The fifth series of hit Netflix show The Crown has been surrounded by endless drama even before it's been aired.
Ahead of the upcoming series of the award-winning show based on the lives of the Royal family, controversy has been rife as Netflix bosses went against Prince William's wishes by re-enacting his beloved mother, Princess Diana's bombshell interview with BBC journalist, Martin Bashir.
Fury has sparked once again ahead of the season five's debut next month as insiders claim producers have also decided to portray Prince Philip pursuing an affair in new series of The Crown - just weeks after the nation mourned the Queen’s death.
Prince Philip will reportedly be seen in intimate scenes alongside close friend Penny Knatchbull.
But shutting down speculation about their long-time friendship, the Queen’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter said: "This is cruel rubbish" that will "hurt people's feelings".
Netflix viewers will see the Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away in April 2021, pursuing an affair with Penny, 69, - who is now the Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
According to TV insiders, the pair are seen touching hands as Philip complains about his marriage with Queen Elizabeth to Penny.
Although Netflix bosses had considered postponing the release of the fifth series - which has already been steeped in controversy - the series will still go ahead and it is set to be broadcast November 9 - just two months after Queen Elizabeth passed away.
Royal experts have warned showing intimate scenes with Philip and Penny on The Crown is an immensely 'cruel' move from Netflix bosses so soon after the Queen's sad passing.
"Coming just weeks after the nation laid Her Majesty to rest next to Prince Philip, this is very distasteful and, quite frankly, cruel rubbish. The truth is that Penny was a long-time friend of the whole family. Netflix are not interested in people’s feelings," the Queen's former press secretary Dickie added to The Sun.
He added: "This is fiction. There’s no way in a million years he’d discuss his marriage with anybody. The royals probably won’t watch it for their own sanity.”
Mirror Online has contacted Netflix for comment.
It comes as the latest series of The Crown has also been slammed for re-enacting Princess Diana’s explosive Panorama interview against the wishes of her son Prince William.
The fifth series is set to feature Martin Bashir’s disgraced Panorama interview with Princess Diana despite her son William’s plea for it to be banned from TV.
The new series of the Royal drama is set to air an entire episode focusing on the tragic royal’s controversial tell-all chat with Bashir in 1995.
Eager TV bosses are said to have splashed millions on the episode devoted to Diana’s Panorama interview which has been surrounded by controversy for almost 30 years now.
Series 5 of The Crown opens in 1991, and a key storyline is the crumbling relationship between Charles, played by Dominic West, and Diana, who is being played by actress Elizabeth Debicki.
Netflix, which has cast Prasanna Puwanarajah in the role of Bashir, will show how the reporter persuaded Diana to give the bombshell interview by playing on her paranoia.
The streaming giant’s decision to dramatise Diana’s interview will be a slap in the face to her son Prince William after he hit out at the BBC.
The royal insisted that broadcasting the interview again and again holds ‘no legitimacy’ after a bombshell report found that Bashir used specific tactics to gain his mother’s trust.
Sharing his distain for the interview last year, William hit out at Bashir.
"This Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again," the Royal raged.
“It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others.”
The Mirror has reached out to a BBC spokesperson for comment on this story.
