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Prince Charles and Camilla have been hit by a wave of abuse on their social media channels over the past few weeks. The number of tweets and messages attacking the royal couple appears to have spiked after the release of the fourth season of Netflix’s The Crown, which heavily focuses on the relationships between Prince Charles, Princess Diana and Camilla.
On November 24, nine days after the latest 10 episodes of the show were released, Prince Charles and Camilla’s Twitter account Clarence House limited the ability to reply to its messages only to people it follows or it mentions.
Asked the reason behind this move, Clarence House did not comment.
Several royal commentators have come forward to point out distortions and inaccuracies in the latest series of this popular show.
Others, have also claimed portraying a heavily dramatised version of the events featuring people who are still alive and have a key position in society could mislead viewers and do a great disservice to the monarchy.
Camilla is being hit by vile abuse online (Image: GETTY)
Camilla and Prince Charles visiting the National Gallery on December 2 (Image: GETTY)
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams branded The Crown a “sensationalised character assassination of living people” which presents “dangers”.
He told Express.co.uk: “One of the challenges of our time is being trolled on Twitter.
“There have been reports that Charles and Camilla have recently been the subject of acrimonious tweets.
“This appears to coincide with the release of the fourth season of the Netflix series, The Crown, where the portrayal of Charles and Diana’s disastrous marriage has caused controversy.”
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Camilla and Prince Charles supported London’s nightlife economy by visiting The Club 100 (Image: GETTY)
Mr Fitzwilliams noted the show suggested Prince Charles and Camilla had been involved in an affair throughout his marriage with Diana.
However, the prince is widely believed to have stopped seeing the then Mrs Parker Bowles before his nuptials and have resumed their affair in 1986.
The expert also argued the fictional depiction of Prince Charles doesn’t do justice to the work he has done as Prince of Wales.
He continued: “It is unsurprising that Diana is seen as the victim but the series’ creator Peter Morgan propagates the highly contested theory that Charles continued his affair with Camilla throughout his marriage to Diana.
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Prince Charles is the heir apparent to the throne (Image: GETTY)
Camilla became the Duchess of Cornwall upon marrying Prince Charles (Image: GETTY)
“Josh O’Connor’s self-obsessed and insipid Charles is incapable of anything constructive, let alone starting a charity, The Prince’s Trust, that has helped over a million young people.
“Charles is also one of the world’s foremost environmental campaigners.”
Mr Fitzwilliams backed calls for a health warning to be issued before each episode of the series, clearly stating The Crown is not a documentary.
Other royal commentators, historians and public personalities made similar requests.
Hugo Vickers, the author of The Crown Dissected, a book fact-checking events portrayed in the Netflix show, has called for a disclaimer to be issued before each episode of The Crown.
Camilla and Prince Charles’s relationship became official in 1999 (Image: EXPRESS)
He added: “Peter Morgan says he conflates incidents, which is understandable, but he also twists the facts and thus turns the truth into something so distorted that it becomes an out and out lie.”
Princess Diana’s brother Earl Spencer told ITV’s Lorraine: “I think it would help The Crown an enormous amount if – at the beginning of each episode – it stated that: ‘This isn’t true, but it is based around some real events’.
“Then, everyone would understand it’s drama for drama’s sake.
“Obviously Netflix wants to make a lot of money and that’s why people are in the business of making these things.
“I worry people do think that this is gospel, and that’s unfair.”
Helena Bonham Carter has played Princess Margaret in season 3 and 4 of The Crown (Image: NETFLIX)
Helena Bonham Carter, who has played Princess Margaret in the Netflix show between series 3 and 4, also joined experts on the issue of a health warning.
Last Sunday, the UK culture secretary also demanded Netflix to issue a warning before every episode of The Crown.
He told the Mail on Sunday: “It’s a beautifully produced work of fiction, so as with other TV productions, Netflix should be very clear at the beginning it is just that…
“Without this, I fear a generation of viewers who did not live through these events may mistake fiction for fact.”
