The Crown: Emma Corrin says it’s ‘mad’ people want to label Netflix show as fiction

Actor says Netflix show operates in the same way as many series

The Crown star Emma Corrin has said she believes it is “mad” that certain people want to label the hit Netflix drama as fiction.

The actor, who plays Princess Diana in season four of The Crown, was responding to criticism by MPs and members of the royal family over how the drama is presented as an accurate portrayal of historical events.

“The Crown is accurate insofar as it’s about a family over a period of time, and we have factual information about what happened to the country—and to the family,” Corrin told The Daily Beast.

“So, you can write down all the facts as if it were a timeline, but all the substance is fictitious,” she continued. “We can know that Diana and Camilla [Duchess of Cornwall] went to a restaurant called Menage a Trois, which is hysterically ironic, but it happened, but we obviously don’t know what was said, so that is fiction. But that’s how a lot of series operates.”

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden previously suggested that Netflix should add a disclaimer to the beginning of each episode of The Crown, warning viewers that its content is fictitious.

However, Netflix issued a statement saying it would not add such a warning.

“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,” the statement said.

“As a result, we have no plans – and see no need – to add a disclaimer.”

In the interview, Corrin said she believed fiction warnings do “a disservice to creativity, and imagination, and screenwriting, and scriptwriting”.

“It’s mad that they want to label it as ‘fiction’ when you have Diana: In Her Own Words where she talks about everything, and it’s much more harrowing,” she said.

Helena Bonham-Carter, who plays Princess Margaret, said in December last year that she agreed with Dowden’s suggestion because she believed Netflix had a “moral responsibility” to note the difference between fact and fiction.

However, Corrin’s co-star Josh O’Connor, who plays Prince Charles, branded Dowden’s suggestion “outrageous” and “a low blow” given the culture secretary’s comments were made at a time when the arts are struggling to succeed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Seasons one to four of The Crown are available to watch on Netflix.