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the crown season five queen© Photo: Netflix

The Crown: Royal fans point out historical inaccuracies ahead of season 5

The series premieres on 9 November

Nicky Morris
TV and film writer
October 23, 2022
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Netflix recently released the official trailer for the highly-anticipated fifth season of The Crown and some fans have been quick to point out historical inaccuracies included in the series. 

MORE: The Crown releases first trailer for season five - see the Queen's 'annus horribilis'

The upcoming season, which is due to land on the streaming platform on 9 November, is set in the 1990s and will examine this turbulent decade for the royal family, including events such as the fire at Windsor Castle and Prince Charles and Diana's acrimonious separation. 

WATCH: Will you be watching the new season? 

Taking to Twitter on Saturday, royal commentator Dickie Arbiter shared a photo from series five which shows Prince Philip comforting the Queen whilst they both stand in the ruins of the Windsor Castle fire. 

He captioned the post: "What more proof that #TheCrown on @netflix is using events of the day to create fictional drama. The late Queen and Prince Philip never hugged in the ashes of the #WindsorCastleFire 20 November 1992 (see pic) as he was in Buenos Aires chairing a @WWF meeting. #Fakehistory."

MORE: The Crown: look back at Queen's brutal speech about prime ministers as Liz Truss quits - VIDEO

MORE: The Crown season 5 will not recreate major Princess Diana moment - details

Other fans were quick to comment on the photo, which was published in the Daily Mail newspaper on Saturday. One person wrote: "It's baffling [The Crown] constantly makes up stuff instead of going with easily proven facts/real events that are more interesting than what it makes up," while another added: "Of course they didn't. It is so sad that Netflix needs to make up rubbish when all they need to do is read what they actually did, as it was more interesting than anything they could put out."

the crown fire

The new series will include the fire at Windsor Castle

Another fan pointed out that this isn't the first time the show has made historical errors and referred to a scene from a previous series. "Absolutely. The Crown had Princess Margaret holding Lady Sarah at Edwards's christening. This didn't happen either because Lady Sarah was born the day before," they wrote. 

Other fans of the Netflix series also took to the comments section of Dickie's post to defend the drama, with many pointing out that it is a historical fiction show. One person wrote: "Yes - it's a historical drama. It's a captivating walk through the social history of the UK, using the Queen and her family as its dramatic focus. It's not a documentary. Enjoy it as entertainment, not fact."

the crown s5 queen dogs© Photo: Netflix

Season five arrives on 9 November

A second fan added: "I adore The Crown. I also realise it’s a fictional drama. It's actually made me more interested in the monarchy and go and find out what really happened past and present. People really need to keep this in perspective."

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