The streaming service has a “moral responsibility” to let viewers know they’re not watching a documentary, they’re watching a drama. In the official podcast of the series in 2020, she said that there was an important difference between “our version” and the “real version”. “So there are two different units,” everything is “dramatized.” Series creator Peter Morgan’s research is “amazing,” she added. “It’s the right documentary. It’s great and then Peter switches things around and juggles with it.”
There has also been a long debate about whether the royals will watch the series “The Crown”. Earlier this month, while appearing on Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show, Queen’s grandson Prince Harry confirmed he’s seen her, both “the current material and the older material.” Harry had spoken to James Corden about the series back in 2021, explaining at the time, “It’s fictional. But it’s loosely based on truth. Of course, it’s not entirely accurate.”
A Netflix spokesman defended the new episodes, saying, “The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events.” He continued: “Season 5 is a fictional dramatization that envisions what might have happened behind closed doors during a pivotal decade for the royal family – one that has already been scrutinized by journalists, biographers and historians and… has been well documented.”
(This article was first published on Monday, January 30, 2023.)
