Netflix is being accused of telling porkies about the late Prince Philip, with the upcoming season of the streaming platform’s blockbuster show The Crown hinting he had an affair.
Royal pundits are fuming that Netflix is running the storyline so soon after Queen Elizabeth’s death, with one person calling the plot ‘cruel rubbish’.
Philip died in April last year, and whether or not the late royal had in fact been a naughty boy has been hotly contested over the years.
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Watch Imelda Staunton, who plays the Queen in The Crown's new series, talk about season five below:
The woman at the centre of cheating rumours is Penny Knatchbull, a close family friend of both Philip and the Queen.
Penny, also known as Countess Mountbatten of Burma, had a friendly relationship with Philip, and he's thought to have taken pity on Penny after her daughter Leonora died of kidney cancer aged five.
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The Crown’s fifth season arrives on 9 November, and will see Jonathan Pryce take on the role of Philip, while Natascha McElhone will play Penny.
According to The Sun, The Crown’s forthcoming series will see Philip tell Penny of his ‘marital problems’ while saying he and the Queen have ‘grown in separate directions’.
Speaking to the outlet, Dickie Arbiter, Her Majesty’s former press secretary, slammed the show, calling it ‘distasteful’.
He said: “The truth is that Penny was a long-time friend of the whole family. Netflix is not interested in people’s feelings.”
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Meanwhile, Majesty magazine editor Ingrid Seward echoed: “It’s in exceedingly bad taste.
“This is fiction. There’s no way in a million years he’d discuss his marriage with anybody.The royals probably won’t watch it for their own sanity.”
LADbible has approached Netflix for comment.
On Monday (10 October), The Sun ran a story on Philip’s alleged affairs over the years, noting that the royal ‘grew frustrated with life as a royal consort’ and even caused the Queen to ‘lose her patience’ when he was linked to actress Pat Kirkwood in 1948.
The Queen was eight months pregnant with Charles at the time and Philip’s alleged ‘bender’ with Kirkwood was at the centre of newspaper headlines.
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The paper also pointed to a quote from Sacha, Duchess of Abercorn, who once said: “The Queen gives Philip a lot of leeway. Her father told her, ‘Remember he’s a sailor. They come in on the tide’.”
Other alleged flames included belly dancer Patricia Kluge, TV personality Katie Boyle and Philip’s childhood friend Helen Cordet.
Bear in mind these were only ever rumours, and should be taken with a pinch of salt.
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Featured Image Credit: Netflix / Agencja Fotograficzna Caro / Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: Netflix, TV and Film, The Queen, Royal Family