'The Crown': How historically accurate is season four? A look at fact vs. fiction

Have you watched Season 4 of <a href=/tags/0/the-crown><strong><i>The Crown</a></i></strong> yet? The buzzy <a href=/tags/0/netflix><strong>Netflix</a></strong> series about the <Strong><a href=/tags/0/british-royals>Royal Family</a></strong> has once again taken over people's lives as they're glued to their TV sets watching episode after episode. <p>The <strong>Peter Morgan</strong>-helmed show was already immensely popular thanks to incredible performances in seasons one and two from <a href=/tags/0/claire-foy><strong>Claire Foy</a></strong> (<a href=/tags/0/queen-elizabeth-ii><strong>the Queen</a></strong>), <strong><a href=/tags/0/matt-smith>Matt Smith</a></strong> (<a href=/tags/0/prince-philip><strong>Prince Philip</a></strong>) and in season three from <a href=/tags/0/olivia-colman><strong>Olivia Colman</a></strong> (the Queen), <a href=/tags/0/tobias-menzies><strong>Tobias Menzies</a></strong> (Prince Philip), <a href=/tags/0/helena-bonham-carter><strong>Helena Bonham Carter<a></strong> (<a href=/tags/0/princess-margaret><strong>Princess Margaret</a></strong>), <a href=/tags/0/josh-oconnor><strong>Josh O'Connor</a></strong> (<a href=/tags/0/prince-charlse><strong>Prince Charles</a></strong>), <a href=/tags/0/erin-doherty><strong>Erin Doherty</a></strong> (<a href=/tags/0/princess-anne><strong>Princess Anne</a></strong>) and <Strong>Emerald Fennell</strong> (<a href=/tags/0/camilla-parker-bowles><strong>Camilla Parker Bowles</a></strong>). <p>But season four introduces us to <a href=/tags/0/emma-corrin><strong>Emma Corrin</a></strong>'s <a href=/tags/0/princess-diana><strong>Princess Diana</a></strong> and <a href=/tags/0/gillian-anderson><strong>Gillian Anderson</a></strong>'s <strong>Margaret Thatcher</strong>, who have both garnered praise from critics and fans alike for their depictions of two women who couldn't have been more different. <p><i>The Crown</i> is a fictionalized drama based on historical fact, and some of the turns of events this season have prompted people to ask if they really took place in real life. <strong>Scroll through the gallery (or click through if you're on desktop) to see what's fact and what's fiction in the latest group of episodes in the acclaimed series.</strong> <p>If you haven't seen it yet, it behooves us to say... <strong>WARNING: SPOILERS!</strong> <p>Photos: &copy; Des Willie and Liam Daniel/Netflix
<h2>Did Prince Charles date Diana's older sister, Sarah?</h2> <p>Before Charles meets and falls in love with the future Princess of Wales, he's depicted in the series as having dated <strong>Sarah</strong>, Diana's elder sister. <p>That did actually happen. Sarah also had a relationship with Charles – albeit a very short one. <p><strong>John Spencer</strong> and <strong>Frances Spencer</strong>, Viscount and Viscountess Althorp, were Sarah and Diana's parents. Sarah, Diana and their sister and brother <strong>Jane</strong> and <strong>Charles</strong> all had a close connection to the <a href=/tags/0/british-royals><strong>Royal Family</a></strong>, having been raised on the Queen's Sandringham Estate in Park House. <p>Following John and Frances's divorce, the children and their father relocated to Althorp House. In her twenties, she briefly dated Charles. <p>Photo: &copy; Des Willie/Netflix
<h2>How did Charles and Diana meet?</h2> <p>In <i>The Crown</i>, Charles spots Diana for the first time while she's hiding behind a planter while dressed as a wood sprite. The two joke back and forth, and bond over Shakespeare's <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> when it's revealed Diana is performing it at school. <p>While Charles did have a love of drama while he was studying at Cambridge, this scene looks to be purely artistic licence. In reality, Charles and Diana were introduced to each other in 1977 at a party at Althorp House. The matchmaker? Diana's sister, Sarah. <p>Photo: &copy; Des Willie/Netflix
<h2>Did Lord Mountbatten really write Charles a letter?</h2> <p>In Season 4 of <i>The Crown</i>, Lord <strong>Louis Mountbatten</strong>, Charles's great-uncle, phones him and tells him to move on from Camilla. The two have an angry conversation, and Charles hangs up the phone. <p>Louis later writes Charles a letter encouraging him to marry someone else to avoid a fate similar to <strong>Edward VIII</strong>, who abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry <strong>Wallis Simpson</strong>, who was divorced. He advises the heir to the throne to marry "a sweet and innocent young girl, with no past." <p>The letter is written the night before Mountbatten dies. Charles receives the letter after his great-uncle's death and is devastated. <p>Louis did not send Charles a letter the night before he died, but it is widely accepted by historians that he did give his grand nephew relationship advice in two separate notes. <P>Historian <strong>Andrew Lownie</strong> says Mountbatten wrote the Prince of Wales in 1974 and said Charles should marry someone "suitable, attractive and sweet-charactered" who hadn't been involved with anyone else. <p>But Charles did not receive any such letter from Mountbatten after his death. <p>Photo: &copy; Des Willie/Netflix
<h2>Diana's Balmoral visit</h2> <p><i>The Crown</i> shows Diana winning the Royal Family's approval after visiting their Balmoral estate and going on a stag hunt with Philip. The two successfully take down an imperial stag. <p>While there's a lot of artistic licence here and this moment looks to have been written just for the show, Diana and her father-in-law did have a warm, close relationship. Diana also knew Balmoral well, since her sister Jane had a house on the estate. <p>Photo: &copy; Sophie Mutevelian/Netflix
<h2>Did Diana chose her own engagement ring?</h2> <p>The show depicts Diana as picking out her own engagement ring, the gorgeous sapphire and diamond jewel which is now owned by <a href=/tags/0/kate-middleton><strong>Duchess Kate</a></strong> – and which <strong><a href=/tags/0/prince-william>Prince William</a></strong> used to propose to her a decade ago! <p>Diana did, in fact, pick out the jewels for the ring. To prevent the story from leaking to the press, Buckingham Palace staff were told <strong>Prince Andrew</strong> was receiving a ring for his birthday, according to her biographer, Andrew Morton. <P>When the jewels arrived, Diana fell in love with the sapphires and diamonds. <p>"I suppose I chose it," she told Andrew. "We all chipped in. The Queen paid for it." <p>Photo: &copy; Des Willie/Netflix
<h2>Did someone really invade the Queen's bedroom?</h2> <p>In 1982, the Queen had a huge scare when <strong>Michael Fagan</strong> broke into Buckingham Palace and entered her bedroom in the middle of the night. <P>But while the show depicts Her Majesty having a conversation with him, that's actually an urban legend. <p>"She went past me and ran out of the room; her little bare feet running across the floor," Michael told <i>The Independent on Sunday</i> in 2012. <p>Michael also recently told <a href=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/08/queens-bedroom-intruder-michael-fagan-dont-regret/><i>The Telegraph</a></i> the Queen "never had a four-poster bed" as the show depicts and said she told him "I'll be back in a minute" before leaving the room. <p>Photo: &copy; Des Willie/Netflix
<h2>Did Princess Margaret try to stop Charles and Diana's wedding? </h2> <p>In season four of <i>The Crown</i>, the Queen's sister is depicted as saying she doesn't believe Charles and Diana should marry, despite the couple having the approval of the rest of the members of the Royal Family. <p>This moment was all Helena Bonham Carter's doing, which she spoke about during a press conference for season four before its premiere. <p>In season one, Margaret's romance with Group Captain <strong>Peter Townsend</strong> ends because he is divorced and deemed not suitable for her to marry. It's likely viewers will see paralells with Margaret's situation and that of Charles and Camilla's in season four. But in real life, this moment isn't based in fact. <p>Photo: &copy; Des Willie/Netflix
<h2>Charles and Camilla's nicknames</h2> <p>The show depicts Diana discovering Charles and Camilla still have feelings for each other when she discovers designs for a bracelet using the nicknames "Fred and Gladys." <P><strong>Andrew Morgan</strong>, one of Diana's biographers, has said the story is true and she confronted Charles about it. Andrew has said she also him Fred and Gladys were the nicknames Charles and Camilla used for each other. <p>Photo: &copy; Des Willie/Netflix
<h2>Did Margaret Thatcher's son go missing?</h2> <p>As the show depicts, <strong>Mark Thatcher</strong> did disappear for six days in the Sahara Desert while he was in the Paris-Dakar Rally. He was later found to be 50 kilometres off course. <p>What's wrong, though, is the show's timing is off. <i>The Crown</i> depicts Mark going missing around the time of the Falklands War. In actuality, the rally took place in January and the War began three months later. <p>Photo: &copy; Des Willie/Netflix
<h2>Did Philip talk to Diana about her marriage?</h2> <p>In the last episode of the new season, Philip approaches Diana to talk about her being unhappy. This appears to be a moment written just for the show, but as mentioned, the two had a strong bond, having both been outsiders. Philip did later write Diana a letter when she and Charles separated, expressing sadness at the situation. <P>Photo: &copy; Sophie Mutevelian/Netflix
<h2>Was Prince Charles in an avalanche?</h2> <p>Major <strong>Hugh Lindsay</strong>, one of the Prince of Wales's close friends, dies in an avalanche in one of the show's episodes. This is true. <p>A helicopter pilot who later brought Charles away from the scene of the accident said he was "feet from death." Journalist <strong>Elizabeth Suter</strong> later reported a distraught Charles was even digging in the snow to try and find his friends. <p>Photo: &copy; Des Willie/Netflix
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