3 moments in the new season of 'The Crown' that actually happened — and 5 that were invented for entertainment (2024)

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Charles invited his family to Camilla's 50th birthday party and only Princess Margaret attended.

Fiction: The first episode of "The Crown" season six shows Charles (Dominic West) asking his mother to show support for his relationship with Camilla (Olivia Williams) by showing up to her 50th birthday celebrations.

She declines, using a long-standing engagement in Derbyshire the next day as an excuse.

When the party does go ahead, it's shown that the only royal family member who hasn't boycotted the event is Margaret (Lesley Manville).

Later, she calls her sister and urges her not to stand in the way of Charles' happiness, as he is going to be with Camilla regardless.

There is no evidence that Margaret attended the celebrations at Highgrove back in July 1997, which surely would've made headlines, given the Queen's unwillingness to endorse the relationship.

According to The Times, Charles actually wasn't seeking his mother's approval of his relationship at this time (he had only divorced Diana the year prior), so the likelihood that he had begged the Queen to attend is slim.

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Dodi's fiancée was holidaying on a nearby yacht while he romanced Diana.

Fact: When Dodi's fiancée Kelly Fisher (Erin Richards) shows up in the Mediterranean to spend time with her soon-to-be husband, she is directed to a smaller boat, rather than the Fayed's large and imposing yacht.

While she's initially confused, she soon realizes it's to stop her from crossing paths with Diana, the woman Dodi's father Mohamed (Salim Daw) wants him to pursue instead.

This is true. Years later, transcripts of a telephone conversation between Fayed and Fisher from August 1997 were made public in an inquest into Fayed and Diana's deaths, and appeared to confirm that the American model was placed on a boat in close enough proximity for Dodi to move between them.

In the call, which took place after Fisher learned that Fayed was spending time with the Princess of Wales and her sons, she said: "You even flew me down to St. Tropez to sit on a boat while you seduced Diana all day and f*cked me all night."

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Diana was hounded by questions about her relationship with Dodi at a press conference held to promote her anti-landmine campaign.

Fiction: In episode two, Diana's trip to Bosnia as part of her landmine awareness efforts is derailed when, at a press conference to promote the campaign, she is interrupted by journalists who only want to know about her new boyfriend and the salacious details of their burgeoning relationship.

While the trip to Bosnia in August 1997 and the subsequent press conference really did take place, the depiction of the press being only interested in her relationship is skewered. Mainly because the media frenzy over her and Dodi's relationship hadn't yet ramped up. The photographs of the pair kissing were published the day after the press conference.

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Dodi proposed to Diana the night of their fateful car crash in Paris.

Fiction: In the third episode, Dodi (Khalid Abdalla) is shown getting down on one knee and popping the question to Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), despite the fact that they've only known each other for a matter of weeks.

Diana stops him before he has the chance to ask for her hand in marriage outright, explaining that marriage isn't the right next step.

A 2007 inquiry into the death of Diana found that it was unlikely that Dodi proposed to Diana before they died.

While it was documented that he purchased the famous "Dis-moi Oui" ("Tell me Yes") ring that Diana had singled out in a jewelry store in Monte Carlo on August 30 — the day before the crash — the circ*mstances for him to present her with it don't add up.

The inquiry, conducted by Metropolitan Police, found that while Dodi may have been planning a proposal, that evidence points to the conclusion that one did not take place.

Per The Guardian, the ring was found at Dodi's apartment, which Diana had not visited that day (it was where the couple were heading at the time of their accident).

"The weight of evidence is that the Princess of Wales was not intending to get engaged or married to Dodi Al Fayed," the report read.

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Prince Charles hired Scottish photographer Duncan Muir to take a portrait of him and the Princes after Diana's kiss photo.

Fiction: In the second episode of season six, Charles' PR advisor and private secretary Mark Bolland (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) hires the Scottish photographer Duncan Muir (Forbes Masson) to take some photos of the then-Princes of Wales and his sons, after photos of Diana kissing her lover Dodi dominated the newspaper front pages.

However, the mild-mannered photographer who is shown to have a lifelong working relationship with the royal family was invented for the purposes of the series.

In truth, the photo shoot, which took place during the royals' annual vacation to Balmoral, was attended by a number of Fleet Street photographers who took snaps for a variety of different U.K. newspapers, per The Telegraph.

The show's depiction of the photos received also bends the truth. In the show, the photo of the princes appears on the front page of The Mirror as a "royal world picture exclusive." But in reality, the photos appeared on pages eight and nine while a story about Diana took the prime spot.

"Di and Dodi fly to psychic Rita," the front page of The Mirror read on August 13, 1997, showing that the staged photos were no match for the public's appetite for updates about Dodi and Diana's romance.

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Dodi and Diana's driver was drunk the night of the crash that claimed their lives.

Fact: In episode three, in the lead-up to the tragic accident that kills Diana and Dodi, the camera lingers on the empty highball glass that their driver Henri Paul places on the bar before leaving the Ritz to drive them back to the movie producer's apartment.

This is the only indication audiences are given that suggests their driver is not in a fit state to be behind the wheel. It has been well documented in the years since that Paul, who was the deputy head of security at the Ritz, was inebriated and considerably over the alcohol limit when he died in the crash along with the couple.

In 2006, DNA evidence proved that Paul had 175mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, which is over three times the French legal limit, NBC News reported. The presence of anti-depressants and traces of an antipsychotic in his blood might have worsened his inebriation, the Telegraph reported.

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Prince William went missing for 14 hours in the Highlands of Balmoral in the days following Diana's death.

Fiction: In the fourth episode of season six, the focus shifts to the teenage William (Rufus Kampa) in the immediate aftermath of Diana's death. In the midst of his grief, he goes for a walk on the vast, sprawling grounds of the family's Scottish estate, Balmoral Castle, and does not return until 14 hours later.

His unexpected disappearance prompts a frantic search party. Family members and staff are shown fanning out across the Highlands to look for him with the help of dogs and Land Rovers.

The scene appears, by all accounts, to be a fictitious invention by "The Crown" creator and writer Peter Morgan. There are no contemporaneous news articles indicating that the young William's disappearance was reported to authorities. Given William's status as the heir to the throne, the family would've surely been concerned for his well-being and safety had he gone missing for that length of time.

As Royal historian Sally Bedel wrote in the Times, while William did go on a walk in the hills, he was very much focused on looking after Harry and making sure he was OK.

Per Harpers Bazaar, William said in 2021 that "in the dark days of grief" that followed his mother's death he " found comfort and solace in the Scottish outdoors."

"As a result, the connection I feel to Scotland will forever run deep," he added. It's possible that this revelation delivered at the Opening Ceremony of the General Assembly of The Church of Scotland, is what inspired this storyline.

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The Queen spoke about Diana’s death in a televised speech after bowing to public pressure to show some emotion.

Fact: As depicted in episode four, the Queen faced criticism from the public and the press for her lack of response to the news of Diana's death. There were mounting calls to lower the Union Jack flag at Buckingham Palace to half-mast out of respect for Diana's passing (even though the flag was not up at all, since the Queen was away from the residence).

Many felt it was a mistake that she did not travel down from Balmoral in Scotland to Buckingham Palace in London immediately after the tragedy, so she could mourn with her subjects.

In an attempt to rectify this and get public favor back on her side, the Queen returned to the U.K. capital a day early and later delivered a speech from a room in Buckingham Palace overlooking the crowd of mourners below, according to The New York Times.

As on the show, in her speech, the Queen described Diana as ''an exceptional and gifted human being,'' and alluded to their strained relationship, stating: "In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness."