The Crown accused of merging Harry & Meghan with Charles & Diana Story

The Crown has been accused of ‘post-tweaking Harry and Meghan’s story to fit a plot about King Charles and Princess Diana’ in a new Mail podcast. In the first episode of The Crown: Fact or Fiction, The Mail’s royal experts debunk fabricated details in the latest series of the hit Netflix show about the royal family, which features Diana’s death in 1997. Mail writer Robert Hardman and Sunday’s Mail on Royal Correspondent Natasha Livingstone unravels a conspiracy surrounding the 50th birthday of the future Queen Camilla.

It portrays a lunch between Diana and then Prime Minister Tony Blair, as the Princess of Wales begins her post-royal life in July 1997, with Mr Blair reporting to Queen Elizabeth that Diana wants to take on an official role for the palace. “As a divorcee – and no longer an HRH – Diana is now learning the difference between being officially in the family and being out,” says the queen, played by Imelda Staunton.

Hardman says in the podcast: ‘It is clear that this largely fits the story of Harry and Meghan into the story of Diana and Charles. “We do know that this lunch took place, I believe it was at Cherie Blair’s invitation, not Tony Blair’s.”

In 2022, Prince Harry revealed in his Netflix documentary that he had initially asked for a ‘half in, half out’ arrangement when negotiating the terms of his and Meghan’s departure from royal life. He added that the royal family had made it clear this was not an option. Hardman said Alistair Campbell, Blair’s former spin doctor, was an adviser on the series and so could have advised on the former prime minister’s side of the story.

One of the Netflix series’ most controversial moments, dogged by criticism of historical inaccuracy, is its depiction of the car crash that killed Diana in Paris. While it’s not shown directly on screen, both experts agree that while shocking, it’s not being treated in bad taste. The first episode of the sixth series of The Crown then shows a row within the royal family over whether or not the Queen will attend the 50th birthday party of Charles’ new partner, Camilla. It’s an occasion where Diana is also accused of bringing Princes William and Harry to Saint-Tropez, France, at the invitation of Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed.

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