Sir John Major, who served as the U.K.’s Prime Minister for most of the 1990s, is speaking out against an alleged scene in The Crown Season 5. The first episode of the new season reportedly shows then-Prince Charles discussing Queen Elizabeth II abdicating in 1991 when she was 65. Major’s office called the idea a “damaging and malicious fiction.”
The Season 5 premiere reportedly shows the future King Charles III worried that his mother was making the same mistake Queen Victoria made by not abdicating for a younger heir, reports The Mail on Sunday. However, sources told The Mail that Charles knew that abdication was unthinkable. “The Crown is full of nonsense, but this is nonsense on stilts,” broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby, a friend of Charles, told The Mail.
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The first episode of Season 5 begins with Charles (Dominic West) reading a newspaper poll showing that 47% of U.K. residents wanted the Queen to abdicate. In reality, a 1990 poll showed that 47% said the Queen should hand over the crown “at some stage” in the future. Charles has such a strong reaction to the poll that he calls up Major (Jonny Lee Miller) to have a private meeting. He suggests the royal family follow in the Conservative Party’s footsteps when they made Major the party leader over Margaret Thatcher.
Major, who served as U.K. Prime Minister from November 1990 to May 1997, denied such a meeting with Charles ever took place. His office said he has never cooperated with The Crown‘s producers and would never reveal what happened in a private meeting with a member of the royal family. His office also called the alleged scene “fiction, pure and simple.”
“There was never any discussion between Sir John and the then Prince of Wales about any possible abdication of the late Queen Elizabeth II – nor was such an improbable and improper subject ever raised by the then Prince of Wales (or Sir John),” Major’s office said in a statement to The Mail. “Neither Sir John nor [Major’s wife, Dame Norma Major] have discussed the Monarchy remotely in these terms. [What you report as depicted in the script] has never been their view, never would be their view, and never will be their view.”
If these scenes air as The Mail reports them, Major’s office said they should be seen as “nothing other than damaging and malicious fiction.” His office called the scene “a barrel load of nonsense peddled for no other reason than to provide maximum – and entirely false – dramatic impact.”
Other members of Major’s government have spoken out against the scene. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Major’s Foreign Secretary, called the idea Charles would as Major to push Queen Elizabeth to resign “pathetic and absurd.” Rifkind added, “At the time, the Queen was in her 60s – younger than the King is today. It’s pure fantasy which is what we have come to expect from this particular program.”
The Crown has always been criticized for playing fast and loose with facts, but Season 5 will come under even more scrutiny as it covers events in more recent memory. This will also be the first season released since Prince Philip’s death in April 2021 and Queen Elizabeth’s in September. Imelda Staunton is taking over from Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth, while Jonathan Pryce stars as Prince Phillip. Lesley Manville stars as Princess Margaret, while Elizabeth Debicki plays Princess Diana. The Crown Season 5 will be released on Nov. 9 on Netflix in the U.S. and U.K.
