Netflix declines to add disclaimer to The Crown despite British outcry
- UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden had asked the company to remind viewers that the drama production about the royal family is a work of fiction
- The show is facing criticism over its current season, which features figures like the late Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana
Netflix has “no plans” to add a disclaimer to The Crown stating that its lavish drama about Britain’s royal family is a work of fiction.
In a statement on Saturday, Netflix said it has always presented the drama, as just that – a drama.
“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,” it said.
“As a result we have no plans – and see no need – to add a disclaimer.”
Netflix was urged last week by British Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to add the disclaimer, in the wake of the broadcast of the drama’s fourth series.
Questions of historical fidelity were not a major issue during earlier seasons of the show, which debuted in 2016 and traces the long reign of Queen Elizabeth, which began in 1952.
But the current fourth season is set in the 1980s, a divisive decade in Britain. Characters include Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whose 11-year tenure transformed and divided Britain, and the late Princess Diana, whose death in a car crash in 1997 transfixed the nation and the world.
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Some Conservatives have criticised the programme’s depiction of Thatcher, played by Gillian Anderson. Britain’s first female prime minister, who died in 2013, is portrayed as clashing with Olivia Colman’s Elizabeth to an extent that some say is exaggerated.
The Crown creator Peter Morgan, whose work also includes recent-history dramas The Queen and Frost/Nixon, has defended his work, saying it is thoroughly researched and true in spirit.
Charles Spencer, Diana’s brother, was one who called on Netflix to add a disclaimer.
“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 told broadcaster ITV. “I worry people do think that this is gospel and that’s unfair.”
