Josh O'Connor and Emma Corrin insist the royal drama The Crown doesn't need a disclaimer.
Calls for the show to declare it is based on a fictionalised take on events started with U.K. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden suggesting Netflix should include a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode. Actress Helena Bonham-Carter, who starred as Princess Margaret in season three and four of the show, also agreed, but now Josh and Emma - who plays Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana in the latest series of the programme - have weighed in on the controversy.
“We were slightly let down by our culture secretary, whose job it is to encourage culture,” Josh told the Los Angeles Times. “In my opinion, it’s pretty outrageous that he came out and said what he said. Particularly in this time when he knows that the arts are struggling and they’re on their knees, I think it’s a bit of a low blow.
"My personal view is that audiences understand. You have to show them the respect and understand that they’re intelligent enough to see it for what it is, which is pure fiction."
Emma concurred The Crown is "very clearly a dramatised version of events", comparing it to another successful TV show based around a powerful family.
“This is fictitious in the same way people don’t mistake Succession for what actually happened with the Murdochs,” she added. “I also understand (the request) comes from a place of sensitivity and protectiveness of the royal family and Diana."
