Crowned rules?

"[..] Throw away respect, tradition, form and ceremonious duty, for you have but mistook me all this while: I live with bread like you, feel want, taste grief, need friends: subjected thus, how can you say to me, I am a king?"

A stirring scene from The Crown's third season sees a young, then-Prince Charles emotionally quoting this extract from Shakespeare's Richard II. The message is clear: "I am as human as you, so why do you not treat me as such?"

There is no doubt: Netflix's ongoing depiction of the British monarchyThe king or queen and royal family. 's inner workings is humanising. Perhaps too much so, argue critics who decry the show as a disrespectful invasion of privacy.

Now, weeks ahead of the release of the fifth season and just over a month after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the show is facing fresh backlash. The outcry has led to the postponement of a Netflix documentary about the controversy surrounding the marriage of Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle, which was originally set to air in December.

It is no surprise that Netflix bosses are rattled. The show has been hailed as their "golden goose", with an investment of more than £11m per episode. With a shrinking subscriber base and recent huge revenueIncome. losses, The Crown creators appear to be backtracking.¹

They may also have been scared by recent criticism from public figures such as former British prime minister John Major, who will be depicted in season five.²

Many see it as unethical to write fictional narratives about living people. Others argue that we do this every day in the press.

For acclaimed screenwriter Peter Morgan, it should be obvious that the storylines from the series are fictionalised, aimed at portraying a mood rather than documenting reality. "Sometimes you have to forsakeGive up or abandon. accuracy," he says. "But you must never forsake truth."

It is easy to see why the material fascinates him. Season five is set to depict the Queen's self-proclaimed "annus horribilis". For the Royal Family, 1992 marked one divorce, one separation and one tell-all memoir. Most agree: altered or not, it is compellingly sellable.

Yes: It is dangerous and disrespectful to dehumanise the Royal Family. Every family has its trials and its controversies, and not many of us would be happy with them being aired to millions of people.

No: The Royal Family are paid to be public figures. It is all that we ask of them. Public figures have to accept that they will be open to interpretation by people they do not know.

Or... Parts of the fictionalisation may be unethical, but the popularity of the show represents a public demand for greater transparency from the Royal Family.