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Kate Garraway has thrown her support behind Dame Judi Dench after the screen icon wrote an open letter requesting that the new season of The Crown carries a ‘factual disclaimer’.
Season five of the popular period drama, which recounts key moments in the history of the British Royal Family, will debut on Netflix in November.
It will come just two months after the death of Queen Elizabeth II which thrust King Charles III and the rest of the royals under the spotlight during their period of mourning.
However, some public figures have expressed their distaste for some of the storylines the new season will cover, such as the death of Princess Diana and fictionalised claims that the then Prince Charles tried to enlist Prime Minister Sir John Major to persuade the Queen to abdicate.
In her open letter, Dame Judi expressed concerns that overseas viewers would take The Crown’s history as being ‘wholly true’, adding that the show seems to ‘blur the lines between historical accuracy and crude sensationalism’.
Discussing the James Bond actress’ stance, Good Morning Britain presenter Adil Ray said: ‘She normally keeps accounts on these things, for her to come out and not just in an interview, but to write a letter to The Times, she really genuinely feels quite strongly about this.’
Kate Garraway says she can understand where Dame Judi Dench is coming from (Picture: Rex Features)
Dame Judi is concerned overseas viewers of The Crown will believe the series to be ‘wholly’ true (Picture: Getty Images)
Kate then chimed in: ‘It’s that blurring between fiction and history that The Crown does so beautifully actually, but you can see why she’d say, hang on, if they’re admitting that things are completely made up if you like because nobody knew what happened then it’s quite unfair at this time, you can see her point can’t you?’
Richard Arnold agreed with her and said: ‘You can definitely see her point but obviously not putting a disclaimer out there adds increasing sizzle to the show.’
In her letter to The Times, Dame Judi said that Sir John was ‘not alone’ in his concerns about The Crown presenting ‘an inaccurate and hurtful account of history.’
‘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,’ she wrote.
The Crown season five will follow Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) until her death in 1997 (Picture: Netflix)
The Shakespeare In Love actress, who famously portrayed the Queen in continued: ‘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.’
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
The Crown season 5 debuts November 9 on Netflix.
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Dame Judi expressed her concern about ‘historical accuracy and crude sensationalism’.