The Crown ‘would have destroyed’ the Queen with its ‘vicious’ plot – Harry must pull out of his Netflix deal, pal says

NETFLIX’S latest season of The Crown and its “vicious” plot “would have destroyed” the Queen, one of her friends has said.

The fifth series, hitting screens next month, shows Prince Charles lobbying the prime minister, John Major, to force his mother to abdicate in 1991.

Last week his spokesperson slammed the show as “a barrel-load of nonsense”.

The ex-PM spoke of his fears the “damaging and malicious fiction” could unfairly harm the reputation of King Charles.

Now a close friend of the Queen has given an insight into what the late monarch may have thought about the show.

She told The Times: “I’m horrified by what is going on with Netflix and how they are vilifying the royal family. It is vicious. It’s as if they’re trying to destroy the royal family.

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“It would have destroyed her.” 

It comes as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix documentary has been delayed amid backlash over The Crown.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex‘s highly anticipated show – set to tell their “love story” – has been pushed back until 2023, it is understood.

The source added: “If I had my family being vilified like that, I wouldn’t take a penny [from Netflix].”

Earlier this week it was revealed that Netflic is defying Dame Judi Dench by refusing to add a factual disclaimer to The Crown episodes.

Insiders say the streaming giant was “panicked and rocked” after the Oscar winner, 87, blasted its fictionalised accounts of royal life as “cruelly unjust”.

But it has snubbed her calls to add a warning to every episode featuring its made-up plot-lines.

A TV insider said: “Producers decided showing anything extensive could provoke a backlash.”

The new series covers 1990 to 1997, as the marriage of Charles, played by Dominic West, 53, and Diana, portrayed by Elizabeth Debicki, 32, continues to fall apart.

Netflix said the show’s title page describes it as fictionalised drama but confirmed it will not add a warning to individual episodes.

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A spokesman for Netflix said: “The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events. 

“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.”