Sir John’s main brand crown ‘disruptive and malicious’ | Entertainment

Sir John Major branded The Crown as “a destructive and malicious novel”.

The former prime minister – who will be played by Johnny Lee Miller in the fifth season of the upcoming Netflix series – insisted the producers “never approached” the scene where he discussed plans for the show, suggesting A storyline depicting the time when Prince Charles (Dominic West) lobbied him to join a conspiracy to urge Queen Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton) to abdicate.

The 79-year-old former Conservative leader insisted there had been “never” such discussions between him and Charles during his tenure as prime minister.

He told the Mail on Sunday in a statement: “Sir John has not worked with ‘The Crown’ in any way. Nor have they approached him to fact-check any script material in this or any other series.

“As you know, discussions between the monarch and the prime minister are entirely private, and – to Sir John – will always be. But none of the scenes you paint is accurate. They are fictitious , pure and simple.

“There has never been any discussion between Sir John and the then-Prince of Wales about any abdication of the late Queen Elizabeth II – nor has the then-Prince of Wales (or Sir John) ever raised such an improbable and inappropriate subject.

“Neither Sir John nor Lady Norma have remotely discussed the monarchy in these terms. [What you report as depicted in the script] It was never their opinion, never was their opinion, and never will be their opinion.

“So if the scenarios you describe are broadcast, they should be treated as destructive and malicious fiction. A whole lot of nonsense is just peddled to provide the greatest — and totally wrong — dramatic impact.”

The episode, set to hit theaters on November 9, sees Charles summon the prime minister and suggest the monarchy should follow the Conservatives after they overthrew Margaret Thatcher in favor of the young politician .

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who served as foreign secretary under John, said it was “sad and absurd” that Charles encouraged the prime minister to support his idea of ​​abdicating the Queen.

He added: “At the time, the queen was in her 60s – younger than the king of today. It was pure fantasy, that’s what we expected from this particular show.”