Crown Princess Emma Corrin dives into the pond fully clothed to rescue a stricken spaniel

As Princess Diana in series four of The Crown, Emma Corrin won a whole new generation of royal admirers.

But the 27-year-old actor turned out to be a true queen of hearts yesterday after jumping into a pond fully clothed to save a dog.

The Kent-born star, who won a Golden Globe for playing the late Princess of Wales, was walking with a friend on London’s Hampstead Heath when the pair saw the dog struggling in a pond.

Emma grabbed an orange lifebuoy and dove in to reach the stricken animal, later identified as a cocker spaniel named Annie.

She was safely returned to her grateful owner by the star, who was dripping wet in a white T-shirt and blue shorts.

Emma Corrin and as Princess Diana in series four of The Crown on Netflix

Tali Fraser, who witnessed the heroic pet rescue, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It happened right in front of me. The spaniel’s owner was very upset, running around yelling “Annie! Annie!” while the dog swam in circles.

“Suddenly Emma Corrin came by and saw what was going on.”

Mrs Fraser watched Emma take off boots and socks, jump in and ‘swim towards the spaniel and the dog began to swim in the right direction back to the owner’.

When Emma emerged from the pond, Ms Fraser added, Annie’s owner hugged the 27-year-old star and said: ‘Thank you very much. I don’t know how to thank you.’

And Annie, it seems, is something of a repeat offender. Her owner overheard Emma, ​​who often walks the moors with a dog named Spencer, say that Annie had run into similar trouble before.

Young people relax beside a pond on Hampstead Heath, London

Emma, ​​about to take on an undisclosed role as a villain in Marvel’s Deadpool franchise, attended an all-girls Roman Catholic boarding school before studying English and drama at the University of Cambridge – and came out as non-binary in July 2021, explaining that she prefers to use the pronouns “she/it.”

In the August 2022 issue of Vogue, Emma became the style bible’s first non-binary cover star.

The song also featured an interview where Emma said, “In my mind, gender just doesn’t feel fixed and I don’t know if it ever will; there can always be some fluidity for me. I feel much more seen when I’m called ‘she’, but my best friends will call me ‘she’ and I don’t mind because I know they know me.’

A spokesperson for Emma declined to comment.