Netflix has added a disclaimer to its marketing for The Crown after receiving criticism over its lack of warning that a portion of the series is fiction and not fact.

In a reported backtrack by the streaming giant amid a ‘royal row’, the trailer for the fifth series is accompanied by the text: ‘Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatisation tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign.’

This disclaimer has not featured in previous series promotions for The Crown.

The Twitter account for the Netflix series has also been updated to remind people that the show is ‘fictional’.

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The news comes after actor Dame Judi Dench accused the streamer of ‘blurring the lines between historical accuracy and crude sensationalism’. Writing to the Times, Dench said that Netflix’s dramatisation of actual events has increased the closer the drama has come to the present day.

“A significant number of viewers, particularly overseas, may take its version of history as being wholly true,” she added.

“Despite this week stating publicly that The Crown has always been a ‘fictionalised drama’, the programme-makers have resisted all calls for them to carry a disclaimer at the start of each episode … the time has come for Netflix to reconsider.”

Former Prime Minister Sir John Major also told the Mail on Sunday that a scene depicting a plot to get rid of Elizabeth II was “a barrel load of malicious nonsense”.

Responding to Mayor’s comments, a spokesperson for the Crown series said: “The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events.

“Series five is a fictional dramatisation, imagining what could have happened behind closed doors during a significant decade for the royal family – one that has already been scrutinised and well-documented by journalists, biographers and historians.”