The Crown creator hits back at sensitivity criticism: ‘The show certainly isn’t unkind to King Charles’

‘People are more understanding and compassionate than we expect sometimes,’ said Peter Morgan

The creator of The Crown has hit back at claims that the forthcoming fifth season would portray King Charles in an overly negative light.

Netflix’s hit royal drama – which stirred controversy last season over its alleged distortion of historical fact – was accused recently of being “exploitative”, amid claims that the new 1990s-set season will depict “‘all-out’ war between Charles and Diana”.

Last week, former British prime minister John Major described the series as “nothing other than damaging and malicious fiction”, and “a barrel-load of nonsense peddled for no other reason than to provide maximum – and entirely false – dramatic impact”.

Netflix previously issued a statement in response to Major’s comments. The ex-PM is portrayed in the new season by Trainspotting’s Jonny Lee Miller.

In an interview with Variety, series creator Peter Morgan has dismissed speculation that the new series would be “unkind” in its handling of the now King Charles.

“I think we must all accept that the 1990s was a difficult time for the royal family, and King Charles will almost certainly have some painful memories of that period,” Morgan said.

“But that doesn’t mean that, with the benefit of hindsight, history will be unkind to him, or the monarchy. The show certainly isn’t. I have enormous sympathy for a man in his position – indeed, a family in their position.

“People are more understanding and compassionate than we expect sometimes,” he added.

Jonny Lee Miller as John Major in ‘The Crown’ (Netflix)

Some of the show’s cast also provided updates on the series, including Elizabeth Debicki (Tenet), who plays Diana.

“Peter and the entire crew of this job do their utmost to really handle everything with such sensitivity and truth and complexity, as do actors,” Debicki said, after being asked about filming Diana’s death.

“The amount of research and care and conversations and dialogue that happen over, from a viewer’s perspective, something probably that you would never ever notice is just immense. From that very first meeting with Peter, I knew that I’d entered into this space where this was taken seriously in a deeply caring way.”

The Crown’s fifth season is released on Netflix on 9 November 2022.