War of the Waleses? More like war on The Crown. Ever since it was confirmed that season 5 of the hit Netflix series will stream beginning November 9, the royal floodgates have opened with everyone from the former U.K. Prime Minister Sir John Major to Dame Judi Dench sounding off on all the reasons the show needs a fictional disclaimer (which it just added to the trailer), a delayed air date and more.
Why the stress? This is season 5 after all. The Crown has aired the royals’ dirty laundry—again, a fictionalized account of it—for years. But last season’s intro to Princess Diana, then played by Emma Corrin, brought the series into the modern era in a way that felt a bit too close for comfort. The subsequent fast track into the 1990s, set to be the “meat” of the new season and which includes the devastating dissolution of then-Prince-now-King Charles’s marriage to Diana, played by Dominic West and Elizabeth DeBicki, has only bolstered the public outcry.
After all, in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing and as we discuss on this week’s episode of the Royally Obsessed podcast, is this the best timing and unofficial PR for a monarchy in transition, especially when the average viewer may or may not take a minute to separate fiction from fact?