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'The Crown' has a moral responsibility to tell viewers that it's fiction, says Helena Bonham Carter

WION Web Team
New DelhiUpdated: Dec 01, 2020, 07:06 PM IST
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Helena Bonham Carter who has played Princess Margaret in the last two seasons of 'The Crown' said that she feels "very strongly" that audiences should be made aware of the distinction between the show and the "real version" of events. 

'The Crown' Season 4's Princess Margaret, Helena Bonham Carter says that the show has a moral responsibility to tell viewers that it is a work of fiction and not historical fact after the show faced some criticism from royal supporters.

The actor, who has played Princess Margaret in the last two seasons of the Netflix series, said during an interview on the show's official podcast that she feels "very strongly" that audiences should be made aware of the distinction between the show and the "real version" of events. 

"It is dramatized. I do feel very strongly, because I think we have a moral responsibility to say, 'Hang on guys, this is not … it's not a drama-doc, we're making a drama.' So they are two different entities," she said.

Read the review of 'The Crown' Season 4 here.

The actor, however, praised the show's writer and creator Peter Morgan for his extensive research on which the show is based. "That is the proper documentary," she added. " That is amazing and then Peter switches things up and juggles."

Her comments come after British culture secretary Oliver Dowden said he will be writing to Netflix to make a "formal request" that a fictional disclaimer is added to the beginning of "The Crown" so that younger viewers who did not live through the events do not misinterpret the show as historical truth.

"It's a beautifully produced work of fiction, so as with other TV productions," Dowden told the Mail on Sunday. "Netflix should be very clear at the beginning; it is just that. Without this, I fear a generation of viewers who did not live through these events may mistake fiction for fact."

Helena herself has ties to the royals. Her uncle, Mark Bonham Carter, once dated the woman she portrays: Princess Margaret. "It's weird, I basically went out with my uncle," she told The Sun last year.

During a recent interview on the same podcast, Peter Morgan admitted that he completely "made up" certain scenes but he defended his right to dramatize events. "There is a constant push-pull," he said. "I've learned, to my cost, that when you're really only focused on research, the drama suffers."