The widow of a major killed in an avalanche whilst skiing with Prince Charles has slammed producers of The Crown for including the tragedy in the latest series.
Major Hugh Lindsay, a friend of the Prince of Wales and a former Queen’s equerry, lost his life at the Swiss resort of Klosters in 1988.
The ninth episode of series 4 of The Crown, titled Avalanche, dramatises events when members of the annual royal ski party became caught up in a deadly avalanche.
Charles later wrote that he found it “hard to understand why I survived and he didn’t”.
Major Lindsay’s widow Sarah Horsley told The Telegraph she was upset and “very concerned” that the disaster had been dramatised even though she’d asked Netflix producers not to include it in the popular series.
“I was horrified when I was told it (the episode) was happening and was very concerned about the impact on my daughter,” she told the newspaper.
“I’m very upset by it and I’m dreading people seeing it.
“I wrote to them asking them not to do it, not to use the accident.
“I suppose members of the Royal family have to grin and bear it, but for me it’s a very private tragedy.”
She said that the producers replied with “a very kind letter”, saying “that they understood my concerns but they hope I will feel that they deal with difficult subject matters with integrity and great sensitivity”.
But she told the newspaper: “I think it’s very unkind to many members of the family [to dramatise the accident].”
HuffPost UK has contacted Netflix for comment.
Series 4 of The Crown, starring Olivia Colman as the monarch, is currently streaming on Netflix.
Last week, The Crown newcomer Emma Corrin, who plays Princess Diana, spoke out amid claims that the royal family are unimpressed with the events depicted in the new series of the hit drama.
“It’s a difficult one,” she said. “I think for everyone in the The Crown, we always try and remind everyone that the series we are in is fictionalised, to a great extent.
“Obviously it has its roots in reality and in some fact, but Peter Morgan’s scripts are works of fiction.”
Emma continued: “At the same time, I understand why people would be upset, because this is history… and even with Diana, you know, it’s still very much fresh, I suppose, everything that happened. So I do really understand if people would be upset.
“But obviously, for all of the cast, we just want to constantly remind people that we approach these people that we play as characters, which is why it’s such a joyous job, because Peter writes such rich and complex characters, and as an actor it’s such a joy to be able to really bring a lot to them.”