King’s reputation at risk as The Crown ‘influences opinions’

The newest season of The Crown, the first to be released since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, focuses on the marriage breakdown of the now-King Charles III and the late Princess Diana. Speaking on Australia’s Sunrise about the latest season, and in particular the portrayal of the King, royal expert Angela Mollard claims that what “happens on the show directly influences our opinions”, which could be damaging for the new monarch.Ms Mollard told Sunrise: “A lot of the material around the Queen was historical, but the King hasn’t even gone through his coronation yet.”Speaking of the first episode of season five, Ms Mollard said: “In the first episode, [Charles is] being positioned as a man who was trying to overthrow his mother by speaking to the then-Prime Minister John Major.”She noted that John Major has spoken out since the episode aired to state that he “denied that this ever happened”, adding that it was “basically fictitious nonsense”.The royal expert expressed her concern that what is shown in the series will influence, in particular, the “younger viewers” and lead them to believe the things portrayed are “true”.READ MORE: Royal Family LIVE – Meghan and Harry human rights honour labelled ‘sublimely ridiculous’ Charles became King in September (Image: PA) The fifth season of The Crown was released earlier this week (Image: PA)Ms Mollard pointed out that Netflix had to add a disclaimer that “this is fictionalised”.She also spoke out about the monarchy’s silence on the series, commenting: “Their feeling is that would give it more publicity, and also give it creditability”.READ MORE: Meghan and Harry ‘crawling back’ to UK in doubt over ‘sign of failure’ King Charles will celebrate his 74th birthday on Monday [November 14] (Image: GETTY)Despite criticism over the latest season, Princess Diana’s private secretary of almost a decade, Patrick Jephson has spoken out and said he could not find falsehoods in the new season.In an article for The Telegraph, which was published the day before the season release, Mr Jephson claimed that although he was looking out for ‘malicious twisting of words’, ‘dishonest presentation of historical facts’ and any ‘cruel falsehoods’, he could not find any.It has been confirmed that the show will return for a sixth season. The release date has not yet been announced.READ NEXT: