Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ is ‘an attack to get rid of the royal family,’ Prince Harry’s biographer says
Author Angela Levin slammed the hit Netflix series during an appearance on 'The Royal Beat'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prince Harry’s biographer Angela Levin isn’t a fan of “The Crown.”
The author, who previously penned the book “Prince Harry: Biography of a Prince” about the Duke of Sussex, 36, appeared on True Royalty TV’s “Royal Beat” on Friday where she slammed the Netflix series focusing on the British royal family.
“It is an attack to get rid of the royal family,” said Levin, as quoted by U.K.’s DailyMail. “A lot of them are still alive and I think it is spiteful. They should have balanced it. It’s not fair… They saw people mainly for their faults, they didn’t try and balance it.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Levin also labeled the historical drama “appalling,” adding that senior members of the royal family have tried “really hard” to provide assurance during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Prince William and his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II have given words of encouragement and hope to people during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, says author Angela Levin. (Getty Images)
“We saw the queen talking to us when the COVID virus was at its peak, saying ‘We will get better, we will meet again,’” Levin explained. “Kate [Middleton] and [Prince] William did that on their train journey. They are saying, ‘Thank you, we are part of this, we are all together.’ It gives you strength and courage. And [for ‘The Crown’] to make them [into] inept idiots is wrong.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“The next series is going to get darker and darker,” Levin continued. “It sounds a bit soppy, but we need to protect our royal family because they have given so much to this country.”
Levin, a veteran journalist on royal affairs, based her book on exclusive conversations she had with Harry at Kensington Palace before his May 2018 royal wedding to American actress Meghan Markle. Levin accompanied Harry on his many engagements and shadowed him for more than a year.
Harry is the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, 94.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NETFLIX’S ‘THE CROWN’ NEEDS TO BE LABELED ‘FICTION,’ SAYS BRITISH CULTURE MINISTER
Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin star as Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 'The Crown.' (Netflix)
“The Crown,” which first premiered in 2016, traces the long reign of Elizabeth, which began in 1952. While “The Crown” has been dissected over the years for its dramatic interpretations of the royal family, Season 4 has sparked the most debates and headlines so far.
The current season, set in the ‘80s, focuses on the widely publicized marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, as well as the 11-year tenure of Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which transformed and divided Britain.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Diana passed away in 1997 at age 36 from injuries she sustained in a Paris car crash. Thatcher died in 2013 at age 87.
The troubled relationship of Charles and Diana, played by Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin, is a major storyline in the series. Former royal press secretary Dickie Arbiter has called “The Crown” a “hatchet job” on Charles, 72, who is the heir to the British throne, as well as Diana.
NETFLIX'S 'THE CROWN' REJECTS BID TO ADD A DISCLAIMER CALLING IT A WORK OF FICTION
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Emerald Fennell plays Camilla Parker Bowles in 'The Crown.' (Netflix)
Arbiter has also accused the series of "stretching dramatic license to the extreme,” The Hollywood Reporter shared.
Charles and Diana divorced in 1996, a year before her death. The prince remarried in 2005 to Camilla Parker Bowles, who is now the Duchess of Cornwall. Arbiter told the BBC that “The Crown” has depicted Charles and Camilla, 73, as “villains.”
Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, has also said the show should carry a notice that “this isn’t true but it is based around some real events.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I worry people do think that this is gospel and that’s unfair,” the 56-year-old told broadcaster ITV.
WIDOW 'HORRIFIED' THAT 'THE CROWN' FEATURED HER HUSBAND'S DEATH IN SEASON 4
Princess Diana passed away in 1997 at age 36. (AP Photo/Jim Bourdier)
Some conservatives have also criticized the program’s depiction of Thatcher, played by Gillian Anderson. Britain’s first female prime minister is portrayed as clashing with Olivia Colman’s Elizabeth to an extent that some say is exaggerated.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Netflix has since rejected calls from British Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden to add a disclaimer to the series that states it is a work of fiction. The streaming giant said the show is presented in enough context.
“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," read a statement released by Netflix Saturday.
“As a result, we have no plans — and see no need — to add a disclaimer.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}'THE CROWN' TRAILER DEPICTS TENSION BETWEEN PRINCESS DIANA, QUEEN ELIZABETH, AND PRINCE CHARLES
Olivia Colman currently stars as reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II in 'The Crown.' (Netflix)
“The Crown” creator Peter Morgan, whose work also includes recent-history dramas “The Queen” and “Frost/Nixon,” has defended his work, saying it is thoroughly researched and true in spirit.
In a 2017 discussion of “The Crown,” Morgan said, “you sometimes have to forsake accuracy, but you must never forsake truth.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Steven Fielding, a professor of political history at the University of Nottingham, said the suggestion that “The Crown” carry a disclaimer was “reasonable and yet pointless.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.