The Crown Season 5 Episode Guide, from Tampongate to Diana’s Panorama Interview

The storylines in the fifth season of The crown have provoked much backlash, from scenes showing the former Prince Charles attempting to force the Queen’s abdication, suggesting Prince Philip was unfaithful to the late monarch.

Celebrities, including Judi Dench, have called for the drama to include a disclaimer to clarify that the events of the series are not entirely true. While The crown Actor Jonathan Pryce has called these reactions to the show “very disappointing” and claims viewers know it’s a drama and not a documentary.

Some of the storylines in season five are pretty close to the truth. Others not so much.

Here’s a full rundown of what’s covered in each episode of The crown Season five and links to our articles on what is fact and what is fiction on the show.

Episode one: Queen Victoria Syndrome

In the first part of the new series, the monarchy is shown in the midst of an existential crisis. It needs to be modernized to attract the public who, according to a Sunday times The poll at the time, titled “Queen Victoria Syndrome,” believed the Queen should step down as monarch.

This episode also sees Princess Anne set her sights on her future husband Sir Timothy Laurence for the first time, and introduces viewers to Countess Mountbatten and her poor daughter Leonora Knatchbull, who died of kidney cancer in 1991 at the age of five.

A scene in which the former Prince Charles met secretly with then Prime Minister John Major and argued that he should be made king sooner rather than later caused outrage.

Episode two: The system

This episode explores Prince Philip’s “friendship” with Countess Mountbatten (Penelope Knatchbull), as he comforts her after the death of their daughter and teaches her about driving a carriage. The series has been criticized for showing that the late king had an inappropriate relationship with the countess and was unfaithful to the queen.

We also see Princess Diana’s friend James Colthurst introducing her to journalist Andrew Morton. Diana recorded interviews for Morton for his 1992 book Diana: Her true story – in her own words. On the show, she has been seen speaking about numerous suicide attempts on tapes for the book.

Diana’s involvement in the book was viewed by many at the time as a declaration of war on the royal family.

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Episode three: Mou Mou

The third episode introduces Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al Fayed and his son Dodi (who later dated Diana) and also includes the death of Wallis Simpson – the American wife of King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne.

It shows Mohamed’s determination to get as close to the monarchy as possible and includes a plot about the purchase of Edward VIII and Simpson’s French chateau.

We also see Mohamed bonding with Diana and Diana and Dodi first meet at a horse race.

Episode Four: Annus Horribilis

In a 1992 speech, the Queen spoke of her “annus horribilis”.

This episode reflects what the Queen was going through at the time, from the fire at Windsor Castle to the three failed marriages of the Queen’s children.

It’s also about Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend – the RAF officer she fell in love with in the 1950s. It contains numerous flashbacks to their affair and the queen forbidding them to be together.

It shows Townsend reconnecting with the princess before his death.

Episode Five: The Way Forward

This part is all about Prince (now King) Charles. It deals with his desire for a more rapid modernization of the monarchy, as well as his work with The Prince’s Trust. It also documents a leaked phone call in which he told Camilla Parker Bowles that he wanted to live inside her as a tampon, and later admitted to adultery in a television interview with Jonathan Dimbleby.

Diana’s “Revenge Dress” – the black strapless piece of clothing she wore after the interview – also features in this episode.

Episode Six: Ipatiev House

In this, the Queen meets former Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The episode goes back in time and explores whether King George V really betrayed the country’s last Tsar a century ago.

The show implies that there was a rivalry between the Queen and Penelope Knatchbull and that the Queen only befriended her to deter rumors of Prince Philip’s affair.

A conversation is shown between the Queen and Philip, in which he insists his relationship with Knatchbull is purely spiritual and not physical.

Episode seven: no man’s land

This part shows Martin Bashir manipulating Diana to make 1995 panorama Interview telling her she needs to go public with her story because he believes security services are tapping her phone on behalf of the royals. He is also shown convincing her that she cannot trust any of her closest friends or employees.

In the episode she also meets Hasnat Khan, the doctor with whom she had a romantic relationship, and it is implied that she was paranoid that someone was trying to kill her.

Episode Eight: Gunpowder

One of the episodes most likely to spark controversy is episode eight. It’s all about the filming, broadcasting and the aftermath of the panorama Interview.

In the interview, Diana noted regarding her husband’s relationship with Parker Bowles that “there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a little bit crowded.”

An inquest later found Bashir guilty of deception and breaching the BBC’s editorial conduct to obtain the interview.

Episode Nine: Pair 31

Prince Charles and Princess Diana officially divorce in this episode, and Parker Bowles hires a spin doctor, Mark Bolland, to try and encourage the public to accept her.

John Major is shown as the intermediary between the couple for their divorce settlement.

Episode ten: Decommissioned

In the series finale, Tony Blair comes to power.

Diana is also shown packing for a vacation with Mohamed Al Fayed while his son Dodi proposes to American model Kelly Fisher.

Season six of The crown is intended to show Diana and Dodi beginning a relationship and the events surrounding the couple’s subsequent deaths in a car accident in Paris in 1997.