Following Dame Judi Dench‘s letter to The Times, Netflix has added a disclaimer to The Crown.
In the description box for the season five trailer of The Crown, Netflix writes, “inspired by real events, this fictional dramatisation tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign.”
The disclaimer arrives one day after Dench, who was named a dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1988, penned a letter to The Times, calling out the Netflix series for blending “historical accuracy and crude sensationalism” in its portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II and her reign over the United Kingdom. The Queen passed away in September at the age of 96.
“No one is a greater believer in artistic freedom than I, but this cannot go unchallenged. Despite this week stating publicly that The Crown has always been a ‘fictionalized drama’, the program makers have resisted all calls for them to carry a disclaimer at the start of each episode,” Dench wrote.
“The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events,” a representative from Netflix tells Variety. “Series five is a fictional dramatization, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors during a significant decade for the Royal Family – one that has already been scrutinised and well documented by journalists, biographers and historians.”
The publication also reports that British officials at Buckingham Palace have expressed concern over the series’ portrayal of the monarch, especially that of King Charles III‘s relationship with current wife Queen Consort Camilla, who he had an affair with while married to the late Princess Diana.
The Crown season five premieres on November 9.
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