Would the Royal Family Be Able to Sue 'The Crown' Producers?

The Crown, which dramatizes the story of the Royal Family from then-Princess Elizabeth's marriage all the way up to more recent events, has opportunities galore to—ahem—royally p*** off the real-life royals. On that front, the award-winning Netflix series certainly doesn't disappoint.

Members of the Firm have reportedly taken issue with many of the plotlines explored by The Crown (opens in new tab) throughout its four existing seasons and in anticipation of the fifth season's release in 2022. For instance, Prince William (opens in new tab) was reportedly "frustrated" (opens in new tab) with the show's decision to dedicate an episode to Princess Diana's (opens in new tab) controversial BBC interview (opens in new tab) with Martin Bashir. It's also been said that the family is (understandably) not super excited (opens in new tab) about The Crown's intention to detail Prince Philip's (opens in new tab) very close friendship with Penny Knatchbull.

Now, The Sun (opens in new tab) reports that friends of the royals have taken legal advice on whether or not they would have grounds to sue The Crown for portraying them in a certain light in season 5—and the answer is a resounding yes. "Friends of the Royal Family sought legal advice," a source told the paper. "The advice they received would also apply to the Royal Family. Although this is not direct legal advice given to the Queen and her family—they have been made aware of this advice."

Asked to weigh in, lawyer Helena Shipman of Carter-Ruck, told The Sun, "One battleground is the main message of the programme. Is it that the Queen acted coldly following the death of Diana? That would be a statement of opinion and Netflix would have an easy defence saying it is simply their own honest account."

Shipman then laid out more solid grounds for legal action on the Queen's part. "However, where The Crown has potential to overstep the mark is by suggesting something more serious—such as the Queen failing in her duties as sovereign and harming the country.

"That’s arguably a fact a defendant would have to prove true and the defence threshold for that is much higher.

"There are also other elements to having the potential for a libel claim, which is whether viewers believe what they’re watching is true or not. If they understand the show is fiction, and it’s a drama, their opinion of the Queen would not be lowered.

"But the fact she is being given initial advice about libel action says that she considers her portrayal a false one."

For now, though, it still seems unlikely that the Royal Family would choose to sue the show's producers in the first place.