Whilst The Crown might have always had a few people questioning what is fact and what is fiction, the latest season has certainly got everyone talking.
With The Crown Season 4 focusing closer to home than ever before with its depiction of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage, it’s perhaps no surprise that this is the case.
The late Princess of Wales’ brother Earl Spencer, along with Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden and even The Crown star Helena Bonham Carter has now called for action. They have suggested that the hit Netflix drama should carry a “warning” or “disclaimer” reminding viewers of the show’s fictional nature.
But now it seems not everyone is as keen on the show carrying a warning after all.
How has The Crown’s Josh O’Connor reacted to calls for a disclaimer?
Josh O’Connor, who plays Prince Charles in The Crown, has now supposedly spoken out against the idea of adding a disclaimer. In a recent interview with The Los Angeles Times for The Envelope: The Podcast, O’Connor reportedly revealed his belief that Culture Secretary Mr Dowden’s intervention on the issue is “outrageous”.
The actor admitted that the show was “pure fiction”, however he suggested that viewers knew that already.
O’Connor explained: “You have to show them the respect and understand that they’re intelligent enough to see it for what it is”.
How have The Crown’s Josh O’Connor’s comments been received?
Following Josh O’Connor’s statements, some MPs have themselves spoken out - this time in support of the Culture Secretary’s stance.
According to the Mail on Sunday, Former Education Secretary Damian Hinds said: “Mr O’Connor says Oliver Dowden’s intervention is outrageous, but what would be truly outrageous would be trying to stop our Culture Secretary holding the streaming giant to account.”
He supposedly added that: “Oliver has every right to call for the series to carry a disclaimer."
The Daily Mail has also suggested that Mr Hinds is supported in his statement by former actor Giles Watling and Julian Knight, chairman of the powerful Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
Why have people been calling for The Crown to have a disclaimer?
Calls for a disclaimer to be added have come after concerns were raised about viewers mistaking The Crown's portrayal of events as fact. Earl Spencer has previously spoken of his worry that people will forget the show is fiction.
The Clarence House official Twitter account recently turned off comments after Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall became the target of online trolls who reportedly believed The Crown’s depiction of an affair between herself and Prince Charles was real.
Whether or not Netflix’s The Crown will soon carry a fiction disclaimer before each episode remains to be seen. However it seems that the debate about whether or not the show should start to do so looks set to continue.
The Crown Season 4 is available to watch now on Netflix.
Emma is a Senior Lifestyle Writer with five years experience working in digital publishing, ranging from book publishing to magazines. She currently looks after all things Lifestyle for Woman&Home, GoodToKnow and My Imperfect Life.
Before she joined Future Publishing, Emma graduated from the University of Warwick with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Comparative Literary Studies. After leaving education, she started out her publishing career in the world of books, working as a Publisher for an independent digital publisher specializing in back-list and debut commercial fiction novels. With a huge book list and a passion for bringing the best stories to the broadest audience possible, Emma filled her spare time with reading the latest best-sellers and catching up on hit adaptations.
In 2017 she joined TI Media as a fiction writing coordinator on Woman’s Weekly and Woman’s Weekly Fiction as part of the features team. From here, she used her love of books, working to bring short stories to our dedicated readers and began writing for the books pages of Woman, Woman’s Own and Woman&Home, as well as online features ranging from genre round-ups to travel pieces for womanandhome.com.
After honing her skills, Emma branched out online in 2020 when Future gave her the opportunity to focus on digital-first. When she’s not writing about the next big lifestyle trend, she enjoys cooking, long walks and watching as many crime dramas as she can!
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