The Royal Family Turned Down Offer to Fact Check 'The Crown

last updated 7 October 2021

Netflix recently dropped the fourth season of its hit royal drama, The Crown, but sources close to the royal family (opens in new tab) say they aren't pleased with the show's portrayal of them.
According to royal correspondent and biographer Omid Scobie (opens in new tab), the royals were asked to help fact check the series, but declined to participate.
It's unclear if the royal family will take a more active role in fact checking future seasons of The Crown.

It's no secret at this point that the members of the royal family (opens in new tab) aren't huge fans of Netflix's royal drama The Crown (opens in new tab). While the royals themselves have stayed silent on the series, sources close to them have made it clear that they aren't pleased with how The Crown is portraying them (opens in new tab) and that they find many aspects of the series inaccurate or misleading.

That's why this next little splash of royal tea actually is a bit surprising: Netflix (opens in new tab) apparently asked the royal family to fact check the drama—and they said no. A "firm no," at that.

In a discussion on the The Heirpod (opens in new tab) podcast, royal correspondent and biographer Omid Scobie shared the surprising revelation.

"I always wondered why there wasn't more collaboration between the two," Scobie said, according to The Sun (opens in new tab). "Those working on the show did reach out the palace to see if there was an opportunity for fact-checking, but the answer was a firm no. But, now we've reached these key years, I wonder if any royals are kicking themselves for not taking advantage of that opportunity, because this narrative is being shaped for many around the world."

As Scobie went on to point out, The Crown (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)is the only source of "historical" information a lot of people have about the royal family, so it's playing a huge role in shaping how people see the monarchy.

"They expect 25 million households to view this new season within its first four weeks," Scobie added. "That's 25 million people who will have their opinion of the Royal Family shaped by this."

Still though, we shouldn't count on the royal family to start weighing in on the accuracy of (opens in new tab)The Crown (opens in new tab) in the future.

"I wonder, going forward, if they start moving into the modern era of the royals, if they will decide to become more involved," ABC foreign correspondent Maggie Rulli said on the same podcast. "But, I don't know, it does seem to go against everything the Royal Family stands for, especially the Queen. I can't imagine them actually working with Netflix like this."

Here's hoping the next season of The Crown (opens in new tab) credits Queen Elizabeth II as a special consultant.