Dame Judi Dench reportedly considered playing the Queen Mother in Season Five of The Crown, a source has revealed in the Times. Talks between Dench and the producers of The Crown reportedly went on for a few weeks and ‘both sides were taking it seriously’. Dench is said to have been sent a script for the new season, and to have liked it.
But, according to the insider, the talks came to nothing in the end. Marcia Warren, 78, was given the role of Queen Mother, which had previously been played by Marion Bailey, 71. One of the obstacles to Dench taking the role was reportedly that the part of Queen Mother was ‘too small’ for the actress who has often been described as a ‘national treasure’. Dame Judi, who has played Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria in past roles, also has a close relationship with the Royal Family and often fronts events - such as this year's Jubilee celebrations - leading to worries that featuring in The Crown could damage their friendship.
Then there's the question of Dench’s fee… The Crown has a strict rule that no one should be paid more than the person playing the Queen, set to be Imelda Staunton for Season Five, who took over from Olivia Colman.
News that Dench was considering the role comes after she wrote a strongly-worded letter to the Times, blaming the Netflix hit for ‘crude sensationalism’ and blurring fact and fiction in a dramatic intervention in the row over the show’s rewriting of history. She called on Netflix to display a disclaimer at the start of each episode to say it is ‘fictionalised drama’. This, she said, would also show respect for the bereavement suffered by the Royal Family and the nation on the death of Queen Elizabeth II. She wrote: ‘The closer the drama comes to our present times, the more freely it seems willing to blur the lines between historical accuracy and crude sensationalism.’
Series five will cover 1991 to 1997, including the separation of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. It is expected to include fictionalised scenes showing Charles, played by Dominic West, lobbying then-prime minister Sir John Major over the potential abdication of his mother. Sir John has described the scenes as ‘a barrel-load of malicious nonsense’.
