‘The Crown’: Netflix gives in to criticism and adds a “fiction” notice in season five

On November 9, Netflix premieres the fifth season of “The Crown”, which will be the penultimate installment of the series created by Peter Morgan. Since its premiere in 2016, the platform hasn’t stopped receiving criticism of the fiction of historical events and also several sectors prompted her to add a warning that it is a fictionincluding Buckingham Palace.

Just a few days ago she joined the critic Judi Dench, who insisted on the need to warn that the series is a “fantasy drama”. The actress, who has played Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth several times, does not like the portrait that “The Crown” does, as she writes in an open letter to The Times newspaper where she admits that, despite considering her “sparkling”is “an inaccurate and harmful account of history” which results in a “raw sensationalism”. Netflix had always refused to include any kind of warning. Until now.

With the premiere of the new season trailer of “The Crown”, Netflix added the warning provided in the description of the video on YouTube, where it says: “Inspired by true events, this fictional dramatization tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign”. None of the previous trailers included such an announcement.but they limited themselves to describing the events of the plot.

‘The Crown’ has been involved in the debate since 2020: is it closer to fiction or reality? To what extent are viewers aware that this is a drama based on true events? Prince William himself claimed that the series did not “no legitimacy and should not be reprinted”. Separately, a royal source, who preferred to remain anonymous, told The Telegraph viewers had to remember for the new season it was about “a drama, not a documentary”. The announcement in the trailer seems like the first step for Netflix to accept its defeat in front of the public, but we will have to wait until November 9 to see if they will also include it at the beginning of each episode.

Why right now?

In 2020, the UK culture secretary wrote to Netflix to ask that they add a “warning” to indicate that the series “fiction” before each episode, but the online content service responded via Variety they had always presented the series as a drama Y “We fully trust that our viewers understand that this is a work of fiction based largely on historical events”concluding that they had none “No plan nor do we see the need to add a notice”. What should Netflix sell?

In the trailer he gives us a glimpse of some of the thorniest moments of the British monarchy of the last century, with its reputation crisis and its numerous love scandals. Also, poses a tense conflict between Lady Diana, rebellion and freedom, and the queen herself, a pillar representing royalty and decorum. It is understandable that, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the producer prefers to wash her hands to avoid further criticism. If ever there was an opportune time for Netflix to put their heads down, this has been it.