If you've been on Instagram at all over the weekend, then you've probably seen the image from the upcoming season five of The Crown wearing Princess Diana's famous 'revenge dress' played Diana - there is already tension building about how the princess is going to be portrayed.
Over the weekend, it transpired that Jemima Khan - a close friend of Princess Diana - has pulled out of helping to script the series, which will cover Diana's final years, because the story was not being handled 'as respectfully or compassionately' as she had hoped. (It's thought the next season of the show will cover Diana's relationships heart surgeon Hasnat Khan and businessman Dodi Fayed, and her 1995 Panorama interview - something Prince William said earlier this year should never air again.)
'In 2019, Peter Morgan [the series creator] asked me to co-write on the fifth series of The Crown, particularly those episodes which concerned Princess Diana’s last years before she died,' she said. 'After a great deal of thought, having never spoken publicly about any of this before, I decided to contribute.'
The producer continued: 'We worked together on the outline and scripts from September 2020 until February 2021. When our co-writing agreement was not honoured, and when I realised that particular storyline would not necessarily be told as respectfully or compassionately as I had hoped, I requested that all my contributions be removed from the series and I declined a credit.' (The Crown said in a statement to The Sunday Times that she had been part 'of a wide network of well-informed and varied sources who have provided extensive background information to our writers and research tea, providing context for the drama that is The Crown. She has never been contracted as a writer on the series.')
This latest move has caused some people to pile more criticism on Prince Harry, who has a $150million deal with the streaming giant. From royal experts to those voicing their opinions on social media, many are saying that - if Harry truly cared about his late mother - he would cease his deal with Netflix, which will pay Harry and Meghan to make documentaries, docu-series, feature films, scripted shows and children’s programming.
But that is simply unfair, and a very, very low blow. The prince obviously cares about Diana - and to suggest he doesn't is ridiculous, and mean.
Harry might have a deal with Netflix, but that does not mean he has any input in the production of The Crown or say in what the drama is going to cover. Even if he did say something, it's incredibly unlikely The Crown would do anything or change what they've already filmed.
However, what the couple - who have continued their charity work since leaving their roles as senior royals - can focus on is creating their own important content for Netflix. As they said in a statement after the deal was announced in September, Netflix has 'unprecedented reach', so it's understandable why they picked the giant. 'Our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope,' they also said. 'As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us.'
READ MORE: The Crown's Season Five, Explained