Princess Margaret‘s lady-in-waiting Lady Anne Glenconner says she was ‘mad with fury’ after watching The Crown.
Lady Anne, 90, admits she couldn’t believe the ‘rather awful’ portrayal of the late princess, having previously invited Helena Bonham Carter round for tea to advise the actress, 56, on the royal’s mannerisms.
The lady-in-waiting reveals she was so cross over the depiction of both Princess Margaret and herself (played by Nancy Carroll), she confronted Helena to express her dismay at series three.
‘I saw Helena Bonham Carter – she came to tea – about acting Princess Margaret: how she spoke and walked. I said I never saw her run,’ she says.
‘After seeing Helena in The Crown, I was very disappointed with the portrayal and told her, “It was rather awful, wasn’t it?” She said she had no choice other than to do what she was told.
Furious: Princess Margaret’s lady-in-waiting Lady Anne Glenconner says she was ‘mad with fury’ after watching The Crown
Lady Anne added to Oldie Magazine that the production ‘couldn’t afford to film The Crown at Glen’ [her family’s ancestral home].
She says: ‘When they filmed Princess Margaret first meeting Roddy Llewellyn, we were sitting by a pool at what looked like a ghastly country club, they had me pimping for her, with us both in bikinis — Princess Margaret never wore a bikini. So cheap.
‘They really should put a disclaimer at the beginning of The Crown, saying it isn’t true.’
MailOnline has contacted Netflix and Bonham Carter’s representatives for comment.
Lady Anne adds she thought The Crown ‘began well’, and called the scene of the Duke of Windsor watching the coronation in France as ‘excellent’.
Netflix faced a fierce backlash over the latest series, which features Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, shows the late princess sitting down for her infamous 1995 Panorama interview with disgraced ex-BBC journalist Martin Bashir.
When they released the trailer for series five, they accompanied by a statement online that acknowledges the drama is a ‘fictional dramatisation’.
But so far it has refused to add a similar statement on TV.
Irked: The lady-in-waiting reveals she was so cross over the depiction of herself ‘pimping’ Princess Margaret that she confronted Helena
Pictured: Princess Margaret, centre, and her friends Lord Colin Tennant (left) and Lady Anne waiting on the jetty at Mustique to greet Queen Elizabeth II in 1977
Actress Dame Judi Dench accused the show of being ‘cruelly unjust’ and backed calls for a disclaimer.
Former prime minister Sir John Major dismissed scenes showing him discussing the Queen’s potential abdication with Prince Charles as ‘a barrel-load of malicious nonsense’.
Dame Judi, 88, who has played Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, said the series risked damaging the monarchy.
Unimpressed: She says ‘we were sitting by a pool at what looked like a ghastly country club, they had me pimping for her, with us both in bikinis — Princess Margaret never wore a bikini’
Advice: ‘I saw Helena Bonham Carter – she came to tea – about acting Princess Margaret: how she spoke and walked. I said I never saw her run,’ she says (pictured Roddy on the show)
Acting: Nancy Carroll portrayed Lady Anne in series three and four
The Oscar-winning actress blamed the show for ‘crude sensationalism’ and blurring fact and fiction.
In a letter to The Times newspaper, she called on Netflix to display a disclaimer at the start of each episode to say it is ‘fictionalised drama’. She said it should also show respect for the bereavement suffered by the Royal Family and the nation.
Dame Eileen Atkins, meanwhile, who played Queen Mary in the first series, said: ‘My friends in America tell me that many people there think it’s a documentary. Mostly if you are talking about real people, you say this is fiction based on fact. I don’t know why this hasn’t happened with this.’
Unimpressed: Netflix faced a fierce backlash over the latest series; actress Dame Judi Dench accused the show of being ‘cruelly unjust’ and backed calls for a disclaimer
Dame Harriet Walter, who played Sir Winston Churchill’s wife Clementine, said: ‘People have believed Shakespeare’s version of Richard III for centuries, but no one is alive to object on his behalf. By contrast, there are many people alive now who could be hurt if they thought the public might believe this.’
A Netflix spokesman said: ‘The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events.
‘Series five is a fictional dramatisation, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors during a significant decade for the Royal Family – one that has already been scrutinised and well documented by journalists, biographers and historians.’
The Crown has been a huge hit for Netflix. Each episode now costs around £11.5million.
Famous interview: Series five features Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, shows the late princess sitting down for her infamous 1995 Panorama interview with disgraced Martin Bashir
