Dame Judi Dench has written an open letter to The Times UK criticising Netflix's The Crown for being "cruelly unjust" in its depiction of the British royal family.
In the letter, the 87-year-old actress urged the streaming service to add a disclaimer before each episode, to remind audiences that the show is a fictionalised account of historical events.
"No one is a greater believer in artistic freedom than I, but this cannot go unchallenged," she wrote in the letter.
Dench's address to the show comes ahead of its fifth-season premiere, launching on Netflix in November.
The new season follows the breakdown of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage in the late 80s and 90s, played by Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki respectively.
Although the streaming service has said it will not depict the fatal accident that ended Diana's life, they have faced backlash over the upcoming season from others besides Dench.
Former Prime Minister Sir John Major called the series a "barrel-load of nonsense" after it was reported that season five will contain a fictionalised scene in which Prince Charles propositions the former MP with a plan to get his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, to abdicate.
"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," the spokesperson for Major told CNN in October.
Dench backed Major in her letter.
"Sir John Major is not alone in his concerns that the latest series of The Crown will present an inaccurate and hurtful account of history," the actress wrote.
"Given some of the wounding suggestions apparently contained in the new series - that King Charles plotted for his mother to abdicate, for example, or once suggested his mother’s parenting was so deficient that she might have deserved a jail sentence - this is both cruelly unjust to the individuals and damaging to the institution they represent."
Earlier this week, a spokesperson for the television show said: "The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events."
Dench wrote that despite their statement, she insists they add a disclaimer, reminding audiences of that fact.
"Despite this week stating publicly that The Crown has always been a 'fictionalised drama,' the program makers have resisted all calls for them to carry a disclaimer at the start of each episode," she continued in the letter.
"The time has come for Netflix to reconsider - for the sake of a family and a nation so recently bereaved, as a mark of respect to a sovereign who served her people so dutifully for 70 years, and to preserve their own reputation in the eyes of their British subscribers."
Dench is no stranger to the royal family, on-screen and off. She's played two queens - Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love, and Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown and Victoria & Abdul.
Personally, the 87-year-old actress was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1970, made a dame in 1988, and appointed a Companion of Honour by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005.
She’s also known to be a friend to Queen Consort Camilla.
In November 2020, UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden addressed Netflix in an interview with the Daily Mail, calling for them to add a disclaimer to the show.
Charles Spencer, the brother of Princess Diana, agreed.
"It would help The Crown an enormous amount if at the beginning of each episode it stated that, 'This isn’t true but is based around some real events,'" Spencer told ITV.
"Because then everyone would understand it’s drama for drama’s sake."
However, the streaming service responded and refused.
"We have always presented The Crown as a drama – and we have every confidence our members understand it’s a work of fiction that’s broadly based on historical events. As a result we have no plans — and see no need — to add a disclaimer," a Netflix spokesperson told Variety.
The fictionalised drama returns this November.
Feature Image: Getty/Netflix.
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