'The Crown' season 4 premiere: Did Netflix exploit the British royal family's pain?

Even before "The Crown" season 4 was set to air on Netflix Sunday 8 am, it was embroiled in controversies. Prince Charles's friends launched a scathing attack on the series Saturday night accusing producers of the hit Netflix drama of "trolling on a Hollywood budget". His close friends have accused the streaming giant of exploiting the British royal family's pain.

"The Crown" season 4 premiered on Netflix on Sunday. It shows Prince Charles's doomed marriage Princess Diana, her eating disorder – bulimia and the Prince of Wales' affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.

The heir to the British throne's friends accused Netflix of "fiction is presented as fact". However, now senior members of the British royal family are questioning how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle signed a multimillion dollar deal with US streaming giant.

"This is drama and entertainment for commercial ends being made with no regard to the actual people involved who are having their lives hijacked and exploited," an insider said.

"In this case, it's dragging up things that happened during very difficult times 25 or 30 years ago without a thought for anyone's feelings. That isn't right or fair, particularly when so many of the things being depicted don't represent the truth."

"The Crown" season 4 covers the years from Lord Mountbatten's assassination in 1979 to the ousting of Margaret Thatcher in 1990. However, what is of concern to Buckingham Palace insiders is the portrayal of Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

"The new series paints the Prince and Duchess in a very unflattering light but at least at the start of reality shows like The Only Way Is Essex they admit that some scenes have been invented for entertainment," a Palace source said.

"There is no sense of telling carefully nuanced stories – it's all very two-dimensional. This is trolling with a Hollywood budget. The public shouldn't be fooled into thinking this is an accurate portrayal of what really happened," the source added.

Scenes show very graphic details of Diana's bulimia battle. "The Duke of Cambridge is none too pleased with it. He feels that both his parents are being exploited and being presented in a false, simplistic way to make money," the source said.

"There are raised eyebrows about Harry taking millions from the company that's behind all this. After all where do much of Netflix's profits come from? The Crown," an insider said.

Previously the British royal family refused to comment on "The Crown." But, according to Daily Mail, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were apparently angry with previous series. The Duke of Edinburgh was shown having an affair with a ballerina in season 2.

However, both Clarence House and Kensington Palace declined to comment.