'The Crown' flayed for exaggerating Princess Diana's Panorama interview despite Prince William's appeal
LONDON, UK: Netflix show 'The Crown' has been called out after reports emerged that it will showcase Princess Diana's controversial Panorama interview. This comes after Prince William insisted the program "should never be aired again" following an inquiry which found that interviewer Martin Bashir had acted "deceitfully" to get the scoop.
'The Crown' will see Prasanna Puwanarajah play Bashir, and how the journalist persuaded Diana to speak out by playing on her fears. An insider told The Daily Mail on Sunday, October 9, that it will dramatise "snippets" of the interview. This move is likely to upset Buckingham Palace.
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As per the outlet, critics have blasted out at the series for recreating parts of the 1995 interview in the Season 5, which is set to premiere on November 9. Royal biographer Hugo Vickers said, "The Crown has been consistently dishonest from day one. They pervert the facts, they clash incidents together which did more or less happen to create something which most certainly did not."
He added, "That they focus on the discredited Panorama interview with Diana contrary to the express wishes of Prince William, and when the BBC has promised never to show it again, is indicative of the depths to which they sink."
This comes after the Prince of Wales said that the Panorama episode should not be broadcast again after Lord Dyson's inquiry. In May 2021, according to Vanity Fair, William said, "It is my firm view that this Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialized by the BBC and others." William added, "This settled narrative now needs to be addressed by the BBC and anyone else who has written or intends to write about these events."
The fifth series of the royal drama comes as King Charles completes the first months of his reign following Queen Elizabeth's death. The upcoming season will show the breakdown of Charles's marriage to Diana. Dominic West will play Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana.
'The Crown' was supposed to end after the Season 5 but the show's creator and writer Peter Morgan later said it would be extended to include one more season. A senior royal source said, as per the Telegraph, that 'The Crown' is “a drama not a documentary.” Meanwhile, a friend of the King said the series was "exploitative" and claimed Netflix would have “no qualms about mangling people’s reputations."
'The Crown' had earlier sparked controversy with the streaming giant rejecting calls for a disclaimer to be added to the beginning of episodes that says it was a work of fiction.