Sir John Major and Sir Tony Blair hit out at The Crown ahead of upcoming series

Sir John wrote in a letter to The Telegraph that it ‘will be profoundly hurtful to a family who are still grieving’.
Elizabeth Debicki as Diana in The Crown (Keith Bernstein/Netflix/PA)
PA Media
Ted Hennessey4 November 2022
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Former prime ministers Sir John Major and Sir Tony Blair have hit out at The Crown’s depiction of them.

The upcoming fifth series is expected to show Charles, played by Dominic West, cutting short a holiday with Diana, Princess of Wales, to host a secret meeting with Sir John at Highgrove in 1991, at which they discuss potentially ousting the Queen.

Sir John wrote in a letter to The Telegraph that it “will be profoundly hurtful to a family who are still grieving for the very person on whose life the entire drama was founded”.

Charles is reportedly shown trying to recruit Sir Tony as an ally to protect his future and pave the way for him to marry Camilla, shortly after the 1997 general election.

It should come as no surprise that this is complete and utter rubbish

Sir Tony Blair's spokesman

Sir Tony’s spokesman told the publication: “It should come as no surprise that this is complete and utter rubbish.”

In his letter, Sir John Major said: “Netflix may well take the view that any publicity is good publicity.

“But I assure them it is not – most especially when it disrespects the memory of those no longer alive, or puts words into the mouths of those still living and in no position to defend themselves.

“Fiction should not be paraded as fact.”

He continued: “I gather Netflix continues to refuse to put out a disclaimer at the top of the opening credits, on the basis that ‘everyone knows this is a drama series’.

“But this is simply not good enough. If everyone knows, why not acknowledge that?

Fiction should not be paraded as fact

Sir John Major

“Without such action, many millions – around the world – could still be influenced by a damaging and fictional script, which claims ‘authority’ by being interspersed with historical fact.

Entertainment is a great and glorious industry that brings enormous pleasure to many millions. Netflix should not demean it with portrayals which are both injurious and untrue.”

Last month Netflix put a disclaimer in the description of its YouTube trailer for the fifth series of The Crown, saying the production is a “fictional dramatisation” and “inspired by real events”.

The hit drama will return on November 9 and is to feature two episodes building up to the bombshell interview conducted by former BBC journalist Martin Bashir, according to The Sun.

Last year, a report by Lord Dyson concluded the broadcaster covered up “deceitful behaviour” by Mr Bashir to secure the meeting and led to a call from the then-Duke of Cambridge for it never to be aired again.

The upcoming series is said to show Diana, played by Elizabeth Debicki, speaking about her “crowded” marriage to the future king – a reference to the now Queen Consort.

A young William will also be shown seeing his mother’s interview on TV while a pupil at Eton.

Charles will reportedly also be shown yelling and swearing in response to the broadcast.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in