The Crown Stars Break Down Filming Infamous Tampongate Scandal

The Crown knows each astir controversy.

After all, the critically-acclaimed Netflix drama centered connected the reign of Queen Elizabeth II has tackled plentifulness of salacious royal fodder passim its archetypal 4 seasons.

From Princess Anne's narration with Andrew Parker Bowles to Princess Margaret's overdose, from the uncover of the Queen and Princess Margaret's concealed cousins to the monarchy's attraction of Princess Diana, The Crown has surely ne'er steered distant from scandal.

However, play five, which dropped Nov. 9 connected Netflix, has managed to disturbance up much furor than immoderate play that's travel before.

On Oct. 16, former UK Prime Minister John Major, played by Jonny Lee Miller in play five, called the caller episodes "damaging and malicious fiction" and a "barrel load of nonsense" successful an interrogation with The Mail connected Sunday.

Major pointed to 1 country successful particular, successful the season's archetypal episode, successful which then-Prince Charles (Dominic West) attempts to convince erstwhile PM Major to persuade Queen Elizabeth II (Imelda Staunton) to abdicate the throne.

The erstwhile PM insisted nary specified speech ever happened and the country was written "for nary different crushed than to supply maximum—and wholly false—dramatic impact."

Days later, connected Oct. 19, Oscar victor Dame Judi Dench, seemingly inspired by Major, voiced akin concerns astir the validity of The Crown play five. 

What's the woody with Prince Philip's obsession with carriage driving?

In the 2nd occurrence of play five, the precocious Prince Philip is forced to springiness up his beloved polo for different horse-inspired hobby: carriage driving. As it turns out, the erstwhile Duke of Edinburgh stumbled upon the enactment by happenstance.

"I was looking 'round to spot what next, I didn't cognize what determination was available," Philip told ITV successful 2017. "And I abruptly thought, 'Well, we've got horses and carriages truthful wherefore don't I person a go?'"

Carriage riding became an enactment that was yet passed down by the generations. Philip's granddaughter, 18-year-old Lady Louise Windsor, is present an accomplished carriage operator and took sixth spot successful the inferior novice part astatine the British Indoor Carriage Driving Championships successful April.

Did Queen Elizabeth II truly love the Britannia that much?

In short, yes. 

The 5th play of The Crown opens with a cameo from Claire Foy, reprising her relation arsenic Queen Elizabeth II from seasons 1 and 2 of the series, successful a flashback country showing the authoritative motorboat of Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, besides known arsenic the Royal Yacht Britannia, successful April 1953.

Later successful the episode, the Queen, played by Staunton, suggests to PM Major that the Britannia needs to acquisition an costly refurbishment. Major, who tells the Queen the enactment would outgo the nationalist millions, balks astatine the idea. The Queen, of course, struggles to recognize his reluctance.

In 1997, aft years of historical voyages involving galore members of the royal family, the Britannia was retired. During the authoritative decommissioning ceremony, the Queen was infamously seen wiping a teardrop from her eye. 

Was Princess Diana's telephone truly bugged?

In play five, Diana hears mysterious clicking noises connected the other extremity of her telephone calls, starring the precocious Princess to deliberation her conversations are being spied on. While there's nary grounds that her calls were really being recorded, the scenes are based connected precise existent fears Diana had passim her life, adjacent successful the days earlier her death.

In 2007, Diana's former backstage caput Michael Gibbins told The Guardian that Diana "clearly" thought she was being recorded. 

"Her actions were such, successful presumption of changing her telephone number," helium said, "that it was wide that that was a interest to her, yes."

Did Mohamed Al-Fayed really bargain Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson's French estate?

The 3rd occurrence of play 5 does an abrupt alteration and shifts the absorption to Mohamed Al-Fayed, the begetter of the precocious Dodi Fayed, who died successful the 1997 car clang that besides took the beingness of Princess Diana.

In the episode, Al-Fayed buys the French location owned by Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, aft Wallis died successful 1986.

Indeed, Al-Fayed did bargain the home, located in Paris' Bois de Boulogne.  "It's similar a mausoleum," he told People successful 1990. "It sometimes gives you the creeps—both of them having died here. But it's inactive a blessed place, a large phantasy which I emotion to unrecorded in."

Al-Fayed, who is presently 93 years old, inactive owns the property.

How are the Windsors and the Romanovs really connected?

The sixth occurrence of play 5 opens in World War I–era Britain, erstwhile King George V (Richard Dillane) receives a missive from the British premier curate suggesting that the authorities was consenting to nonstop a vessel to Russia to prevention their Russian relatives, the Romanovs, who had precocious been overthrown successful the Russian Revolution.

Later, an imprisoned Tsar Nicholas II (a.k.a. Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov) is awoken by a soldier who informs him that helium and his woman Tsarnia Alexandra (a.k.a. Alexandra Feodorovna) are being moved, causing Nicholas to exclaim, "It's relative George!"

Their hopes were unfounded, however, arsenic conscionable minutes later, their full household is murdered—thus revealing that the royal household refused to help.

The occurrence aboriginal finds Queen Elizabeth II preparing for a gathering with Boris Yeltsin, the president of the Russian Federation. It is revealed that Elizabeth and Prince Philip are related to the Romanovs, which motivates Philip to bash immoderate digging.

So, however are the families intertwined?

Maria Feodorovna, the sister of Queen Elizabeth's great-grandmother Queen Alexandra, married Czar Alexander of Russia. Maria's eldest son, the aforementioned Nicholas, was the past ruler of Russia—and besides the archetypal relative of King George V, Elizabeth's grandfather.

As The Crown depicts, George did successful information garbage to assistance prevention Nicholas, contempt the 2 sharing a beardown relationship.

Did Diana springiness Queen Elizabeth's announcement aft her explosive Panorama interview?

Not exactly.

Season 5 shines airy connected Diana's infamous 1995 interrogation with Martin Bashir (Prasanna Puwanarajah) connected the BBC documentary bid Panorama, successful which she discussed the dissolution of her matrimony with then-Prince Charles. 

The bid shows Diana herself giving Queen Elizabeth a head's up astir the explosive interview, but that's not what happened astatine all.

"It's hard to bushed the scenes depicting Diana allegedly summoning up her courageousness and dropping connected the Queen the bombshell quality that she had secretly recorded an interrogation with Martin Bashir for Panorama," Diana's erstwhile backstage secretary Patrick Jephson told The Telegraph Nov. 8. "This portion of the communicative was made up, and truthful mightiness reasonably gain the ire of The Crown's scholarly-exact detractors."

How tin helium beryllium truthful sure?

"I cognize it was made up due to the fact that I was there," helium said, "and I tin archer you that the Princess perfectly failed to summon up the indispensable courageousness and delegated the occupation to me."

Did Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles truly get embroiled successful Tampongate?

They definite did.

In 1993, the transcript of a backstage telephone telephone betwixt then-Prince Charles and his then-mistress Camilla Parker Bowles was released by members of the British press. On the call, which was recorded successful 1989, Charles joked that he'd similar to beryllium reincarnated arsenic a tampon truthful helium could "live inside" Camilla's trousers. Thus, the ungraded was dubbed "Tampongate."

In an exclusive speech with E! News, Dominic West, who plays Charles, explained wherefore The Crown creator Peter Morgan insisted the country beryllium included.

"Peter explained however connected a batch of The Crown, helium gets to take what helium wants to enactment in," Dominic said, "but determination are definite things that if helium doesn't enactment in, it's a half-baked job. I deliberation that is 1 country that helium was obliged to tackle."

Dominic further revealed that playing Charles and learning much astir the details of the ungraded impacted the mode helium viewed the full ordeal.

"What was astonishing was, seeing aft 20 years hindsight and really playing these characters, what we recovered is however the papers had initially perceived it arsenic thing soiled and successful immoderate mode unsavory was really thing alternatively intimate and tender and sweet," Dominic said. "What was soiled and unsavory was the property attraction of it."

Olivia Williams, who plays Camilla, exclusively told E! News wherefore she thinks the scene was truthful integral.

"I deliberation what's truthful clever astir what Peter Morgan does with this is that helium shows effect the stealing of that speech had connected the crown," she said. "That is the constituent of including it successful the series. Everything that is shown successful The Crown had an interaction connected the crown, the monarchy, successful history."

The 5th play of The Crown is disposable to watercourse present connected Netflix.