As fans of the (loosely based on real life) royal drama, The Crown, will know, the series certainly doesn't shy away from storylines that could be deemed unflattering or controversial. However, as is often the Royal Family's protocol, none of the current senior working members have publicly addressed the popular series before (although it is rumoured that Prince Charles' wife, Camilla, is a fan...).
Now, it's reported that Prince William has privately aired his grievances relating to the show's alleged plans to portray Princess Diana's now infamous 1995 interview with journalist Martin Bashir. The Duke has also spoken out about it publicly before, saying the interview should never be shown again or commercialised upon, and now it's said he's "frustrated" that The Crown may do just that.
According to a royal source, as reported by The Telegraph, "[The Duke's] words [on the interview] still stand."
Many will remember the fireside chat for being the moment that Diana, Prince William's mother, openly accused Prince Charles of cheating on her by saying there were three people in her marriage, making it somewhat "crowded".
In more recent years, however, an independent investigation found that the interview was obtained by presenting the princess with fake documents, something which Prince William strongly condemned in a statement this spring.
"It is welcome that the BBC accepts Lord Dyson’s findings in full - which are extremely concerning - that BBC employees lied and used fake documents to obtain the interview with my mother, [and] made lurid and false claims about the Royal Family which played on her fears and fuelled paranoia," the future king said.
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"[The BBC also] displayed woeful incompetence when investigating complaints and concerns about the programme; and were evasive in their reporting to the media and covered up what they knew from their internal investigation."
William added, "It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others. This settled narrative now needs to be addressed by the BBC and anyone else who has written or intends to write about these events."
A spokesman for the BBC said earlier this week: "The BBC has said it has no intention of showing the interview again. We have had no interaction on this specific issue with Netflix ."
Netflix offered no comment in response to a Variety query on the future episode.
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
