The acclaimed programs has been subject to scrutiny over the way members of the Royal Family were depicted in its latest season. Sources close to the Queen and her family revealed they are far from happy with the events shown in the show.
The Crown’s fourth season is set between 1977 and 1990, and focuses primarily on the controversial marriage of Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales.
But the way the couple are depicted in the show has drawn criticism that they have been painted in a bad light.
Speaking to Hello!, on royal insider said: “The Crown uses Britain’s Royal Family as its subject – the source of endless fascination to billions of people – and paints them in whichever colours it chooses to suit the season.
“It is a live autopsy, a pathological dissection of a living, breathing thing and it should not be tolerated.”
They added: “The British Royal Family are the hardest-working and most dutiful of anywhere in the world.
“They constantly come up trumps when politicians and other people in the public eye fail to do so and they offer an unparalleled standard of public duty.
“No one knows what goes on behind the closed doors of the palaces and the fact Her Majesty the Queen, arguably the greatest monarch the world has ever seen, and her close descendants are now being viewed through the greasy, slanderous lens of the Crown is as horrific as it is tragic.”
The Queen’s former press secretary, Dickie Arbiter, weighed in on how Her Majesty will likely react to the new series.
“There are real people at the centre of this. None of them deserve to have their identities hijacked for commercial gain.
“It’s not easy for the Prince or either of his sons to see their parents’ marriage portrayed in this way.
“This is someone who is 15 years into a happy marriage and has given many years of service to the nation.
“That they get dragged back to a difficult chapter in their lives is unfair.”
Royal experts also denounced the hit show’s depictions, with one royal author claiming Prince William and Prince Harry will be “deeply upset” about the latest season.
Royal biographer Penny Junor said: “I think Harry will find himself in a very awkward situation right now.
“It is yet another example, perhaps, of how difficult it is to mix being royal with the commercial world. There are bear traps everywhere.
“I would guess that William is very angry about this latest series of The Crown. And be deeply upset on behalf of his family. As will Harry.”
