King Charles is absolutely losing his damn mind. Buckingham Palace is 100% behind the deranged campaign against The Crown. It’s not Prince William, it’s not Kate, it’s not Sophie or Edward or any of the rest of them. It’s all about Charles and Camilla. The thing is, before this moment, Camilla’s response was completely mature – she acknowledged that she watched The Crown, she befriended several of the actors in The Crown, and she also talked about how it wasn’t a documentary. But Camilla is participating in Charles’s delusional campaign at this point, even going so far as to rope in some of her friends in the industry. Judi Dench is one of Camilla’s friends. Dench has just written an “open letter” to Netflix, demanding that they put some kind of disclaimer about the fictional nature of The Crown. Here’s Dench’s letter, which I’m willing to bet was written by someone in Buckingham Palace:
Sir, Sir John Major is not alone in his concerns that the latest series of The Crown will present an inaccurate and hurtful account of history (News, Oct 17). Indeed, the closer the drama comes to our present times, the more freely it seems willing to blur the lines between historical accuracy and crude sensationalism.
While many will recognise The Crown for the brilliant but fictionalised account of events that it is, I fear that a significant number of viewers, particularly overseas, may take its version of history as being wholly true. Given some of the wounding suggestions apparently contained in the new series — that King Charles plotted for his mother to abdicate, for example, or once suggested his mother’s parenting was so deficient that she might have deserved a jail sentence — this is both cruelly unjust to the individuals and damaging to the institution they represent.
No one is a greater believer in artistic freedom than I, but this cannot go unchallenged. Despite this week stating publicly that The Crown has always been a “fictionalised drama” the programme makers have resisted all calls for them to carry a disclaimer at the start of each episode.
The time has come for Netflix to reconsider — for the sake of a family and a nation so recently bereaved, as a mark of respect to a sovereign who served her people so dutifully for 70 years, and to preserve its reputation in the eyes of its British subscribers.
Dame Judi Dench
London W1
This is hilarious. First of all, Netflix executives have barely spent any money on promotion – why would they need to spend money when every British paper and all of the king’s friends are Streisand-Effecting Season 5? Season 5 is going to be one of the most-watched programs in Netflix history. Second of all, Dame Judi Dench has worked on tons of historical dramas and weirdly, she’s never demanded that disclaimers be shown ahead of Shakespeare in Love or Mrs. Brown (about one of Queen Victoria’s love affairs!!) or Victoria & Abdul (about another one of Queen Victoria’s relationships!). Shouldn’t it be consistent with fictionalized historical dramatizations? Or does it only count when Charles is salty?
Another thing: “I fear that a significant number of viewers, particularly overseas, may take its version of history as being wholly true.” These people are beside themselves with worry that Americans are too dumb to understand that they’re witnessing a dramatization. But please, let’s keep up the fact-checking, especially for the episode where Charles and Camilla’s Tampon Phone Call is recreated verbatim.
I’m just really sad that Buckingham Palace will use an 87-year-old mostly-blind woman in their pathetic campaign. Isn’t there anyone who can tell King Charles that this whole thing is tasteless?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Dame Judi Dench visits the Hilliers Nurseries Exhibit in the Great Pavilion at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London, SW3 4SR on VIP & Press Day on Monday 20 May 2019. For a number of years Hillier has been working with growers and breeders in the USA and Durope to develop an elm that is fully resiistant to Dutch Elm Disease, which struck Britain in the late 1960’s and wiped out more than 30 million mature trees. Picture shows Dame Judi Dench, who visited the Hilliers Exhibit to launch the re-elming of the British Countryside starting this year.,Image: 511871405, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Sue Andrews / Avalon
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- The Duchess of Cornwall (second left) with Dame Antonia Fraser (left), Dame Edna O’Brien (second right) and Dame Judy Dench, at a reception hosted by The Duchess of Cornwall for ‘The Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room’, a hub for literary communities around the world, which celebrates literature in all its forms. Picture date: Tuesday October 26, 2021. Inspired by the success of Her Royal Highness’s reading lists shared during the pandemic in 2020, the Reading Room channel offers new seasons of book recommendations, as well as exclusive insight from the authors themselves, in a community space for book lovers of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.,Image: 639939231, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Ian Jones / Avalon
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- USA Rights Only – Isle of Wight, UK -20180724-Camilla Duchess of Cornwall enjoys an ice cream with Dame Judi Dench as she arrives at Queen Victoria’s private beach, next to the monarch’s holiday home in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Dame Judi, patron of the Friends of Osborne House, will show Camilla the newly restored Durbar Room, which was one of the locations for the film Victoria and Abdul in which she played Queen Victoria. -PICTURED: Judi Dench and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall -PHOTO by: Andrew Matthews/PA Images/INSTARimages.com -37720058.jpg This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded Featuring: Judi Dench and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall Where: Isle of Wight, England, United Kingdom When: 24 Jul 2018 Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Images/INSTARimages.com **USA Rights Only**
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- USA Rights Only – Isle of Wight, UK -20180724-Camilla Duchess of Cornwall enjoys an ice cream with Dame Judi Dench as she arrives at Queen Victoria’s private beach, next to the monarch’s holiday home in East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Dame Judi, patron of the Friends of Osborne House, will show Camilla the newly restored Durbar Room, which was one of the locations for the film Victoria and Abdul in which she played Queen Victoria. -PICTURED: Judi Dench and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall -PHOTO by: Andrew Matthews/PA Images/INSTARimages.com -37720060.jpg This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Instar Images LLC for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Instar Images LLC reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded Featuring: Judi Dench and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall Where: Isle of Wight, England, United Kingdom When: 24 Jul 2018 Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Images/INSTARimages.com **USA Rights Only**
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- North America Rights Only – London, UK -20211026- The Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room Reception. -PICTURED: Dame Judy Dench, Duchess of Cornwall -PHOTO by: INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing Featuring: Judy Dench, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 26 Oct 2021 Credit: INSTARimages.com **North America Rights Only**
I am curious to know why Judi Dench is so invested in how C&C’s relationship is portrayed, especially given she is an actress who herself has played members of the BRF….?
DAME Dench was “knighted” by the Queen. Therefore, she feels contractually obligated to express her gratitude. Moral subservience, I guess.
I know about the disclaimers on cigarette packs, but her request is preposterous when it comes to artistic work. Judi Dench has earned her tiara.
Yeah, she’s DAME Judy, got to speak out for her pals.
As for the rest of it, I love every aspect of this meltdown. Netflix could have saved the money they spent on those posters!
I think you have a point there. Judi may not be angling for a knighthood or damehood, but she seems to feel an allegiance to the BRF, so much so that she’s willing to degrade herself by looking foolish. I’m not into her, so I don’t really care that she’s doing this. And I don’t think that her age and eyesight really have any bearing on her making this ridiculous request. Have any of these people ever considered not watching the show? Good for Netflix though.
@SarahCS: In a way though, it’s good that there are posters up, mocking them, and reminding them of how ineffective their campaign against Netflix and The Crown has been. See Charles, we call be petty too.
Judi Dunce more like. How very servile of her. The Brit’s continue to have a serf mentality. They view a ‘gong’ from this ‘family’, various members of whom consort with paedophiles, accept cash in bags from Bin Laden’s family and who are credibly accused of rape, as an honour. Very, very strange. Sad.
@Debbie, love your comment of ‘she’s willing to degrade herself by looking foolish’. Because that’s exactly how she looks with this letter. I do hope they cover the phone call verbatim. The full transcript. Some of the BM only shared certain parts. There’s a whole section of them talking about asking someone to do something (posted about it a while back), someone named ‘Nancy’ and Camilla said ‘Nancy’ would because she was in love with him(Charles). Like they knew who to manipulate.
I’ve heard she’s friends with Camilla. I have to wonder, did Judi Dench make the same stink and ask for a disclaimer when she played Queen Victoria?
L84tea – I was just about to wonder the same thing Re her portrayal of Queen Victoria….
She’s not being subservient, JFC. She has a years long friendship with Camilla.
Well no, because now that the show “comes closer to our present times” (aka we were alive and remember it), dramatization of her friends and their recorded tampon wishes is too much.
Yeah, she played Victoria if I recall correctly. I don’t remember a disclaimer on that movie. I think she also played Elizabeth I. Also no disclaimer.
She’s played Victoria TWICE!! and Elizabeth I in shakespeare in Love. Was that the true story of Romeo and Juliet??? Was it Judi?? Huh??
To be fair, Queen Victoria and QE1 were both long dead when Dame Judy portrayed them. Charles and Camilla are not only very much alive but about to ascend the throne. (Or have they already ascended? I may be confusing ascension with coronation.) Either way, to me it simply looks like Dench is a dyed-in-the-wool Royalist seeking to protect the new reigning monarch and his Queen Consort, who happens to be her pal, from a very public and sensational dramatic character defamation which everyone knows they have fully earned. Inconvenient perhaps. The timing, and all. *sigh*
Can we make a petition for a disclaimer to be shown before the film “Cats” to make sure nobody accidentally mistakes Dame Judy for an actual feline?
Hahaha oh heck yeah Cats could be dangerous without an adequate warning label!
@Jay, Your comment was too darn funny!! Best comment of the day. I actually spit out my water and it also came out my nose….LOL
Wait – are you telling me that Cats was fictional?!?! 🙀🙀🙀🙀 I may not emotionally recover from this. Please tell me that it is a mistake.
If The Crown is intrinsically a “fictionalised account of events” presenting itself as such, wouldn’t a disclaimer overturn the purpose by suggesting its fictional nature might not be so? Zebras hardly ever carry “I am a zebra” tags, because what they are is evident and indisputable.
So if under King Charles, fiction is compelled to signal itself as fiction, perhaps it means it is not that evidently fictional, after all?
A certain aspect of King Chuck-Un’s anguish-prone personality and craving for ubiquitous control is starting to emerge in the most disgraceful manner. And I’m loving every bit of this Diana karma.
Is that a thunderstorm I hear or is Diana laughing her a$$ off up in heaven …rumble rumble boom lol
As always, the adage that royals only complain and explain when something is true and unfavorable applies (see: rose bush trimming, Botox, suitcases full of cash, etc). Let it be known that one of King Tampon’s first edicts is the suppression of artistic freedoms. The pen is truly mightier than the sword, which would explain KC’s vendetta against them. Now I can’t help but see the spilled ink on his hands as some sort of Lady Macbeth-esque foreshadowing of things to come.
Lmao!!! This is getting hilarious by the minute.
This Dench letter is just bonkers!
We’ve long passed the Streisand Effect and have now arrived at the
Jump the Shark phase of this saga.
This. It’s getting more and more ridiculous and the royal family look like a bunch of obsessed idiots (it’s getting to Tr*mpian levels now with Chuck’s focus on this). They look like a bunch of fools.
She should be embarrassed writing that letter how ridiculous
Yes, it was tacky of her.
the UK government is in shambles, costs of living rising by the day, people are struggling on that island – and the new king is up in arms over a TV show… huh?!
Over what (Charles thinks) is an “inaccurate and HURTFUL account of history.” His feelings are hurt, you see. So, the world must stop and soothe him. Perhaps the time has come for someone to put some wise words on a poster for Charles, using a proper fountain pen of course. They should write, “Never explain, never complain — especially the “complain” part.”
@ Debbie, agreed we must remember his hurt feelings in one of his many castles while others don’t know if they’ll have food or heat, right?
Charles is a billionaire ffs, he finally has his time in the sun as king…and THIS is what he’s concerned about? I guess he’s not worried about his subjects having an impossible time of it, just his own very thin white skin and that of his wife’s.
He knew he’d be king some day, of course his extramarital affair/s and shitty inhumanity were going to be exposed! How Diana was treated is public record. Sigh, he’s really not cut out to be a king is he?
The US was such a laughing stock from 2016-2020 that right now the fact that the UK is taking the heat makes me kind of happy 😂😂
Around these parts (the US) we would call it having ‘the chickens come home to roost’. AKA Karma, the most imperial majesty of b!tches. If Charles hadn’t earned it by being lousy to Diana and not defending Harry and Meghan, especially, he wouldn’t be in this boat – facing his just desserts.
Well we know that about a week ago there was a story going around that Charles was going to get some of his ‘friends’ to say that the way he was being portrayed in Netflix was very unfair. Dench and Major are these ‘friends’ and clearly have been ‘persuaded’ to make statements.
Not worth worrying about actually.
Maybe use the ACTUAL phone call. Do tapes of it still exist or were those all pulled?
Netflix should play the actual phone call at the end of the episode. Upload the Charles/Dimbleby interview after that episode and then upload the Diana/Bashir interview after that episode (only the BBC promised not to air it again).
Love this idea! LOL! Some “dramatizations” will have a “stay tuned after the show for the real story” moments. Five Days at Memorial most recently. It would be awesome if The Crown did this.
@ Snuffy. Excellent idea. They should call it “Here’s How Sh*t Really Went Down” with a montage of photos of all the “salacious” headlines by the UK papers at that time!
I guess Charles forgot how the tabs documented his relationship with Diana in real time. A disclaimer is just gaslighting since we all remember what happened.
They do a little bit of that on The Crown official podcast.
OMG Snuffy yes!!! They could play a solid 24 hours of Royal interviews back to back to back …call it a receipt marathon
I watched on All4 channel today the first trailer-like ad for this season in my neck of the woods and it was very Powerful. It showed Diana alone while C frolicking around, it specifically showed someone saying she was at breaking point because of how she was treated, etc. Netflix don’t care about Charles’ pathetic attempts. And good for them!
Gross. Just gross. Charles is concerned with all the wrong things. He really is just a huge child who has been spoiled his whole life and it’s sad to see.
I don’t find it sad at all. I’m glad the world is seeing exactly who Chuck is – a huge spoiled brat, a bully to staff and family members, and a man who cares only for himself and Cams. Diana was right that he’s not fit to be king.
I don’t really think their worried what the rest of the world thinks. I think it has finally soaked in to them. The rest of the world doesn’t really care about them. And with Brexit Europe doesn’t really care about them. What they are worried is that England will find out how sorry Charles is. They know there are fewer and fewer monarchists each year. And their grift is coming to an end.
All that is quite plausible @ Robert Phillips. The other thing that comes into play is the phone hacking by the BM. And, you know, a certain other lawsuit that’s recently dropped. C&C have their concerns. As do the British media. The Crown playing out Tampongate isn’t coming out at the best of times for the BM. Too bad for all of them.
2010 article from the Daily Beast/Tina Brown. Back when TB may have actually been a journalist and DB had credibility.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/news-of-the-world-scandal-did-murdochs-hacks-bug-dianas-phone
She’s getting feedback on twitter about her own historical roles, the fact she and Cam are chummy, and why she’s concerned only now about a show that’s been on for several seasons. And being asked where is her concern for accuracy and disclaimers when it comes to the tabloids and all the hatred they spew or concern for the “commoners” in the UK and their situation now.
GOOD.
equality, the disclaimers for the tabloids was my first thought. I’m glad she’s getting that kind of feedback on twitter.
I mean…you just can’t make this shit up. And now that dragged Dame Judi into this.
You know what, I often questioned the Queen’s “never complain, never explain” mantra, but it’s moments like this where I completely understand why she had it.
Is there no one around Charles that can talk sense into him? The British government is literally collapsing as we speak. His subjects will be starving and freezing this winter and their rivers are full of shit. Yet, Charles believes his most pressing issues is a Netflix show!? One of literally hundreds if not thousands of dramatizations of his family and not to mention the hundreds of documentaries over numerous decades.
It’s as if Charles has been itching to complain and explain for 50+ years and he’s unleashing all of his pent up rage.
The queen did complain eg bbc were forced to apologise after a report over footage which looked like she had stormed out in a tantrum at an Annie Liebowitz shoot. And she launched legal complaint against tabloid like the sun over publishing letter to Edward. She was just generally treated with more reverence so had little to complain about.
Which is why I’m kind of surprised at Charles’ carrying on about the crown so much because he’s been lampooned & ridiculed by the press for years & treated much less kindly than eg William. The crown actually made him fairly sympathetic in season 2 and 3 especially which tabloids like the telegraph were even saying- that it was great PR for him. I wonder if the earlier seasons of the crown lulled him into a false sense of security & that’s why he has taken the newer seasons so badly. He should be glad the crown isn’t showing all his mistresses if he wants to talk about inaccuracies.
Judi dench’s letter evoking the late queen is pathetic. I mean Charles himself had a bio basically calling her a cold mother & the earlier seasons portrayed that as well as showing Philip to be hard on his son but nobody was asking for disclaimers then. Do all of Judi’s portrayals of real life people have a disclaimer?
Knowing it’s Charles & Camilla’s friend speaking out 5 seasons in makes it very opportunistic. Has she spoken out against the sensationalist & cruel tabloids that likely form some of the sources for Peter Morgan etc & that the royal family are very cosy with?
Yeah, even with the current seasons, and Diana and Charles and Camilla, teh crown is STILL doing Charles a favor IMO because its playing up the whole thwarted young love bit, acting like charles and Camilla were in love the whole time and just could not be together bc of their families, when that’s not really what happened. Plus, it ignores the other mistresses. It’s not Peter morgan’s fault that charles treated his wife like dirt and cheated on her for the entirety of their marriage.
“ Is there no one around Charles that can talk sense into him?”
Looks like everyone who could either got fired…or died.
I was thinking the same thing. If ever there was a time for “never complain, never explain” this would be it. Brush the whole thing off as a silly, make-believe television show and don’t get your panties in a twist.
Money can’t buy this kind of promotion! DAME Judi lending her revered voice to raising the alarm! Netflix won’t even have to show the word for word comparisons to conversations and interviews that were publicized in C&C’s own voices — social and main stream media have the receipts ready to drop. While this season was always going to be epic, the hype has generated global attention and anticipation. I CANNOT WAIT.
I have never watched a single episode of the crown. But now that KC3 is making such a stink of it I think I am going to watch season 5, yep Streisand effect at work here. Also the forbidden fruit effect is happening here: The more someone is trying to prevent you from seeing or getting something the more you want to see it or get it.
It’s really well done. Solid writing, great actors, masterfully detailed sets. It is easy to confuse it for a docudrama. I’d be fascinated to see some receipts on what they’ve gotten wrong.
I completely agree. We were late to the party and only watch an episode once in a while (we’re somewhere in S3) and it’s really enjoyable with excellent production. My boyfriend Google’s quite a lot while we watch to check in on historical events and we’re also impressed with how they recreate outfits.
Watched all the seasons repeatedly (and maybe that was part hate watching as some of my Irish ancestors were starved out of their own country by the Brits).
There have been comments in the press about what the show got wrong historically including condensing the bloody history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. However, my sense from watching and reading the press was that there really were not a lot of major errors in reporting the facts. More that the show combined, streamlined, or glossed over events so as not to get too bogged down in details.
And yes, the early shows were extremely sympathic to the Queen and to Philip and their kids. Harder to do that in the Diana era when the receipts are so readily available. Gleeful cackle here, I am looking foward to the next one.
I really held off on watching it, because I’ve never been interested in the Royals aside from Harry and then Harry and Meghan (I liked Diana but I wouldn’t say I was interested in her). I honestly was tired of Brits in American media and the whole Posh Period Drama industry, in a way I didn’t want to “feed the beast.”
But we started watching during the Pandemic and yes, it’s very well done and pretty compelling. The most recent season was particularly riveting for me.
I haven’t seen any episodes, but I’ve decided that I’m going to watch this season too.
This is where the royals are calling in all their favors with these people and their awards and medals and all that. I’m actually embarrassed for her that she’s involving herself in this debacle like this.
I said this on FB in response to this story – but I think the people who are going to need a disclaimer bc they won’t understand that this is a documentary aren’t going to understand what a disclaimer is anyway.
so once in a while I see a reel or whatever that’s like “are these moments from the Crown true???” And its always things like, well did the royals really play that stupid game at Balmoral? Evidence suggests maybe they played X game instead. Did charles say “whatever love means?” Well yes, yes he did actually, but this other less important, less key moment, isn’t true, so lets focus on that!!
I actually really loved how they ended the episode with Edward and Wallis about the Nazis…just by showing the real pictures of them with hitler etc. It wasn’t a big deal in itself, they didn’t say THIS REALLY HAPPENED in all caps or whatever, just “here you go, we’re not making this sh1t up.”
If The crown put out an episode after the season fact-checking itself, I think the royals would be ticked because it would show how much IS based on fact and how much is NOT made up.
Netflix should totally put out their own “what’s fact? What’s fiction?” Podcast after every episode. A lot of media outlets have been doing that in previous seasons. Personally, I regularly googled stuff after watching an episode. I’m sure millions of others will do the same and do their own research. And with Charles kicking up such a fuss, that will increase a million fold. Which is worse for Charles because the truth has always been much worse than how The Crown portrayed it.
And you know TikTok-ers and the rest of social media is gearing up to fact check in real time.
@Snuffles Netflix has done fact checking videos on twitter and Instagram – they did a whole series on Camilla/Charles/Diana.
This is what Chuck is afraid of, a younger generation are able to find out on social media or via simple research that the ‘dramatization’ is based on fact.
They have a podcast where they do look at the historical events as well as interview the writers and actors. It is very good!
Well, great @Becks1, now I’ll never be satisfied in this life until The Crown releases a companion piece fact-checking itself!
I was GOBSMACKED when I saw the actual pictures of Wallace and Edward with Nazis. I had NO IDEA. (I am American, and never learned of their affinity for fascism in school.) It was fascinating and horrifying. I had actually watched that season of The Crown already before my husband decided he wanted to watch it, so I rewatched the seasons I’d already seen with him and could not WAIT to see his reaction to that episode. He, too, was SHOCKED.
I agree with all of the comments about how this is just further proof of Charles’ true nature. He really thinks that Netflix should bow down and kiss his ring and do his bidding. Also that the RF really are surrounded by nothing but sycophants who tell them what they want to hear.
Sorry that you were an a-hole in modern times when a record exists, Chuck.
The country is going to hell in a hand cart and this is the story which is making headline news. FGS what on earth is Charles thinking? A compassionate king would be sending out consolatory messages to his subjects; not trying to rewrite history. No matter how many times Charles, William and the men in grey tell us otherwise, Charles married Diana and he had an affair with Camilla. I’m beginning to wonder if the BRF have shares in Netflix because the publicity this fifth season is getting is off the chart!
When people show you who they are, believe them. King Chuck the Rex’s biggest problems are his wayward son who has the nerve to tell the truth about how his dear old dad used him as a human shield, a TV show that’s going to fictionalize him and his adultery and may not be completely nice about it, that bloody pen whose ink won’t run smoothly and stains his hands, and if there will be enough skunk’s ass oil for him to smear on his face come May.
Chuck: “The economy? the government? pish posh. Why is the toothpaste smeared on my toothbrush, Royal Toothpaste Squeezer? It’s supposed to be a perfect S curve! It’s flattened, I say. Flattened! Oh, the agony…CAMILAAAAAA!”
@Lanne
Thank you for the laugh, as I can easily imagine that scene.
Your first paragraph is nothing but the truth, the whole truth, and nothin but the truth.
All this protesting does is make me all the more eager to watch the show. They are clueless as to how to manage PR. And we all know Cams was the side chick and we all know Chuck is an arrogant, self absorbed, spoiled man child who treated Diana horribly and cheated in her. Tampon Gate will not be forgotten!!!!
I’m having friends over and watching this season in party mode.
Charles is doing the most to make sure we all watch The Crown. He is doing free promo for them.
Us viewers know that these are not ACTUAL conversations that happened but the broad strokes are true, there is proof of that.
The bigger problem is that some of the worst and most unbelievable conversations ARE actual conversations and this whole debate is unearthing them. Twitter is covered with the Tampax transcript as published in the tabloids right now. I just re-read it and still feel unclean.
Yes, it does sound so…unsanitary, doesn’t it. Tampon play between Chuck and Camilla is squickworthy, for sure!
Chuck should have known that the tampon squick would live in infamy. He’s stupid if he didn’t know that it would haunt him into eternity! If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime Chucky!
If Charles was cool and chill, he’d be promoting free Tampax in school or something to show how he’s truly unbothered. That’d be the boss response and an overall good thing. But nah he got dame Judi drench prostrating herself instead. It’s a choice.
I wouldn’t be surprised if King Chuck used paddington bear to dissuade people from watching the crown. I’ve got my barrel of popcorn ready, lol.
LOL! While trying to conscript Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and all creatures great and small in the Hundred Acre Wood, dressed up in his Eeyore costume.
Hahaha 🤣 “Oh bother why won’t Netflix listen to me?!? Piglet will you please get that letter out of the dust bin for me?” These people good heavens how do they make it through the day
Odd that it did not bother her before the show featured Charles Camilla and Diana. She is buddy buddy with Camilla of course.
So they’re freaking out the most, and trying to call it a fictionalization the most, when there is the most true stuff in it. Documented stuff. Stuff a lot of us lived through and remember.
You can’t actually gaslight the whole world, Chucky.
The dimbleby book Charles authorized biography based on Charles own words to his biographer included Charles complaints about his parents. Will Charles try to censor this book now
If I remember correctly, Judy Dench had issues with memorizing text (I believe maybe as M in James Bond?). I have no idea if she’s mentally 100% fit.
Next, this was beyond dumb: the foreign reaction to this is essentially 1. We know it’s not a documentary!! 2. You’re acting like we’re stupid. 3. Have you heard of the Streisand effect? And 4. If you think British people don’t know drama from documentaries, tell them it’s not real yourself and the problem is solved.
It wasn’t a problem with memorization, it’s her sight. She has advanced macular degeneration. She can’t see much. So she has to have the print of her scripts made very large, and/or have people read the scripts to her to be able to memorize it.
Dame Judi is almost totally blind. She’s still sharp as a tack but she’s an ardent monarchist — she’s of the generation that worships the royals and the status quo.
Another show I’m late to the party on….I’m only on season 2 and I love it, but I love that older history. I don’t know how much I’ll enjoy season 5, but with all this “horse”shit going on, maybe it will be more entertaining than I thought 🙂
I really enjoyed Season 1 and 2. Season 3 was a tough slog as I feel like nothing particularly interesting happened. Then Season 4 was amazing with not just the Diana but the Thatcher stuff (luv me some Gillian Anderson!).
Judi the queen did not behave badly the way her son did.
The other day I had wondered if this was actually a media push for the BM’s own ridiculous purposes but this puts paid to that idea. It’s hard for me to believe they’re that dumb but here we are.
This from the woman that put out a statement to defend Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey.
“What kind of agony is that?” she said.
“Are we going to negate 10 years at the Old Vic and everything that he did [as artistic director] – how wonderful he’s been in all those films? Are we just not going to see all those films that Harvey produced?”
Dame Judi can gt in the bin with the other trash.
Oh, jeez—really!?!! For cryin’ out loud…😞😞🤮🤮
OMG!!! How did I miss this when it happened? I have loved her work in so many different movies and shows but defending Spacey and Weinstein is not acceptable to me.
Wow. She’s a total enabler.
Oh no!
Hanging my head in shame.
I’m going to have to choose a different handle!
May I suggest, “The poster formally known as damejudi” ?
ShameJudiDench?
Maybe lamejudi?
Lol. Welcome to CB, @lamejudi!
So sory! I’ve always been so fond of her performances. I’m taking this personally.It makes me worried about her that she would do something this ridiculous. 😟
Sorry about that! Yes, I don’t know why she’s getting involved. She’s a fine actress. She doesn’t need to be publicly siding with the Royals against a TV network.
What would a disclaimer accomplish? Historical re-enactments or dramatizations just mean exaggerations to most people and that the crux of the thing is true. Which in this case, it very much is and some of us remember seeing it happening at the time.
It would simple give them a victory to crow other and they would use it to attach Netflix further. Charles bashes his parents’ parenting (and by all accounts he is not wrong) in public repeatedly. He did spent that part of the 90s pushing back on his parents, who he blamed (not without some justification) for the dragging out of his breakup with Diana and just most things. The Queen resented him from birth. He was her replacement. He is a disaster and horrible, but truly they all are and he comes by it as honestly as the rest. Because the right wing press spent the last decade turning her and the family into deities, they now expect total acquiescence, as many commentators have pointed out here.
The queen catered to Charles she sided with him during the divorce from Diana approved his marriage yo Camilla and wrote a notice that she supported the couple and wished them well when they became king and queen consort. Charles problem is that he is does not take responsibility for his own actions and blames others including his parents. Charles and Charles alone made the decision to behave the way he did to his first wife and imo does not see how badly he is treating harry and Meghan
His grandmother enabled his behaviour spoiling and coddling him.
Lainey of LaineyGossip summed it up best for me.
“If we’re looking for a disclaimer…
Isn’t Dominic West the disclaimer?! In what world with eyes is that a physical likeness?
The disclaimer is that Dominic West is Prince Charles! “
Interesting. I vaguely remembering a report/gossip that claimed that the Queen used to call Camilla ‘The Homewrecker’. But Charles being Charles and Diana being removed from the equation, she had to accept her, I guess.
The documentary the princess should be watched before the new season of the crown it has footage and interviews from the years of actual events. Charles cannot deny for instance his naming Camilla and earlier on a tour saying he needed two wives. His pettiness and selfishness is seen in real life.
If she wants to complain okay fine (with or without BP asking her to) but a disclaimer is going to do absolutely nothing. I am sure the majority of people watching know that it’s a fictional dramatisation of events and not a factual documentary. Those who take what is shown as the absolute truth is probably a very small minority anyways.
Judi’s letter was unhinged.
Now, now Dame Judi. Let’s not pretend that Peter Morgan did a creative roundtable, picked out a random aristo (Cams) and made up a thwarted love story complete with cheating, hijacked phone calls, and Chuck and Di using the press to get back at each other. Diana herself said there were three in the marriage, and the third was Camilla.
The Firm is going to go after the script and nitpick the words and settings but recollections may vary isn’t going to work here. And us overseas folks understood exactly what was going on back then and we are here with our popcorn, very excited to see it all play out on The Crown.
Exactly. And also The Crown has always described itself as ‘a dramatisation based on real events’. I’d say that’s more fair and accurate than categorising itself as ‘fiction’. They can all sit down.
Morgan did make up the thwarted love story part though. She was one of Charles’ multiple mistresses. He didn’t want to marry her.
The Crown is so incredibly kind to the royals. I find it kind of sickening. Otoh, watching what they were really like would not be a very enjoyable story.
That should be the ending then. Just photos and press clippings of Charles and his mistresses. Since they’re all concerned about facts.
I’d argue that Charles and his then PR guru Mark Bolland, made up the thwarted love story as part of the Great Whitewashing of Camilla. Peter Morgan is doing Charles a favour he doesn’t deserve to keep peddling that.
I am so embarrassed for her.
“No one is a greater believer in artistic freedom than I, but this cannot go unchallenged.”
It’s giving
“If you are speaking of music…it is of all subjects my delight. There are few people in England I suppose, who have more true enjoyment of music than myself, or a better natural taste. If I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient.” (Lady Catherine, P&P)
Anyway all these unforced errors from BP are making me giggle! I love reading these stories first thing in the morning. Also yeaaa KC y’all have a lot worse stuff to be worrying on, videos of Liz Truss in Parliament make front page on reddit and whew they’re embarassing
“No one is a greater believer in artistic freedom than I…” Except when it involves the family that knighted me. Then, I say, off with the artists’ heads!
She is destroying what was a pretty strong legacy.
That’s the line that stood out to me, too. Nope, Judi, you apparently are not a great believer in artistic freedom.
Pathetic.
She shouldn’t have sent the letter. But, re: some of the comments here, there is a difference between historical dramatizations and dramatizations based on living, breathing people. And, I think we’re on a slippery slope when it’s wonderful to do dramatizations of living people when we dislike those people and they’re just getting what they deserve, but it’s horrible and invasive and shouldn’t be done when it’s people we like or consider to be victims. When the story of people who are still alive is being told, the same standards need to be applied whether we like those people or not.
I don’t think the same standards apply at all. The royals are already public figures. They have a ton of political power, though people like to pretend otherwise. They aren’t some random family victimized by a serial killer or something.
@Emily_C. Exactly. I don’t get this uproar about doing dramatizations about living people. There’s been multiple movies about Barack and Michelle Obama, a recent series about Tommy and Pamela Anderson (yes, I know this was criticized as well), shows/movies about various political or cultural events that portray the real people behind them. Examples include sport figures, presidents, actors, musicians, etc. King Richard just netted Will Smith an Oscar. Sure, the more popular historical dramas are based on already deceased people, but let’s not act like people have always made a big deal about dramatizations of people still alive. The Crown happens to be extremely popular and the people it’s about have the ability to wage this ‘war’ against historical dramatization because it makes them seem flawed.
@ncwoman
And where was this energy for the first 3 seasons? Most of those characters were still alive then and are still alive now.
Yeah that’s something that some people are pushing, that this is different because these people are still living/breathing so it changes the calculation somehow.
To which I say….what? there are SO many movies on a regular basis (and TV shows) about people who are still living today. Hell, The Queen starring Helen Mirren? Can we not have movies about the Kennedys bc Caroline Kennedy is still alive? Can we not dramatize any presidency over the past 40 or 50 years if that president is still alive, or any members of his family? What about the OJ Simpson trial? What about a musical group like Queen? Freddie Mercury is dead but the other members aren’t.
Hollywood and the entertainment industry dramatizes stories about living people all the time and somehow its only a problem when its Charles and Camilla being raked over the coals for THEIR OWN ACTIONS.
Philip was still alive when the first seasons of the Crown showed him to be a harsh father toward his children. No one raised a stink then. This is only about Charles being a spoiled child.
My opinion? No. This family lives on stolen land on stolen wealth and secretly works behind the scenes to arrange UK politics for their benefit. The domestic drama that comes to light is the least of the scandal surrounding them. The worst of it is far deeper corruption.
💯
Then why weren’t these arguments abouts about dramatizations of the living vs. the dead and invasion of privacy brought up in previous seasons of The Crown? In those earlier seasons, the RF members were boasting about watching the show and loving it. Highly selective criticism, I say.
The mention of how the series is perceived in “foreign countries” is funny to me. It’s definitely showing their hand, as in the UK, all of their media will tow the same exact line, verbatim about the series. They will zero in on very particular dramatizations/compressed events and then use those to discredit the ENTIRE series, much like how they tried to do with the Oprah interview (like the backyard vows/title convention for Archie & Lili) in the UK. The problem for them is that the UK media’s reach/influence doesn’t go far beyond their tiny island. They may book some “experts” on American morning shows, but because so many of them have WRITTEN worse than what’s portrayed in the show, they won’t even be believable.
Well now all I want is for the tampon call episode to end with a clip played from the actual tampon call. I still remember that skit from SNL, I was very young and just completely shocked and disgusted at the thought of someone wanting to be a tampon, 😂
Yeah, that is at the top of my “You So Nastee” celebrity “Ugh!” list. 🤮
Back in the day, the original call was played in its entirety for the public. I think a local radio station played it where I lived at the time – it was a “turn up the volume so we can hear it” horribly cringy moment. The old transcript is accurate.
How ridiculous for a “former employee” of the entertainment industry to demand anything! Nice to see she’s still working, albeit for the RF. Hope she’s getting paid!
This is a very pedantic detail, but Dame Judy Dench does NOT live in W1, she lives in a small village in Surrey next to my friends, where the postcode is RH. So the palace wrote this.
Good catch!!
What’s the chance the tampon episode drops the same week the Wailes are in Boston?
Paddington Bear was drafted in this shitty war of Charles’ against the truth, BUT Disney owns Winnie the Pooh and all its characters. They are cheap as hell and have NO interest in propping up gratis those a-holes in the UK.
“Disclaimer: During the years in question, Prince Charles did not actually look like Dominic West.”
👆👆👆This! 😂
Ha!
@CC just spit out my wine, thank you!
Haha, I think that’s a COTW@cc! 😂😂😂
Oh this is great! Perfect! You absolutely win!
I love it!
“Disclaimer: Also he was cheating on Diana with more women than just Camilla.”
“Disclaimer: We cut out almost all of Philip’s racism and his rampant, uncontrolled cheating. Also all of the Queen Mother’s racism, her pursuit of Edward, and her weird treatment of the heirs.”
“Disclaimer: If we showed what Lord Mountbatten was really like, you’d be cheering his death.”
“Final Disclaimer To Address All the Other Horrors We’re Whitewashing: We had to make most of these people look far better than they were/are because otherwise this show would be unwatchable.”
You really should get this in front of Netflix peeps. I’m serious!
The stupidity here is off the chain. If they had any sense at all they wouldn’t say anything. All the public hand wringing and cry-babying about this is just enticing people to watch to see what all the fuss is about. They’re giving the show plenty of free publicity. Just shut up and go about your business, if it’s all fictional, you shouldn’t care.
THIS IS SO CRINGE AHAHAHAAHAHH. I am embarrassed for them all, what the heckkkkk are they doin’
My post on another post applies here too.
“Nothing makes sense anymore. I’m starting to think a portion of the world is on an acid trip, or I’m still on my acid trip since the eve of the US election of 9, 2016. Oh please, I hope I’m just on a bad acid trip, not the real world.”
Is anyone else hoping for a future reboot of ‘The Crown’, the Year 2022 the maddest of King Charles?
I’m 99.9% sure The Firm is sabotaging Charles on purpose.
If he’s in panic mode over THIS, thank God he has no power to do anything real in government (besides leeching onto the general budget and sucking up the citizens’ share of much-needed pounds). What a piss-poor king he’s showing himself to be! Imagine if Harry were king? He’d do them proud. Elizabeth’s father did so much in the war effort. And here Charles is having conniptions over a TV show. Too bad he won’t resign like the PM.
They really do think most of us are Windsor-stupid, huh?
How bizarre that they are amping of viewership instead of being quiet and letting this roll out without additional fanfare…much like Prince Harry’s book…a look at how this Monarchy will proceed.
I don’t see Dame Judith receiving positive feedback on this. It’s but one program and the fuss being made makes me anticipate season 5 that much more..
Accomplished people outing themselves is fascinating to me. 2015 news footage exists somewhere of Loretta Lynn being interviewed by a reporter about her enthusiastic support for Trump. Not that I listen to her music, but she certainly had a respected place in American music history. Dench is really friends with Camilla, lol?! Going forward, I’ll never be able to separate her ridiculous letter from her acting (which I won’t be watching).
Same for me. Has turned out to be Judi Dunce.
If the royals think it’s defamation, they can sue. I think they’ll lose, but that would be the appropriate path. But if they simply don’t like the content and try to stop Netflix from airing it . . well, Charles is part of the government isn’t he, so that would be censorship?
On a separate note, I also think they are interfering with Harry and Meghan’s business relationships, which is a tort in America. What they can do in Britain might not be the same in the USA.
Netflix should do just what they did the last time Charles kicked up a fuss – release an actual documentary that uses actual footage and promote it for anybody who still has questions. Seriously, the series is filed under “drama”!
All of this fuss continues to make people more interested in the show than they otherwise would be. And honestly, the real events and conversations look so much worse for Charles.
“I fear that a significant number of viewers, particularly overseas, may take its version of history as being wholly true.”
This is insulting, and Judi Dench as well as whoever wrote this for her (if she didn’t write this herself), should be ashamed for saying this.
Diana was hugely beloved across the world, by women of colour in particular. People the world over were sympathetic to her, and outraged by how she was treated. By saying “viewers overseas” might take the Crown as fact, they’re basically saying that all the black and brown peasants across the world are too f-cking stupid to know the difference between television and reality. And that is insulting.
We see you Charlthree. We see you all being racist time and again. F-ck you all.
Yep, that’s how I read that, not US viewers necessarily, but the Commonwealth and beyond. With all the implied racism you mention.
It’s an incredibly English thing to say. Not British — English. And Home Counties English, at that. A lot of them really do still think they’re the only people who matter.
Charles made a mistake in 1997 because he never seemed even remotely sad about Diana dying. Yes, they were divorced but she was beloved by the world, they’d been married for many years, and she was the mother of his children. People who never met Diana mourn her to this day, but Charles has always seemed more relieved by her death than anything. And every move he makes around The Crown and Netflix, every fit he has, every freak out happening at BP, shows us that Diana was absolutely right about him. His lack of empathy and substance is breathtaking, and he should be ashamed of his behavior. His mother was absolutely right to stay on the throne as long as possible, because he’s even worse than we all expected. My goodness.
I usually ok or don’t care about these posts.
I do in this case, I think there is a big difference between alive and dead on fictional recreations.
Saying she is mostly blind is super abelist, not because she is blind but because you think that makes her what? Incompetent? Not able to make her own decisions?
Why? If something is false about you, does it not still impact your legacy if you are alive or dead? Do your descendants still not have to reconcile their views of you versus the world at large? People who get millions of dollars each year for “public service” and think that only flattering portrayals should be allowed, and that anything that isn’t flattering isn’t ” historically accurate”? Please. This also doesn’t hold water because they were fine with this show for years, just last year Camilla literally briefed in the press she’d probably watch the intro to Diana years with a glass of wine until the social media feedback was negative, then they changed their tune. This has nothing to do with historical accuracy, and everything to do with public relations as it always does with that family. They are fine with things if it makes them look good, which season 1-3 did, and then it becomes the worst thing ever when they have to be accountable for their own actions.
I watched the first three or four episodes of season 1, liked it well enough, but dropped off. I’ll tell you what though, I’m definitely going to watch this season.
I am looking forward to November 5th, the day Charles will likely take a dump and on the sidewalk, point at it, and yell, “Over here! Look over here!”
We have arrived at a point where reality and reality TV finally need a disclaimer. SO tired of the spin on every last minutia of life. Here is my advice: step away from the screens and go out into the 3 dimensional world and get some air and light. All of us who were alive to see the wedding and media coverage of his marriage know that KCIII is a POS; we dont need the Crown to help us decide. He has already lost.
Are we sure that Netflix didn’t somehow orchestrate this letter? Because honestly, they couldn’t be asking for better publicity for the show – expect a record audience when it drops. If the BRF is getting this worked up over it, then you know its gonna be saucy 🙂
Oh, sweetie, no.
Also we know this is only BASED on real life, not actual real life.
Also, if you wanted to look better, you should have behaved better in the 90’s.
There was so much misinformation in the Shakespeare movie that I believe Dame Dench received an award for her performance. Victoria and Abdul portrayed Queen Victoria as a lonely, gullible monarch with a low IQ. Her brother killed Abdul’s countryman and deported him. There was no disclaimer. When called upon, the titles and tin medals are obligated to speak on behalf of the Royal family. It’s why some candidates opt not to accept. Ultimately, those items don’t put food on the table.
King Charles and his Queen are spending too much energy trying to dilute the impact of the Crown season 5. Many lived through the Prince and Princess of Wales’s tumultuous marriage and know every line in the movie is inaccurate. Still, the overall storyline is close to what happened. They can thank their loyal friends in tabloid media and self-proclaimed royal biographers.
The stories people shared with James O’Brien on LBC yesterday about their struggles with food, clothing, and shelter were heart-wrenching. Charles and Camilla live a luxurious life, and after Crown season 5 has gone, they will continue living luxurious lives. All of this commotion distracts from what’s happening in the UK government.
In the USA, democracy is on the ropes. We can’t afford to be concerned about how a 73-year-old privileged monarch feels about television production. Statistics show high viewing numbers of the Crown since its inception, and many will watch season 5.
The rf often smirk at the trash they leak to the rr so it’s pretty rich that suddenly the whole world should be concerned with KC and QC’s feelings. In fact, it takes a lot of gall to even make this request for two of the most advantaged and entitled people on the planet.
The Netflix execs must be rubbing their hands with glee. I bet they never imagined the royals would give them all this free publicity. People who have never watched The Crown before now are watching the older seasons to catch up before S5 is released because they want to watch the new eps that have the royals imploding.
They haven’t learned a damned thing have they? The more they show they’re upset, they more people are going to think everything is true. I’m old enough to remember what was in the papers (and I took that with a boulder of salt BTW) and if he was such a wansteman & phukboy while he was married to Diana he wouldn’t be doing this now. If they’d just shut up about it, they could’ve ignored it but now – everyone is going to watch. Idiots.
Maybe Dame Judy wrote the letter as a friend.
It is most unfortunate that all this energy is expended towards a minor matter.
Ok, but Netflix SHOULD include the following disclaimer tho, it’s only fair!
“We at Netflix acknowledge the grave inaccuracy it is on our part to give the impression to our valued viewers; that His Majesty King Charles 3 is hot like Dominic West.”
I just shake my head at her. I couldn’t watch Jean and Lionel the same way after she took up for Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein. I can see Elizabeth Deb. whatever as Diana, but I laugh every time I see Dominic West as Prince Charles. I didn’t see that coming. He’s a great actor that sometimes cheats on his wife who stays. That’s her business. I used to think he was so hot when I was younger. The Wire years. No one has said anything about Kanga appearing. That would be better, but the ending is sad. Her and Diana’s. She wasn’t 50 when she died.
I stopped watching after season 2 because I couldn’t deal with a whole set of new actors with different chemistries, it didn’t feel like the same show anymore.
But my god, this drama might make me want to start again, haha