shades fills you in

Season 5 of Netflix’s The Crown stirred up controversy. Vogue explains: Critics have concerns about it being inaccurate and an unfair exploitation of the Royal Family -- especially now the story is so close to the present day

It’s not the first time the show ruffled feathers: The NY Post reports Prince Philip at one point wanted to sue the show over a plotline in Season 2

Hello Magazine: All kinds of big names criticized the new season, including Dame Judi Dench, former PM John Major, and royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith

Many even called for the Crown to add a disclaimer emphasizing that the show is fictional and not a documentary. But BuzzFeed says Netflix wasn’t having it

This Guardian Op said the new season was “too soon” -- it trashes Elizabeth *right* after her death, how tacky. Out of respect, Netflix should’ve held off on releasing the season and maybe gone back to the editing room

Another Guardian Op says it’s deeper than just disrespecting the royal family -- the way The Crown plays fast and loose with the truth is just another symptom of all the post-truth misinformation in our media

The Telegraph is a hardcore hater: The show is a “parasite” viciously exploiting and disrespecting the royal family and our king. How dare they!

Vulture thinks it’s a little more complicated than that. The general premise is clearly pretty anti-monarchy, but many of the details make the show a lot more sympathetic to Charles and the Royal Family

Pajiba thinks the controversy is baffling -- no biopic or historical drama is 100% accurate, and we wouldn’t want it to be! The real life history is way more damaging to the royals than “The Crown’s” portrayal

Variety agrees: Season 5 is a super sympathetic portrayal of the Royal Family -- no trite “Charles bad, Diana good” narrative, and not a mention of Prince Andrew’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Why is everyone complaining?

And some sources say the negative portrayal is nobody’s fault but the Royal Family’s. After all, if they hadn’t been so messy, there wouldn’t be such sensational stories to adapt anyway -- Cosmopolitan

Vogue UK adds that this problem really isn’t unique to The Crown -- every single “historical” or “based on a true story” narrative fudges the facts for the sake of the story. People are just upset at The Crown specifically because they’re royalist bootlickers