Plus, King Charles isn't planning a move to Buckingham Palace any time soon.

Welcome to this week’s edition of Royalist, The Daily Beast’s newsletter for all things royal and Royal Family. Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Sunday.

Former PM Major says The Crown is “barrel load of nonsense”

Prince Harry was under new pressure to disown the Netflix series The Crown Sunday, after his former “special guardian” and ex-British Prime Minister Sir John Major described the show as “damaging and malicious fiction” and a “barrel load of nonsense.”

Major, who governed Britain from 1990 to 1997, made his comments to the Mail on Sunday after the paper reported that the first episode of the new series shows Charles lobbying Major to urge the queen to abdicate.

The Mail reports that in the episode Charles, played by Dominic West, discusses Edward VII, Queen Victoria’s son with Major and says: “It was said that Queen Victoria had no confidence in him, thought him dangerous, free thinking. He longed to be given responsibilities, but his mother refused. Even forbade him from seeing State papers. Yet when his time came, he proved his doubters wrong and his dynamism, his intellect, his popular appeal made his reign a triumph.”

The fictional Major asks him to clarify his point and Charles responds: “I am saying what a pity it was, what a waste that his voice, his presence, his vision, wasn’t incorporated earlier. It would have been so good for everybody.”

Major himself has now issued a lengthy statement to the Mail, saying, in part: “If the scenes you describe are broadcast, they should be seen as nothing other than damaging and malicious fiction. A barrel load of nonsense peddled for no other reason than to provide maximum—and entirely false—dramatic impact.”

Major’s intervention is likely to put pressure on Prince Harry, who has signed a multi-million dollar production deal with the streaming giant, to publicly criticize the show as Major was one of Harry’s trusted advisers.

He was appointed “special guardian” to William and Harry after Diana’s death and was responsible for the legal and administrative matters relating to William and Harry.

The relationship endured, and Major was the only British politician invited to attend Harry and Meghan’s wedding.

Sneak preview of The Crown

The London Sunday Times has been given a sneak preview of all ten episodes of Series 5 of The Crown, and has a comprehensive series of teasers in today’s newspaper.

They don’t quite rise to the levels of spoilers, but if you want to maintain 100 percent surprise, look away now, and don’t come back here till the fifth series streams on November 9.

Among the plot lines that The Sunday Times reveals is Prince Philip’s rumored affair with Penny Knatchbull, and in one scene Penny is dressed down by the queen who tells her, “Why don’t you come in the car with me to church this Christmas at Sandringham? Nip all that in the bud.”

The show also explores the queen’s fear she was poor at parenting, saying that in one scene she is seen speaking to the Archbishop of Canterbury and she says that her children’s divorces “look like parental failure of the most awful kind.”

Interestingly, The Sunday Times says that the Diana interview with Martin Bashir, “isn’t recreated in the show” but says there are suggestions, which were raised by Andrew Morton in a recent interview with The Daily Beast, that Diana believed her communications were being bugged.

However, the most incendiary claim is that Charles explicitly lobbied John Major to get his mother to abdicate (see above).

King Charles not planning to move to Buck House

The king is not planning to move into Buckingham Palace.

The palace is midway through a massive restoration and repair job, which is not expected to be complete until 2027, and might provide some handy political cover.

A source told The Sunday Times: “I know he is no fan of ‘the big house’, as he calls the palace. He doesn’t see it as a viable future home or a house that’s fit for purpose in the modern world. He feels that its upkeep, both from a cost and environmental perspective, is not sustainable.”

Another royal source said: “It is certainly true that Camilla doesn’t want to live at Buckingham Palace.”

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “It is expected that the necessary works will be completed for Their Majesties to take up residence in 2027. In the interim period, the Palace will be fully utilized for official business wherever practicable.”

Subscribe here to get all the latest royal news and gossip with Tom Sykes and Tim Teeman.

Ghislaine Maxwell suggests Andrew photo is fake

In her interview from jail with the Sun, Ghislaine Maxwell—as well as saying that she feels “so bad” for her “dear friend” Prince Andrew—also says that the notorious picture of Andrew with his arm around a teenage Virginia Giuffre is a fake, saying: “At this time, I no longer believe that to be a true image, and I don't believe that it is what it appears to be…There are so many things that are wrong with it… As soon as my appeal is over, I will be very happy to discuss it.”

She added: “I don’t know exactly how many points there are, but there are over 50 problems with the picture…I don’t believe it’s a true picture.”

Maxwell also said that there were question marks over Epstein’s death, saying there was a “lack of transparency” at the Bureau of Prisons adding, “There is a culture of untruth that frankly needs to be brought to light…I’m saying he [Epstein] is one among many. But I wouldn’t know. I just find it suspicious.”

Maxwell told filmmaker Daphne Barak for the Sun that she had also been cut off by Bill Clinton, despite having had “a special friendship, which continued over the years,” but said Donald Trump had stuck by her.

“We knew each other and mingled in the same circles, in New York, Palm Beach. I was very grateful when he wished me well after [the arrest]. He got bad media for it, but he dared, while others didn’t.

“I was honored he remembered me. Well, he is known to say what he thinks. It gave me a big boost.”

Questions, questions

A curious story on Page Six this week suggested that Harry and Meghan’s show for Netflix “contradicted what Harry has written” in his book. We’re confused—if a “senior Netflix source” has actually seen and read Harry’s book, unlike anyone else on the planet, we want to know about it please!

Royals cut racing involvement

Queen Elizabeth II adored racing and bloodstock and spent a good deal of time and energy breeding and training racehorses. The king, however, is less enthusiastic and is to sell 12 thoroughbreds at auction later this month, the Mail reports.

The sale represents a cull of about a third of the royal stable. A source described as “close to the Royal Sandringham stud in Norfolk” told the Mail, “The royal stud could be a museum in three years. It would be a real shame.”

This week in royal history

A year ago today Buckingham Palace was bathed in green light ahead of the first ever Earthshot Awards. Prince William’s brainchild, the palace said, had “led a worldwide search for the most inspiring and innovative solutions to today’s environmental challenges.”

Unanswered questions

How will the royal attack machine continue to target The Crown to safeguard King Charles’ reputation, as the new season highlights the most scandal-ridden period of his life? What new access to Buckingham Palace will the public get if it simply becomes an operational HQ?

Love The Daily Beast’s royal coverage? Sign up here to get Royalist newsletters sent straight to your inbox.

If you are on a mobile device or cannot view the images in this message, click here to view this email in your browser. To ensure delivery of these emails, please add emails@thedailybeast.com to your address book. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, or think you have received this message in error, you can safely unsubscribe.