The British monarchy with all its glitz and glamour, pomp, and ceremony has been one of the most scrutinized institutions ever. The reasons for that vary greatly, the institution is no stranger to media presence, and Netflix currently has a series that covers all of it. The Crown tells a tale of the British royal family, with a focus on some of its more recent members. With a fifth season that drew sharp criticism, and as the series approaches modern times, one of the show’s alum believes that perhaps it is time the series came to an end.
Speaking to The Guardian, Helana Bonham Carter who played Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon in the third and fourth seasons of the Netflix series has called into question the future of the show as it approaches modern times. Questioned on a controversial royal publication, in this case, Prince Harry’s tell-all book, Spare, the actress erred on the side of caution saying, “I don’t really want to contribute to the whole thing. It’s complicated, and it’ll get taken out of context. And I think it’s been given enough attention.”
Season 5 of the series has teased some of the darker moments of then-Prince Charles’–now King Charles III–marriage to Princess Diana, and as the series draws closer to more history and events, Carter was asked about the future of the series. “I should be careful here too, but I don’t think they should carry on, actually. I’m in it and I loved my episodes, but it’s very different now. When The Crown started it was a historic drama, and now it’s crashed into the present. But that’s up to them,” she said.
The latest season of The Crown has faced intense backlash since the trailer and its episodes aired. The trailer and snippets of the new season were released not long after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II prompting certain people to tag the move as being insensitive. Jonathan Pryce, who took over portraying the Queen’s late husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh from Tobias Menzies, at the time expressed “disappointment” at the level of criticism the new season was facing.
Currently, a sixth season of The Crown will be coming out at some point. However, whether the series progresses beyond a season that will bring the divorce of Charles and Diana into sharp focus remains to be seen. Series executive producer, Suzanne Mackie had revealed that series creator, Peter Morgan will not continue the series for the fun of it. “Peter has said it very articulately, that he simply can’t write something unless there has been time to gain a proper perspective,” Mackie said previously. “And I think he’s always felt 10 years is the minimum amount of time that he can see something in a historical context, to allow him to really understand it. I don’t think he’ll deviate from that.”
The Crown is available to stream on Netflix. Watch the trailer for the fifth season below: