A PRO-MONARCHY group in Australia has called for a boycott of Netflix's hit series The Crown as a row over the show's accuracy mounts.
The drama, loosely based on the monarchy, has become embroiled in controversy over its latest season, with actor Judi Dench accusing it of blurring the lines between “historical accuracy and crude sensationalism”.
The Australian Monarchist League (AML) claimed Netflix could see mass subscription cancellations over the drama if it "does not act to correct the record”.
Philip Benwell, national chair of the group, said the show must state that real-life events depicted in the show are not “in any way reflective of the actual situations”.
He said: “It is one thing to create a clearly fictitious narrative such as Robin Hood, but quite another to purposefully build a series including falsehoods and inaccuracies about people still living.
"It is also disgraceful that Netflix is airing their new series two months after the death of the Queen and just over six months from the coronation of the King about whom the series contains falsehoods.”
It follows reports of unnamed sources close to the King urging people to boycott the programme over "hurtful" inaccuracies.
Dear @netflix, The Crown is dishonest. I’ve cancelled my subscription.
— Tim Montgomerie 🇬🇧 (@montie) October 20, 2022
A small number of Twitter users said they were cancelling their subscriptions because of the programme, including Conservative Home founder Tim Montgomery.
The AML hit out at the upcoming season in which King Charles, who was the Prince of Wales at the time, meets with former prime minister John Major to talk about ousting Queen Elizabeth II.
Major spoke out against the scene, saying "fiction should not be paraded as fact".
Benwell accused Netflix of being “negligent” and not providing "any sort of accuracy about such real-life events".
While Netflix provided a "fictional dramatisation" disclaimer in its season five trailer it hasn't provided one to each episode.
It already describes the show as a “fictionalised drama” in its press materials, on social media and on The Crown’s landing page on its platform.
Benwell continued: “Whilst it has since added an inadequate disclaimer to its marketing for The Crown, saying the show is a ‘fictional dramatisation’, "inspired by real-life events" it should nevertheless state that the real-life events depicted are not in any way reflective of the actual situations described as they are entirely imagined and scripted accordingly.
“If they are not, the droves of people who will leave Netflix will undoubtedly prove them wrong.”
Claudia Harrison, who stars as Princess Anne, and James Murray, who plays Prince Andrew, dismissed calls for The Crown to feature a disclaimer while on the red carpet at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
Harrison, 46, said: “I think it’s a dangerous area to get into when we whack disclaimers on art.
“This is a show made by an exceptional dramatist and the role of the dramatist is perhaps to imagine conversations and imagine how things might have felt.
“And I think that’s why we watch, and I think it does come back to the audience intelligence thing. Don’t underestimate that ever.”
