'Rattled' Netflix postpones Harry and Meghan documentary amid The Crown controversy

The streaming service has decided to postpone its documentary series featuring the Duke and Duchess of Sussex until next year. 

Netflix will postpone the forthcoming Harry and Meghan documentary series until 2023, amid brewing controversy surrounding season 5 of The Crown.

Netflix will postpone the forthcoming Harry and Meghan documentary series until 2023, amid brewing controversy surrounding season 5 of The Crown.

The streaming service issued a statement earlier today after former British Prime Minister John Major, who is set to feature as a central character in the forthcoming series, slammed the drama as a 'barrel-load of malicious nonsense' and called for a boycott of the show.

Former British Prime MinisterJohn Major with Baroness Margaret Thatcher in London, 1994.

Major's grievances with the drama revolve around reports that an episode, titled 'Queen Victoria Syndrome', will reportedly feature an imagined conversation where Charles lobbies Major in an attempt to oust his mother from the throne. 

The episode is based on a 1991 poll that ran in the Sunday Times that questioned the relevance of the monarchy. It reportedly features a scene where Charles (played generously by Dominic West) agreeing with the passage "an ageing monarch, too long on the throne whose remoteness from the modern world has led people to grow tired not just of her but of the monarchy itself.”

Major maintains that no such conversation happened.

Prince Charles played by Dominic West for Netflix series, The Crown. Source: Netflix

"The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events,” a spokesperson for Netflix said. 

"Series five is a fictional dramatisation, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors during a significant decade for the Royal Family - one that has already been scrutinised and well-documented by journalists, biographers and historians."

Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown season 5. Picture: Netflix

The penultimate season will take place in the 1990s, tracking the period around the breakdown of King Charles and Princess Diana's marriage; Princess Anne's divorce; and the fire at Windsor Castle. 

The untitled Harry and Meghan documentary series, a collaboration between Netflix and Archwell Productions, did not cement an official broadcast date. However, as Deadline notes, Netflix officials have stated several times this year that they wanted to run the documentary a few weeks after the November 9 debut of The Crown.

“They’re rattled at Netflix, and they blinked first and decided to postpone the documentary,” a source told Deadline.

In a statement released on Monday, Netflix said "Netflix said Monday that ”there’s never been any documentary from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed.”