The Crown's new season is bad timing for King Charles, TV insider says

People often take the drama series as fact.

The Crown season five is not airing on Netflix until November, but it's already caused more than its fair share of drama.

The Royal Family has been reported to be less than pleased about the series throughout its previous seasons, and are anticipating the reaction to this upcoming season. The latter is especially controversial among royal insiders because it focuses so heavily on the breakdown of then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana's marriage and will be airing just weeks after Charles officially took the throne.

"This couldn’t have come at a more delicate time for the new King and his Queen Consort, particularly as they’re riding high in the minds of the public," a TV insider told The Sun.

"There’s a sense that Netflix are muckraking over events that took place 30 to 40 years ago, but are still raw for those involved. The worst element for the royals is that millions of people around the world will view this series and view it less as a drama and more as a documentary.

"And attention on the Windsors couldn’t be higher as it’s been just a few weeks since Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and is in the run-up to the King’s coronation."

This comes after royal expert Dickie Arbiter branded The Crown "distasteful" over its plan to depict the late Prince Philip's friendship with Penelope "Penny" Knatchbull, with whom he was rumoured to have had an affair.

Royal insiders have also been quick to remind the public to take what they see in the series with a grain of salt. One senior royal source previously called The Crown "a drama not a documentary," whilst a friend of the King's chimed in: "What people forget is that there are real human beings and real lives at the heart of this."

As a reminder, season four dived into the beginning of Charles and Diana's marriage, and it was plenty dramatic then, so viewers are expecting much of the same from the new season.