The Crown is 'cruelly unjust': Dame Judi Dench

The Oscar-winning actor has penned an open letter over her concerns the Netflix drama will present 'an inaccurate and hurtful account of history'.

The Oscar-winning actor has concerns the Netflix drama will present "an inaccurate and hurtful account of history."

Dame Judi Dench says Netflix's royal drama The Crown is "cruelly unjust", and has called on the streaming service to feature a disclaimer at the start of the program to say it is a "fictionalised drama."

In an open letter penned for The Times, the Oscar-winning actor criticised The Crown for "crude sensationalism" and expressed concern that the show will present "an inaccurate and hurtful account of history." The letter arrives after a series of complaints around the show's penultimate season.

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

Former Prime Minister John Major, who is set to feature as a central character in season 5, called the show a 'barrel-load of malicious nonsense' and called for a boycott. Following reports that the debut episode will feature an imagined conversation where Charles lobbies major in an attempt to oust his mother from throne. 

“Given some of the wounding suggestions apparently contained in the new series — that King Charles plotted for his mother to abdicate, for example, or once suggested his mother’s parenting was so deficient that she might have deserved a jail sentence — this is both cruelly unjust to the individuals and damaging to the institution they represent,” Dench wrote.

"The closer the drama comes to our present times, the more freely it seems willing to blur the lines between historical accuracy and crude sensationalism."

The stalwart actors' concern is that viewers may interpret the show's version of history as the definitive truth.

“Despite this week stating publicly that ‘The Crown’ has always been a ‘fictionalized drama,’ the program makers have resisted all calls for them to carry a disclaimer at the start of each episode," Dench continued.

"The time has come for Netflix to reconsider — for the sake of a family and a nation so recently bereaved, as a mark of respect to a sovereign who served her people so dutifully for 70 years, and to preserve their own reputation in the eyes of their British subscribers.”

Dominic West as Prince Charles in the upcoming fifth season of The Crown. Picture: Netflix

Dench, who has a close relationship with the Queen's consort, said she had not been prompted to write the letter. "No one is a greater believer in artistic freedom than I, but this cannot go unchallenged," she said.

On Monday, Netflix released a statement in defence of the show, emphasising that The Crown "has always been presented as a drama based on historical events," a spokesperson 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."

Australia's Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in season 5 of The Crown.

Season 5 will take place in the 1990s, covering the breakdown of King Charles and Princess Diana's marriage; Princess Anne's divorce; and the fire at Windsor Castle.

In a statement shared with The Sun on Monday, Netflix confirmed that the show will not recreate the fatal car crash that killed Princess Diana.

The Crown season 5 will premiere on November 9.