elizabeth debicki as diana© Photo: Netflix

The Crown to make plot changes following BBC and Martin Bashir report

The Netflix series will return later this year

Senior Features Writer
July 22, 2022

The Crown is set to make some changes to the upcoming fifth series in order to reflect what is now known about the infamous Panorama interview with Princess Diana.

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The interview, which aired in 1995, saw the Princess of Wales sit down with BBC journalist Martin Bashir to discuss her split from her husband Prince Charles. It was during this sit-down chat that Diana uttered the famous words: "There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."

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However, the Netflix period drama, which had always planned to dramatise the interview, has now stated that, following a report in 2021, the circumstances surrounding the interview and the "deceitful" behaviour will also be written into the scripts to make the full-story clear to viewers.

The report, conducted by Lord Dyson, concluded that Martin had undertaken "deceitful behaviour" in order to secure the interview with the royal, and that this was subsequently covered up by the BBC. Since then, the BBC said it would "never again" show clips from the interview.

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© Photo: Getty Images

Princess Diana's infamous Panorama interview will be dramatised in The Crown

Director-general Tim Davie said: "Now we know about the shocking way that the interview was obtained, I have decided that the BBC will never show the programme again, nor will we license it in whole or part to other broadcasters."

In the upcoming series of The Crown, which will land on the streaming giant in November 2022, The Night Manager star Elizabeth Debicki will portray the late Diana, Princess of Wales, while The Wire actor Dominic West will play Prince Charles.

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© Photo: Netflix

Dominic West will portray Prince Charles

The ten episodes, which will also star Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce as the Queen and Prince Phillip respectively, will explore many events of the early to mid-1990s. In addition to the Panorama interview, other notable events set to appear include the Queen's "annus horribilis", the divorce of Diana and Charles, and the death of Princess Diana. 

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