Netflix refuse to put a disclaimer on ‘The Crown’

Netflix bosses have refused to tag a disclaimer on The Crown, stating viewers are well aware it is “a work of fiction”.

Netflix bosses have refused to tag a disclaimer on The Crown, stating viewers are well aware it is “a work of fiction”.

The streaming giant gave the thumbs down to any notion of specifying that - while the plot is based on the real-life UK royal family - some of its specific content wasn’t genuine.

After writing to the UK government’s culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, to reject the inclusion of a disclaimer, Netflix released a statement that 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.

“As a result, we have no plans – and see no need – to add a disclaimer.”

Emma Corrin and Josh O’Connor in The Crown. Picture: Supplied/Netflix

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Previously, UK MP Dowden praised the royal drama as a “beautifully produced work of fiction”, but said viewers could be in danger of mistaking it for fact without a warning at the beginning of each episode.

It comes amid concerns fictional scenes for the fourth series written by the The Crown’s creator Peter Morgan are doing damage to the monarchy because viewers believe they are true.

A friend of Prince Charles even referred to the portrayal of the Royal family as “sinister” and “highly sophisticated propaganda”.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, the Prince’s friend reportedly said: “It is quite sinister the way that Morgan is clearly using light entertainment to drive a very overt republican agenda and people just don’t see it.

“They have been lured in over the first few series until they can’t see how they are being manipulated.

“It is highly sophisticated propaganda.”

Prince and Princess of Wales watch Indonesian tribal dancers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 1989. Picture: Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP

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The fourth series of The Crown, which was released earlier this month, portrays Princess Diana’s eating disorder and Prince Charles’ affair with the then Camilla Parker Bowles.

As her marriage to the heir to the throne crumbles, Diana, played by Emma Corrin, is seen violently vomiting into a toilet on multiple occasions.

But some scenes - including the false suggestion that the affair between Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles continued throughout his marriage to Diana - have been invented.

Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, recently called for a disclaimer on the show.

He told ITV’s Lorraine: “I think 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’.”

He added: “I worry people do think that this is gospel and that’s unfair.”

Camilla Parker Bowles is played by Emerald Fennell. Picture: Netflix

Actress Helena Bonham Carter, who plays Princess Margaret in The Crown, has also said the show has “a moral responsibility” to say it is a drama.

“It is dramatised,” she said, according to the New York Post. “I do feel very strongly, because I think we have a moral responsibility to say, ‘Hang on, guys, this is not … it’s not a drama-doc, we’re making a drama.’ So they are two different entities.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission