‘You shouldn’t let your life become a soap opera’: Miriam Margolyes says she doesn’t watch ‘The Crown’ because she thinks it’s ‘wrong’ to do shows about people who are still alive
Miriam Margolyes has revealed she doesn’t watch The Crown because she believes it’s “wrong” to make films and TV shows about people who are still alive.
The outspoken actress, 81, told My Weekly magazine that the royal family “shouldn’t make their life a soap opera” after the Netflix series caused controversy with its portrayal of Princess Diana’s marriage to her husband Charles.
Miriam, who also admitted she never watched the sitcom Friends, said: “I don’t like seeing the lives of people on TV who are still alive. I think that’s pretty wrong.
Opinion: Miriam Margolyes has revealed that she doesn’t watch The Crown because she believes it’s “wrong” for films and TV shows to be made about people who are still alive
“I don’t watch The Crown and I feel very protective of the royal family.
“You shouldn’t make your life a soap opera because you’re still living it.”
The Crown has depicted the history of the royal family since Queen Elizabeth II married Prince Philip in 1947, but the show has faced much backlash in recent weeks over sensationalist events.
Since the last two seasons of The Crown covered the three decades leading up to the ’90s, the entire crew was recast for the 13-year timeframe of seasons five and six, from 1990 to 2003
Dramatic! The outspoken actress said the royal family “shouldn’t make their life a soap opera” after the Netflix show’s fifth season sparked a backlash
The series focused heavily on the clashes between Princess Diana, played by Elizabeth Debicki, and King Charles (then Prince of Wales), as portrayed by West, and featured a series of low points for the royals.
These include the failure of Charles and Diana’s marriage, the late King’s controversial Panorama interview and the infamous “Tampongate” phone call between the King and Queen.
One of the most contentious aspects of the series is how it will approach Diana’s death, with Netflix coming under scrutiny over the decision to recreate Princess Diana’s final days and shoot some scenes in Paris, where she died.
Accusations of callousness followed amid reports the show would be recreating the Paris chase that led to Diana’s death in a future season and scenes of young Princes William and Harry following their mother’s coffin. The exact time of the crash is not shown.
Changes: Since the last two seasons of The Crown covered the three decades leading up to the ’90s, the entire crew was recast for seasons five and six
Explosive: One of the most contentious aspects of the series is how it will approach Diana’s death, with Netflix coming under scrutiny over its decision to recreate Princess Diana’s final days
During her interview, Miriam also admitted that she “never” watched the long-running sitcom Friends, which has been televised regularly since it ended after 10 seasons in 2004, because she didn’t get along with one of the showrunners.
She said: “I’ve never seen Friends. Many years ago I was living in Los Angeles and a friend introduced me to Marta Kauffman and David Crane [‘Friends’ writers].
“I liked David and I couldn’t stand Marta Kauffman, so I was like, ‘Fuck that, I’m not going to watch that.’
Views: Miriam said: “I don’t watch The Crown and I feel very protective of the royal family. “You shouldn’t make your life a soap opera because you’re still living it”
But one program Miriam is a fan of is Call the Midwife because of its excellent script and strong cast.
She said: ‘Call the Midwife’ is number one on British television and it’s not hard to see why.
“The characters and the actors who play them are superb, the scripts are superb. The show’s success lies in the scripts and the producers put endless effort into it.
“The scripts are truthful and about real people and real things that happened.”
Lauding: But one program Miriam is a fan of is Call the Midwife because of its excellent script and strong cast