Lorraine Kelly has slammed The Crown for ‘inventing’ storylines ahead of the highly-anticipated release of the fifth season on Netflix this week.
The TV presenter sat down with Daily Mirror Royal Editor Russell Myers and Heat magazine’s Lucie Cave on Monday ahead of the premiere tomorrow evening.
The show guests, who had watched the series ahead of the launch, shared with viewers what they can expect from the new batch of episodes.
Russell Myers described the scenes he believes will be ‘quite problematic’ for King Charles, as the drama is set to retell his highly publicised divorce from Princess Diana.
He described: “The scene, which has a treasonous aspect of him plotting with John Major, the former Prime Minister, essentially to oust the Queen.”
Lorraine replied: “I don’t think that’s right. I really don't. Why do that? There’s enough drama without inventing stuff.”
The new series is expected to show Prince Charles, played by Dominic West, cutting short a holiday with Diana to host a secret meeting with Sir John, played by Jonny Lee Miller, at his private residence in Highgrove in 1991.
Sir John Major criticised the scene depicting the pair having a conversation over ousting the late Queen as ‘a barrel-load of malicious nonsense’, saying no such conversation ever took place.
Russell added: “This is what is happening now. We’re separating fact from fiction and if you’re blurring the lines, where does it stop?”
Lucie replied: “I think it’s because the actors are so brilliant at playing those characters and take such attention to detail in many places, so it feels really historical. So I think that’s why people sometimes get confused.”
A statement from the former Prime Minister’s office said: “Sir John has not cooperated in any way with The Crown.
“Nor has he ever been approached by them to fact-check any script material in this or any other series.
“As you will know, discussions between the monarch and prime minister are entirely private and – for Sir John -- will always remain so. But not one of the scenes you depict are accurate in any way whatsoever. They are fiction, pure and simple.”
However, a spokeswoman for The Crown defended the show in the wake of Sir John’s comments, saying: “The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events.
“Series five is a fictional dramatisation, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors during a significant decade for the royal family - one that has already been scrutinised and well-documented by journalists, biographers and historians.”
