The tumultous marriage between Princess Diana and Prince Charles is unpacked in series five of ‘The Crown’.
Images via Netflix
Fact or fiction? ‘The Crown’ S5 burning questions explained
Season five of ‘The Crown’ dusted off several skeletons from the British Royal Family. But what is real, and what is reimagined?
The tumultous marriage between Princess Diana and Prince Charles is unpacked in series five of ‘The Crown’.
Images via Netflix
When it comes to royal biographies like The Crown, it’s hard to determine what is real and what is reimagined.
The Netflix series – now in series 5 – has caused a furore over a number of wild allegations addressed in it.
But where does the truth lie?
ALSO READ: ‘The Crown’: Timeline of events from season four
FACT VS FICTION: 5 SCANDALS ADDRESSED IN ‘THE CROWN‘
Did Prince Phillip have an affair?
One of the burning questions from this season of The Crown was: did Queen Elizabeth’s husband Prince Phillip have an affair with a woman named Penny Knatchell?
Over the years, rumours have been rife that Phillip and Penny, also known as the Countess Mountbatten of Burma, had a romantic relationship.
The Crown portrays Penny – who married Norton Knatchbull, Phillip’s uncle – as having a firm friendship. The unlikely duo – who have a 30-year age difference – bonded over shared interests like carriage driving.
However, producers did hint that there could’ve been more. In one scene, Queen Elizabeth says to Prince Phillip: “She’s half your age” after he admits he’s had to seek “companionship” elsewhere.
Prince Phillip responds: “I don’t want to be asked to give up something when I’ve done nothing wrong.”
• EP 2: "THE SYSTEM"
— Y⏳ (@LaDimplette) November 10, 2022
1. Prince Philip and his close-friend and "keeper of secrets" Penelope "Penny" Knatchbull. She was among the 30 people who attended his funeral in 2021.
Affair rumors persisted, but were never proved.
2. Penny at Philip & Elizabeth’s funerals. #TheCrown pic.twitter.com/NWQ3a8KlyW
Was Dodi Al-Fayed engaged when he met Princess Diana?
According to US model and actress Kelly Fisher, Dodi Al-Fayed was “two-timing” her with Princess Diana – particularly during their trip to Saint Tropez.
She told News of The World in 1997: “He’d reappear more than four or five hours later without explanation – other than that his father needed him. I now know that it was at that time he was romancing Diana.”
Fisher claims she was dumped by Dodi during a phone call. This reportedly occurred on the very same day news of her relationship with Diana made headlines.
In The Crown series finale, Dodi proposes to Kelly, who later on goes to ditch her to date, Diana.
In one scene, Dodi’s dad Mohammed said to him: “The only thing you have a talent for is women.”
According to MailOnline, season six will reveal more of Dodi’s love triangle with Diana and Kelly.
EP 3: "MOU MOU"
— Y⏳ (@LaDimplette) November 10, 2022
1. Mohamed Al-Fayed at "Villa Windsor" and "Hôtel Ritz Paris".
2. Mohamed & Emad "Dodi" Al-Fayed
3. Charles, Diana & Mohamed Al-Fayed during the Harrods Polo Cup in 1987
4. Valet Sydney Johnson #TheCrown pic.twitter.com/NHn5ozNBnB
SABOTAGE, TELL-ALL INTERVIEW AND ‘TAMPON-GATE’
Did someone try to sabotage Diana’s brakes?
In 1995 – the year that Diana recorded her infamous Panorama interview – she claimed that someone had tried to tamper with her car brakes.
In a scene from The Crown, Diana leaves Kensington Palace to visit her brother Charles Spencer. However, the royal has a near-accident as her brakes appear to fail. Diana also claimed that her phone was bugged and was depicted in another scene where she claims to hear “clicking” noises during a phone call.
In 2007, Diana’s former private secretary Michael Gibbins told The Guardian that Diana believed she was being recorded.
He said: “Her actions were such, in terms of changing her telephone number that it was clear that that was a concern to her.”
Diana’s ex-partner Hasnat Khan also claims that she expressed her concern to him that someone had tampered with her car.
Did Princess Diana warn Queen Elizabeth about Panorama interview?
In 1995, Diana sat down with Martin Bashir of the BBC to record their Panorama interview. In it, she infamously said of her relationship: “Well, there were three of us in this marriage. So it was a bit crowded.”
In episode eight, Diana tells the Queen that she went through with the interview in a bid to be “open and honest” with her. Diana also claims that she intended to make her marriage woes public knowledge.
However, according to Princess Diana’s private secretary Patrick Jephson, this scene was completely fabricated.
He told The Telegraph that “the princess absolutely failed to summon up the necessary courage and delegated the job to me”
Did tampon-gate really happen?
One of the biggest scandals from Diana and Prince Charles’s relationship was his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles and their “tampon” conversation – which The Crown dedicated an entire episode to.
In real life, a secret recording of a phone call between Charles and Camilla is leaked in 1993. And the media ran with all the explicit details of their sexualised conversation – immortalised with a transcript – including the former fantasising about being a “tampon” for his lady love.
