‘The Crown’ Is Coming at a “Delicate” Time for the Royals and Everyone’s Stressing

The Crown’s fifth season is dropping on Netflix in just a few weeks (November 9, to be exact), and the royals are…not thrilled, apparently.

A source tells The Sun, “This couldn’t have come at a more delicate time for the new King and his Queen Consort, particularly as they’re riding high in the minds of the public.” Oh, and while events in the series take place 30 to 40 years ago, they’re “still raw for those involved.”

“The worst element for the royals is that millions of people around the world will view this series and view it less as a drama and more as a documentary,” the source adds. “And attention on the Windsors couldn’t be higher as it’s been just a few weeks since Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and is in the run-up to the King’s coronation.”

Season 5 is expected to largely focus on then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s crumbling relationship, although Prince Philip’s relationship with his close friend Penny Knatchbull is also going to be explored—and is also causing controversy.

According to The Sun, the upcoming season will depict Philip “in intimate scenes” with Penny, including “touching hands as he divulges details of his marriage.” However, according to the Queen’s former press secretary Dickie Arbiter, these scenes are inaccurate. He told The Sun, “Coming just weeks after the nation laid Her Majesty to rest next to Prince Philip, this is very distasteful and, quite frankly, cruel rubbish. The truth is that Penny was a longtime friend of the whole family. Netflix are not interested in people’s feelings.”

Royal expert Ingrid Seward also said the scenes were “in exceedingly bad taste” and noted, “This is fiction. There’s no way in a million years he’d discuss his marriage with anybody. The royals probably won’t watch it for their own sanity.”

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