Judi Dench has criticized Netflix for not including a disclaimer to the favored sequence The Crown, which she claimed is “cruelly unjust” in its portrayal of the British Royal Family.
In an open letter to The Times UK, the Oscar-winning actress wrote that the “fictionalised drama” presents “an inaccurate and hurtful account of history.”
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The Crown follows the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September on the age of 96, having served 70 years on the throne. In the upcoming fifth season, the queen (now performed by Imelda Staunton) approaches the fortieth anniversary of her ascension to the throne amid troubling years for the Royal Family within the Nineties.
“Indeed, 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,” wrote Dench, 87.
While additionally praising the Netflix unique as “brilliant,” Dench echoed grievances made by former British Prime Minister John Major.
Major, represented as a personality on Season 5 of The Crown, advised The Mail on Sunday the sequence was “a barrel-load of malicious nonsense.”
“Sir John has not co-operated in any way with The Crown. Nor has he ever been approached by them to fact-check any script material in this or any other series,” learn an announcement from his workplace.
In the newest season of The Crown, Major (performed by Jonny Lee Miller), is seen speaking to Prince Charles (now King Charles) in regards to the queen probably abdicating.
“The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events,” responded a Netflix spokesperson. “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.”
In her open letter, Dench wrote that Major is “not alone in his concerns.”
“I concern {that a} important variety of viewers, notably abroad, might take (The Crown‘s) version of history as being wholly true,” she wrote.
Dench insisted there should be a disclaimer at the beginning of every episode, despite the streaming giant’s earlier claims that they haven’t any plan, and see no want, so as to add such a warning.
“No one is a greater believer in artistic freedom than I, but this cannot go unchallenged,” Dench wrote.
“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 its reputation in the eyes of its British subscribers,” she concluded.
Dench beforehand performed Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (for which she gained an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress). She additionally portrayed Queen Victoria in Victoria & Abdul in 2017 and Mrs. Brown in 1997.
Season 5 of The Crown premieres on Netflix on Nov. 9. The sequence lately paused manufacturing “out of respect” following the queen’s dying.
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