In an Oct. 19 letter written to U.K. publication The Times, Dench called the upcoming fifth season “crude sensationalism” and pointed to one scene in particular, from the season’s first episode, which reportedly shows then-Prince Charles (Dominic West) attempting to convince former U.K. Prime Minister John Major (Jonny Lee Miller) to persuade Queen Elizabeth II (Imelda Staunton) to abdicate the throne.
“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,” Dench wrote, “this is both cruelly unjust to the individuals and damaging to the institution they represent.”
Thus, Dench demanded Netflix add “a disclaimer at the start of each episode.”
Days later, the streaming service added a note to the show’s description on YouTube and Twitter, reading, “Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatisation tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign.”
Previous seasons’ descriptions have included similar language, however none have included the word “fictional.”