The Crown creator defends the series following "insensitivity" accusations

The Crown has stirred up a whole bunch of controversy with its decision to press ahead with releasing its fifth season in November.

Some critics have felt that this is too soon after the death of Queen Elizabeth, while others have called the series' inclusion of controversial storylines "insensitive" — for example, the alleged affair between Prince Philip and family friend Penny Knatchbull.

Commentators have also suggested that the show could harm King Charles' reputation just as he is beginning his reign, but The Crown creator Peter Morgan disagrees with this narrative.

"I think we must all accept that the 1990s was a difficult time for the Royal Family, and King Charles will almost certainly have some painful memories of that period," Morgan told Entertainment Weekly in a recent feature.

"But that doesn't mean that, with the benefit of hindsight, history will be unkind to him, or the monarchy. The show certainly isn't. I have enormous sympathy for a man in his position — indeed, a family in their position. People are more understanding and compassionate than we expect sometimes."

The actress Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Princess Diana in this upcoming season and the following one, further defended the show, saying that such difficult events as the death of her character in 1997 are always handled sensitively.

"Peter and the entire crew of this job do their utmost to really handle everything with such sensitivity and truth and complexity, as do actors," she told Entertainment Weekly.

"The amount of research and care and conversations and dialogue that happen over, from a viewer's perspective, something probably that you would never ever notice is just immense. From that very first meeting [with] Peter, I knew that I'd entered into this space where this was taken seriously [in] a deeply caring way. So that's my experience of the show."

Prominent critics of The Crown have included Sir John Major and Dame Judi Dench, as well as—reportedly—members of the Royal Family themselves.