Former PMs criticise Crown plot as hurtful and untrue
Former prime ministers Sir John Major and Sir Tony Blair have hit out at The Crown’s depiction of them.
The upcoming fifth series is expected to show Charles, played by Dominic West, cutting short a holiday with Diana, Princess of Wales, to host a secret meeting with Sir John at Highgrove in 1991, at which they discuss potentially ousting the Queen.
Sir John wrote in a letter to The Telegraph that it “will be profoundly hurtful to a family who are still grieving for the very person on whose life the entire drama was founded”.
Charles is reportedly shown trying to recruit Sir Tony as an ally to protect his future and pave the way for him to marry Camilla, shortly after the 1997 general election.
Sir Tony’s spokesman said: “It should come as no surprise that this is complete and utter rubbish.”
But the actress who plays Diana in the Netflix drama’s new season, which begins this week, said audiences fully understand it is fiction.
Australian Elizabeth Debicki, 32, said: “I understand what the show is and what it’s trying to do.
“I also understand the reaction to it. I think this is a period of time that’s been told many times over and will continue to be told, and I know the degree of care and respect people enter into these stories with.”
She added: “I mean, it is clearly fictional. I feel audiences know that.
“I never watched The Crown and thought, ‘this is a documentary’, or ‘this is obviously true’.”