The Royal Family Has Reportedly Been Told That They Can Sue Netflix Over “The Crown”
Royal sources are saying that Netflix could potentially get sued over The Crown, aka Netflix’s multi-Emmy-winning prestige series about Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, her late husband Prince Philip, her sister Princess Margaret, her kids, like Prince Charles, and his messy marriage to Lady Diana Spencer. It’s been rumored that the Royal Family really doesn’t like watching a sensationalized version of their lives played out in high definition with actors that look vaguely like their respective real-life counterparts. And now, some of the Royal Family’s friends don’t like the idea that they might show up in the upcoming fifth season, so they spoke to lawyers, who allegedly told them everyone has grounds to sue Netflix.
The upcoming fifth season of The Crown is scheduled to premiere sometime in November 2022. It’s reportedly set in the early to mid-90s. Which tracks with these recent on-set pictures featuring Elizabeth Debicki in Diana’s infamous post-split revenge dress.
elizabeth debicki was born to play princess diana pic.twitter.com/WjoD9m9buF
— FILM CRAVE (@fiImcrave) November 5, 2021
Jemima Khan, a friend of Diana’s, was hired as a consultant on The Crown, and recently announced she quit and wanted her name wiped from the show because she didn’t think they handled a storyline about Diana in a sensitive way.
People have been debating for several years now whether The Crown should have a giant flashing neon sign at the top of every episode that screams, “THIS IS NOT REAL” (Netflix’s official stance on that matter: No). So some people know it’s a dramatized version of real events, other people might be taking every thing they see on The Crown as the Queen’s honest truth, and the leftovers are calling Queen Elizabeth’s lawyers, allegedly. via The Sun:
Close friends of the Firm, worried about their own portrayals in the upcoming fifth series, recently sought advice from top solicitors. They included experts from the Queen’s favoured law firms Farrer & Co and Harbottle & Lewis. The friends close to the monarchy were told that they are entitled to sue the show’s makers. And crucially the pals have shared the advice with the Royal Family – paving the way for them to take historic action.
A source said: “Friends of the Royal Family sought legal advice. The advice they received would also apply to the Royal Family. Although this is not direct legal advice given to the Queen and her family – they have been made aware of this advice.”
What they’d sue over isn’t known, but a good guess would probably be how the Royal Family is portrayed. And as of season 4, there’s a pretty clear line drawn by the writers of The Crown regarding who they might consider the only sympathetic protagonist out of the totally fictionalized characters (hint: it’s not Charles). via The Sun:
“Worryingly, a lot of people, especially Americans, seem to think it is effectively a documentary – and much of the drama hasn’t exactly been flattering from a royal perspective. But these are real people and many are still alive. The next series could potentially be very damaging.”
According to The Sun’s source, The Queen herself allegedly had a problem with a moment in Season 2, where Prince Philip called a young Charles “weak,” and friends of Charles have watched the reasons 4th season (aka the Charles and Diana Get Married season) and allegedly called it “trolling on a Hollywood budget.” I don’t know about that. Trolling on a Hollywood budget would be teasing a scene featuring an actor that looks like 1990s Prince Andrew, dripping in sweat and looking confused when someone asks him for directions to the Pizza Express in Woking. And we’d know that would clearly be a fictionalized scene because allegedly his alleged trip to Pizza Express didn’t happen until the 2000s.
Pic: Netflix