‘It was a historical drama and now it’s crashed into the present’: The Crown star Helena Bonham Carter says show ‘shouldn’t go on’
Helena Bonham Carter has said she doesn’t think the Netflix drama The Crown, which she starred in for two series, should continue.
The actress, who played Princess Margaret in series three and four, explained that now that Peter Morgan’s royal drama has caught up with more recent times, it should come to an end.
speaking to The GuardianHelena was asked if she thought Prince Harry’s recent book Spare would make it “easier” for Morgan to write The Crown now that she had a first-hand account of the recent royal drama.
The end: Helena Bonham Carter has said she doesn’t think the Netflix drama The Crown, which she starred in for two series, should continue
“I should be careful here, but I don’t think they should continue, really,” replied Helena, who succeeded Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret.
“I’m in it and I loved my episodes, but now it’s very different. When The Crown began it was a historical drama, and now it has crashed into the present. But that depends on them.
Helena added that she did not want to “contribute” to the conversation about Prince Harry’s book, calling it “complicated” and adding that her words “will be taken out of context.” And I think she has been given enough attention.
The part of Princess Margaret took over in the fourth season, which was released in November 2020 by Lesley Manville.
In October, The Crown creator Peter Morgan hit back at critics who accused the Netflix series of ‘exploiting’ the royal family in its most recent series.
Star: The actress, who played Princess Margaret in series three and four, explained that now that Peter Morgan’s royal drama has caught up with more recent times, it should come to an end.
The award-winning British screenwriter, 59, has come to the defense of his show, which dramatized the breakdown of King Charles and Diana’s marriage in season five, while the late royal’s tragic death in 1997 will be a storyline in the upcoming sixth season.
In September 2022, a friend of the King told the Daily Telegraph that the series was “exploitative” and claimed that Netflix “has no qualms about trashing people’s reputations”.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Peter acknowledged that the final season doesn’t shy away from the royal family’s “tough time” in the 1990s.
Describing how King Charles will “almost certainly have painful memories” of that period, the screenwriter said: “That doesn’t mean that, in retrospect, history will be cruel to him or the monarchy.”
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Diana in the new series, insisted that the stories have been handled with “sensitivity, truth and complexity”.
The show certainly isn’t. I feel enormous sympathy for a man in his position; in fact, a family in his position.
“People are more understanding and compassionate than we expect sometimes.”
She added: “Peter and the entire crew on this work do their best to handle everything with as much sensitivity, truth and complexity as actors do.”
The show will conclude with the sixth series this year.