The Crown: Josh O’Connor calls Oliver Dowden’s comments about Netflix drama ‘outrageous’

Politician said show should carry ‘health warning’

Josh O’Connor has called the comments that Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden made about The Crown “outrageous”.

In response to backlash regarding the accuracy of season four of Netflix’s historical drama, Conservative politician Oliver Dowden said the streaming service should be “very clear at the beginning” that the show is not real.

“Without this, I fear a generation of viewers who did not live through these events may mistake fiction for fact,” he said, adding that he would be writing to Netflix to request a “health warning” be added to the show.

Dowden’s comments were widely criticised by fans – and now O’Connor, who plays Prince Charles in the series, has weighed in.

“We were slightly let down by our culture secretary, whose job it is to encourage culture,” O’Connor told the LA Times podcast The Envelope. “In my opinion, it’s pretty outrageous that he came out and said what he said. Particularly in this time when he knows that the arts are struggling and they’re on their knees, I think it’s a bit of a low blow.”

He added: “My personal view is that audiences understand. You have to show them the respect and understand that they’re intelligent enough to see it for what it is, which is pure fiction.”

Earlier this month, Helena Bonham Carter – who plays Princess Margaret – said: “It is dramatised. I do feel very strongly, because I think we have a moral responsibility to say, ‘Hang on guys, this is not… it’s not a drama-doc, we’re making a drama.’ So they are two different entities.”

Both Bonham Carter and Dowden’s comments come amid increasing concern from royal commentators that the series strays too far from the truth to be considered a factual retelling of events.  

Princess Diana’s younger brother Earl Spencer has joined critics in requesting that the streaming platform include some kind of “disclaimer” at the beginning of each episode.

Emma Corrin – who portrays Princess Diana in the fourth series – has also admitted that the series “has its roots in reality and in some fact” but stipulated that “Peter Morgan’s scripts are works of fiction”.

Morgan himself has defended some of the fabricated scenes in the fourth season of the series, including a historically unsubstantiated plotline concerning Prince Charles (played by Josh O’Connor).

The Crown is currently available to stream on Netflix. A dissection of the show’s historical accuracy can be found here.