Netflix shares statement defending The Crown as it's branded 'deliberately hurtful' to royals

Netflix have issued a statement defending The Crown ahead of the release of season five amid backlash over the royal drama. 

• With season five of The Crown set to be released in November, Netflix have issued a statement defending the show amid criticism. 
• The show has been branded 'malicious' by former Prime Minister John Major, while the Queen Mother's biographer has called it a 'disgrace'. 
• In other royal news, Queen Consort Camilla's adorable Paddington Bear tribute to the Queen has been revealed. 

With season five of the Netflix smash hit, depicting decades of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, preparing to hit screens with a brand new cast next month, The Crown has been hit with backlash.

Former Prime Minister, John Major, who is played by Jonny Lee Miller in the upcoming season, shared a statement branding The Crown "damaging and malicious fiction".

His spokesperson told The Times, "Sir John has not co-operated in any way with The Crown. Nor has he ever been approached by them to fact-check any script material in this or any other series."

Amid rumours that The Crown is set to depict Charles in the 1990s, sharing his hopes that the Queen would abdicate and let him reign, John Major's spokesperson said that scenes of this nature would be "seen as nothing other than damaging and malicious fiction. A barrel-load of nonsense peddled for no other reason than to provide maximum - and entirely false - dramatic impact."

Meanwhile, William Shawcross, the official biographer for the Queen Mother, wrote a letter to The Telegraph, calling The Crown an "odious series, filled with lies and half-truths encased in lace and velvet" saying that the programme is 'astonishingly and deliberately hurtful to individual members of the royal family'.

Now, Netflix has shared a statement in defence of The Crown, stating that the drama has always been described as just that. 

"The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events," a Netflix spokesperson said. 

"Series five is a fictional dramatisation, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors during a significant decade for the royal family – one that has already been scrutinised and well-documented by journalists, biographers and historians."