Dame Judi Dench turned her pen into a pitchfork.
In a letter to U.K. publication The Times on Oct. 19, the Oscar-winning actress expressed her feelings about the upcoming fifth season of Netflix's The Crown—and she did not hold back.
The 87-year-old zeroed in on one particular scene from the first episode of season five, premiering Nov. 9, which reportedly shows then-Prince Charles (Dominic West) attempting to convince former UK Prime Minister John Major (Jonny Lee Miller) to persuade Queen Elizabeth II (Imelda Staunton) to abdicate the throne.
"Given some of the wounding suggestions apparently contained in the new series—that King Charles plotted for his mother to abdicate, for example, or once suggested his mother's parenting was so deficient that she might have deserved a jail sentence," Dench wrote, "this is both cruelly unjust to the individuals and damaging to the institution they represent."
Dench, who is a friend of Queen Consort Camilla Parker Bowles also 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" and alleged the program propagated "an inaccurate and hurtful account of history."
Dench urged The Crown to add "a disclaimer at the start of each episode," which she acknowledged the makers of the show have refused to do in the past.
"The time has come for Netflix to reconsider—for the sake of a family and a nation so recently bereaved," the Shakespeare in Love star wrote, "as a mark of respect to a sovereign who served her people so dutifully for 70 years, and to preserve their own reputation in the eyes of their British subscribers."
At the very least, Dench is not alone in her criticism.
In an interview with The Mail on Sunday Oct. 16, former PM Major himself called the upcoming fifth season "damaging and malicious fiction" and a "barrel load of nonsense."
Major, who insisted the alleged conversation between he and Charles never happened, said the scene was written "for no other reason than to provide maximum—and entirely false—dramatic impact."
E! News reached out to Netflix and creators of The Crown for comment and has not heard back.
The fifth season of The Crown premieres Nov. 9 on Netflix.