Prince William is reportedly ‘deeply upset’ with the new season of ‘The Crown’

As a show all about the British royal family – the behind-the-scenes feuds, secrets and dramas – it was probably always to be expected that the series would ruffle a few feathers along the way. 

You can please some of the royals all of the time, you can please all of the royals some of the time, but you can’t please all of the royals all of the time. You know it, I know it, even the producers of the show know it. Which is why no one is all that surprised to hear that Prince William is less than impressed with the new season. 

In fact, it’s believed that the Duke of Cambridge has been left feeling “deeply frustrated” by rumours that the fifth season will delve further into the infamous 1995 interview his mother gave to British journalist Martin Bashir. Landing on Netflix just today, the show is expected to dedicate an entire episode to the bombshell interview which saw the Princess of Wales admit that her marriage had been “a bit crowded”, what with three people being in it and all – her first public allusion to Prince Charles’ affair with his now-wife Camilla Parker Bowles. 

Always a topic of contention, the controversial interview was drawn into public discourse once again last year when The Dyson report – an independent inquiry into how the interview was first obtained by Martin Bashir – revealed that the BBC “fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark”.

Both speaking publicly on the report’s findings, Prince William condemned the interview for the “woeful incompetence” it displayed. Citing it as one of the contributing factors to the breakdown of his parent’s relationship, he later went on to say that the interview was also responsible for worsening his mother’s mental health at the time.

“It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said. The interview was a major contribution to making my parent’s relationship worse and has since hurt countless others. It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her”, he said in a statement.

“She was failed not just by a rogue reporter but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions.

“It is my firm view that this Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. It effectively established a false narrative, which for over a quarter of a century has been commercialised by the BBC and others. This settled narrative now needs to be addressed by the BBC and anyone else who has written or intends to write about these events.”

Later adding that “public service broadcasting and a free press have never been more important”, Prince William finished by saying that the BBC’s failings not only let his mother and his family down, but they also let the public down too.

Prince Harry went one step further than his brother, essentially blaming the interview for his mother’s death. “The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life,” he said, telling Oprah Winfrey in another subsequent interview that his mother “lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed”. 

Back to The Crown and the whispers that they have allegedly dramatised the interview for the show (the trailer certainly seems to suggest as much). “To the writers, the stormy marriage between Charles and Diana led up to her outpouring on Panorama, and the aftermath of that decision defined her final months,” a source told The Sun. “They are making a huge investment in that. The Crown has a track record of delving into areas of the royal family’s history they’d rather be left alone.”

Already having publicly decried the interview for its illegitimacy, The Telegraph claims that Prince William is unimpressed that the show has further “commercialised” and perpetuated the “false narrative” of the original clip. That said, The Guardian reports that “the BBC has since agreed never to show the Panorama programme of 1995 because of the duplicitous way Bashir secured the late princess’s involvement, misleading her into suspecting widespread treachery against her.”

However, contrary to the wishes of the royal family, the makers of The Crown, have gone ahead with plans to recreate the infamous conversation. Speaking of the scenes, actor Prasanna Puwanarajah, who plays Bashir, told The Observer, “We had to work out how to dramatise [the interview], but we took no moral position. It was a complicated set of circumstances, but at the heart of it is a well-documented act of deceit.”