After The Crown premiered on November 9 on Netflix, the documentary had unofficially been scheduled to start streaming there in December.
However, former UK Prime Minister John Major criticized Netflix over the weekend for a plot line in Season 5’s Episode 1 that suggested Prince Charles, now King Charles III, had summoned Major in 1991 to complain about having to wait to ascend to the throne.
The episode, “Queen Victoria Syndrome,” so named after Queen Victoria’s 63 years as ruler, is based on a real poll that appeared in the UK Sunday Times, which suggested that Queen Elizabeth should abdicate in favor of Charles since the monarchy was out of date. In the drama, there are sequences when Charles (Dominic West) is shown privately confirming that “an old monarch, too long on the throne whose distance from the modern world has led people to grow tired not only of her but of the monarchy itself,” as it was said in a 1991 Sunday Times article.
Charles then meets with Major in private, during which the royal recounts how Edward VII was “kept waiting in the wings” for decades due to Queen Victoria’s long reign.
Other establishment figures spent the weekend savaging a show that they have yet to see, often relying on inaccurate reports of what the Season 5 episodes are said to contain. Major has insisted that no such conversation about a plot to overthrow the late Queen took place and has described it as “malicious nonsense.”
However, after days of negative front-page news, Netflix executives decided that streaming The Crown in November followed by the Harry and Meghan documentary in December would be risky.
“They’re rattled at Netflix,” a source told Deadline. “They blinked first and decided to postpone the documentary.”
The premiere date for the untitled documentary series produced by Netflix and Archewell Productions has yet to be announced. However, Netflix officials stated several times this year that they wanted to do a royal double-whammy, with The Crown premiering first, followed by the docuseries, some of which was shot on Harry and Meghan’s Montecito estate.
Since Queen Elizabeth’s death on September 8, when Charles ascended to the throne, both Netflix and Buckingham Palace have been extremely sensitive about The Crown and the docuseries. The Duke and Duchess may prefer that the documentary be postponed while they reconsider its content.
