Why The Outrage Over Netflix's Tweet About The Crown Makes No Sense

Fans of Netflix's royal drama The Crown were ecstatic in the lead-up to season 4. The series, which follows the life of Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Colman), found the monarch contending with the first female British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson), as well as the newest addition to the royal family, Princess Diana (Emma Corrin).

The Crown season 4 has certainly lived up to the hype, and it's consistently been in Netflix's Top Ten since it first came out back in November. However, not everyone is a fan of the series. Word from the actual royal family is that many of them refuse to watch — or, in Prince Charles' case, actively despise their portrayal (via Cosmopolitan). The conflict has led to a call for Netflix to add a disclaimer clarifying that the show is a work of fiction.

Another chapter in the controversy has just unfolded thanks to a recent tweet from Netflix showcasing a clip from the documentary Diana: In Her Own Words, which you can also watch on the streaming service. Accompanying the clip was the message "The documentary DIANA: IN HER OWN WORDS answers much of what you're asking." The clip seems to have heated up the controversy even further, and it's even warranted a response from someone close to the royal family. 

The clip shared by Netflix features an interview with the real Princess Diana in which she speaks about news footage showing her being teary-eyed as Prince Charles prepares to depart for five weeks. She explains the reason for her being emotional at that moment as, "That was nothing to do with him going. The most awful thing had happened before he went... I was in his study talking to him about his trip. The telephone rang; it was Camilla, and just before he was going for five weeks. So I thought, 'Shall I be nice, or shall I just sit here?' So I thought I'd be nice, so I left them to it. And it just broke my heart, that." 

For those not in the know, Princess Charles carried on an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles (whom he had previously dated during the 1970s and would eventually marry in 2005) over the course of his marriage to Princess Diana (via Town and County Magazine). Many of those close to the royal family have said the series fictionalizes certain aspects of the breakdown within Princess Diana's marriage, and the clip being shared by Netflix was viewed by some as another attempt at "trolling." One royal insider even told The Daily Mail, "It's one thing to make a drama that not even the writer claims is entirely factual, but for Netflix to use its corporate social channels to create and post material that is one-sided at best feels like corporate trolling — it's pretty sinister."

An account from Marie Claire claims a royal insider stated that Netflix reached out to the royal family to help with fact-checking the series, but the family declined. For now, fans should take what's presented throughout season 4 of The Crown with a grain of salt — although it does seem like a lot of it is accurate (much to the royal family's dismay).