Netflix’s new season release of its hit series, The Crown, the historical drama depicting the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II, is coming under scrutiny after hitting the streaming platform barely two months after the Queen’s passing.
The show is both beloved and infamous for its over-dramatised portrayal of the royal family and, after delaying its fifth season in early September, criticism has emerged over Netflix’s decision to air the show so soon after the death of the monarch.
It is hardly surprising for audiences around the globe to be highly sensitive towards anything to do with portraying Queen Elizabeth on TV. However, this feeling is only exacerbated by the nature of the show itself because it often paints the royal family’s many controversies throughout the years in a far-from-perfect light.
Throughout its runtime of over six years, members of the royal family, as well as those who surround them, have expressed their discontent with how the TV show has been handled.
Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Charles Spencer, said: “The worry for me is that people see a program like that, and they forget that it is fiction.” and “You can hang it on fact, but the bits in between are not fact.”
There are several instances of events in the show which have no real-world evidence to support them, of which some include: Princess Diana’s marriage being opposed by Princess Margaret, the latter’s coveting of the crown, Charles and Camilla’s affair during the Prince’s relationship with Diana, or even that former PM Margaret Thatcher begged Queen Elizabeth to dissolve Parliament.
Peter Morgan, the creator of the award-winning show, has been dismissive of criticism regarding his depiction of the royals.
He said: “You sometimes have to forsake accuracy, but you must never forsake the truth.”
His critics have not welcomed his statement.
Andre Marr, a famous LBC broadcaster, gave a piece of his mind to the Daily Mail, accusing the show of being ‘grossly unfair and sadistic’.
He added: “If they announced, ‘this is drama, it’s fiction, it’s entertainment’, you would say it’s brilliant.”
It does not seem that the show’s critics have a problem with the show’s existence per se, instead, it seems it would suffice if Netflix included a disclaimer before each of its episodes as well as changing its official genre from “historical drama” to “fictional drama”—although the streaming service has announced it had no plans of doing so.
A spokesperson for Netflix said: “We have always presented ‘The Crown’ as a drama — and we have every confidence our members understand it’s a work of fiction that’s broadly based on historical events.”
The problem lies in the fact that despite being aware that some of the events in the show are either over-dramatised or outright fictional, it is still hard to distinguish what is and what is not, leading to misconceptions about certain events in the show.
In a letter to the Times, the beloved actress, Dame Judi Dench, said: “[Netflix] seems willing to blur the lines between historical accuracy and crude sensationalism.”
Is it the case that the new season of the show has been released prematurely, disrespecting the mourning of the British people, or does the need to highlight certain flaws within the elites outweigh this?
The answer, most likely, is neither.
It is hard to believe Netflix would not have thought it would get massive backlash given the sensibility around the Queen’s passing. However, the eventual decision to release it regardless has, most likely, nothing to do with a lack of respect, but rather with the market forces surrounding its release.
There is little secrecy surrounding Netflix’s financial situation over the past few years. The streaming service came out of the pandemic on top of the world while people were unable to leave their homes. It quickly lost much of its glory, plummeting in the share market, prompting wide-reaching changes within the company.
Its original content is known to be a hit or miss and, thus, relies on the shows that top the charts to remain afloat in an increasingly competitive market.
Keeping a fully produced season of the show which propelled the streaming service’s market share past the $100 billion mark for the first time ever would simply be too bad of a business decision.
It stands to reason, then, that Netflix probably had to release the new season, despite not necessarily wanting to do this soon after the passing of the Queen—although, of course, when the right time to do so would be is a question perhaps even harder to answer.
That said, the argument that the need to hold the elites to account overrides a claim for respect is also flawed. There is no shortage of documentaries, movies and TV Shows about the monarchy, its conspiracies, depravities, and achievements through the years.