The Royal Family Won't Love This Saucy 'The Crown' Plotline About Prince Philip

Prince Philip’s relationship with aristocrat Penny Knatchbull, which reportedly raised some eyebrows in the 1990s, will get the Netflix treatment.

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windsor, united kingdom may 12 embargoed for publication in uk newspapers until 24 hours after create date and time penelope knatchbull, lady brabourne and prince philip, duke of edinburgh attend day 3 of the royal windsor horse show in home park on may 12, 2007 in windsor, england photo by max mumbyindigogetty images
(Image credit: Max Mumby/Indigo)

The upcoming fifth season of Netflix’s hit series The Crown looks like it will keep up with the tradition of past seasons by continuing to be a real thorn in the royal family’s side. Despite the fact that some members of the family actually admit to watching it, the series does love to revisit some moments that the monarchy might prefer we all just forget.

So what’s on the itinerary for this latest trip down memory lane? According to the Sun, The Crown plans to highlight the cozy (perhaps a little too cozy?) relationship between Prince Philip and aristocrat Penelope "Penny" Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, in the 1990s. According to the Sun’s “TV insider” source, “This is a relationship which naturally raised a few eyebrows and sparked quite a few whispers, but Philip and Penny maintained they were just friends.”

Penny Knatchbull, whose father was a successful businessman, married Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma, in 1979—a union that brought them into the royal family’s orbit. Despite the fact that Prince Philip, who passed away at the age of 99 in April of this year, was 32 years Penny Knatchbull’s senior (and also, obviously, despite the fact that he was married to the literal Queen of England at the time) the two reportedly got very close in the 1990s.

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Philip even taught Knatchbull how to drive a carriage, which could be either a totally innocuous pastime or the aristocratic version of sliding into one’s DM—it is unclear to me, a plebeian. Here they are riding cute bikes in 2006:

windsor, united kingdom may 11 embargoed for publication in uk newspapers until 24 hours after create date and time prince philip, duke of edinburgh and penelope knatchbull, lady brabourne seen riding mini easy rider motorbikes as they attend day 1 of the royal windsor horse show in home park on may 11, 2006 in windsor, england photo by max mumbyindigogetty images

(Image credit: Max Mumby/Indigo)

Actress Natascha McElhone, who previously was on the shows Californication and Designated Survivor, will play Knatchbull in the upcoming season. Jonathan Pryce will play Prince Philip. Per the source, "The makers of The Crown believe it is a relationship worthy of exploring and casting a veteran actor like Natascha is a reflection of how high profile the role is."

So how much of a firestorm will this cause to the royals? "[T]he highly personal relationship is unlikely to be welcomed as a storyline by Her Majesty or the rest of the Royal Family," the insider added.

Check out everything we know about the fifth season of The Crown so far.

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Cady Drell

Cady has been a writer and editor in Brooklyn for about 10 years. While her earlier career focused primarily on culture and music, her stories—both those she edited and those she wrote—over the last few years have tended to focus on environmentalism, reproductive rights, and feminist issues. She primarily contributes as a freelancer journalist on these subjects while pursuing her degrees. She held staff positions working in both print and online media, at Rolling Stone and Newsweek, and continued this work as a senior editor, first at Glamour until 2018, and then at Marie Claire magazine. She received her Master's in Environmental Conservation Education at New York University in 2021, and is now working toward her JF and Environmental Law Certificate at Elisabeth Haub School of Law in White Plains.