Joanna Lumley revealed she won’t be watching The Crown out of respect to several members in the Royal Family, who she’s friends with.
The Netflix original series documents Queen Elizabeth II’s reign from when she found herself thrust on to the throne following her father’s death.
However, the drama has been widely criticized for rewriting the history books entirely in what has been described as ‘a monstrous lie’.
The 75-year-old actress, who is on good terms with Prince Charles, admitted she watched earlier episodes to educate herself on the Queen’s early life, but switched off as it progressed.
‘I know that’s not how they speak or what they said or did,’ the Absolutely Fabulous star told The Mirror.
‘People say, “oh, well everybody knows that it’s made up,” people don’t, people think it’s the truth.’
She added: ‘So I decided not to watch it anymore because I have some loyalty, as one would to anybody they know and like and are lucky enough to be friendly with.’
Joanna also branded some of the dialogue within the drama as ‘rather ghastly,’ which she said must be ‘agonising’ for the Royal Family.
This isn’t the first time Joanna has slammed the ‘laughable’ historical series, and even said she doesn’t think Charles or the Duchess of Cornwall watch the show.
‘I know them, so I know it’s all made up and it’s rubbish. All the poor actors who are doing their best to copy them, it’s awful,’ she told Australian Women’s Weekly magazine.
While Prince William was reportedly ‘frustrated’ to hear that that Princess Diana’s interview with Martin Bashir will be featured in the upcoming season, Prince Harry said that he felt ‘way more comfortable’ with the show than he does ‘seeing the stories written about my family or my wife or myself’.
Speaking to James Corden, he said: ‘They don’t pretend to be news. It’s fictional. But it’s loosely based on the truth.’
The fifth season, which is rumoured to be released at the end of the year, will see Imelda Staunton step into the shoes of Queen Elizabeth II, succeeding Olivia Colman in the role, who took over from Claire Foy.
Elizabeth Debicki is set to portray Princess Diana, following Emma Corrin’s performance, with Dominic West depicting Prince Charles, after Josh O’Connor.
Metro.co.uk has reached out to Netflix for comment.
The Crown is available to stream on Netflix.
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