Prince Harry watches The Crown

11 January 2023

Prince Harry watches 'The Crown'.

Prince Harry watches The Crown

The Duke of Sussex, 38, has told how he has seen some of the older series and the "more recent stuff" on the controversial Netflix series, a fictional dramatisation about Harry's grandmother Queen Elizabeth that is inspired by real events.

Asked if he has watched the show, Harry said: "Yes, I have watched 'The Crown'.

"The older stuff and the more recent stuff."

Quizzed on whether he did any "fact-checking" while watching 'The Crown' in a new interview with 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert', he added: "Yes, I do actually. Which, by the way, is another reason why it’s so important that history has it right."

Harry then pointed to a copy of his new memoir 'Spare', which he was appearing on the show to promote.

'The Crown' has come under criticism from several figures, including former British Prime Minister Sir John Major, who branded elements of the series a "barrel-load of nonsense".

Dame Judi Dench also called for a "fiction" warning to be put on episodes after branding it an "inaccurate and hurtful account of history", and Netflix have since agreed to put a disclaimer on the home page alerting viewers it is fictional, but not including it at the start of every episode.

But Elizabeth Debicki - who plays Harry's late mother Princess Diana in series five - recently insisted the show is "clearly fictional".

She said: "I understand what the show is, and what it’s trying to do. I also understand the reaction to it.

"I think this is a period of time that’s been told many times over and will continue to be told, and I know the degree of care and respect people enter into these stories with.

"I mean, it is clearly fictional. I feel like audiences know that, because there are actors, playing parts. I never watched ‘The Crown’ and thought, this is a documentary, or this is obviously true."