The calls for Netflix to add a disclaimer to its hit royal series The Crown don’t appear to be dying down any time soon.
Helena Bonham Carter — who plays Princess Margaret in seasons 3 and 4 — has now added her voice to the growing argument, saying that producers have a “moral responsibility” to tell viewers that it’s a drama.
Speaking on a newly-released episode of an official podcast for the show, she claimed there was an important distinction to make between “our version” of the events depicted, and “the version.”
“It is dramatized,” she said. “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.”
The latest season of The Crown has sparked something of an outcry from various corners of British society, particularly in the press, most notably for its depictions of the marriage between Prince Charles and Diana and its subsequent breakdown. The show has been accused of unfairly painting Charles as the “villain,” by Buckingham Palace’s former press secretary.
Over the weekend, U.K. culture secretary Oliver Dowden called on Netflix to add a “health warning” making it clear that it was a drama.
“I fear a generation of viewers who did not live through these events may mistake fiction for fact,” he told The Mail on Sunday.
Netflix wouldn’t comment on the culture secretary’s comments, but a spokesperson noted that had already been widely reported that The Crown was a drama based on real-life events.
