Skip to main contentSkip to footer
Princess Diana's brother refused to let 'The Crown' film at the Spencer family home© Getty Images

Why Princess Diana’s brother refused to let ‘The Crown’ film at late sister’s childhood home

Season 4 of the royal drama introduced Prince Harry’s mother


UPDATED NOVEMBER 23, 2020 1:48 PM EST

 Princess Diana ’s younger brother Charles Spencer  denied The Crown’s request to film at the late Princess of Wales’ family home, Althorp House in Northamptonshire. “The Crown asked if they could film at Althorp and I said obviously not,” Charles revealed on ITV’s Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh. “The worry for me is that people see a program like that and they forget that it is fiction. They assume, especially foreigners, I find Americans tell me they have watched The Crown as if they have taken a history lesson. Well, they haven’t.”

View post on X

He continued, “There is a lot of conjecture and a lot of invention, isn’t there? You can hang it on fact but the bits in between are not fact.”

 Prince William ’s uncle feels “very passionately” that he has “a role to honor” his late sister’s memory. “I feel it is my duty to stand up for her when I can,” Charles said. “She left me for instance as guardian of her sons, so I feel there was a trust passed on. And we grew up together, you know if you grow up with somebody they are still that person, it doesn’t matter what happens to them later.”

Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ introduced Princess Diana (played by Emma Corrin) in Season 4© Netflix/Des Willie
Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ introduced Princess Diana (played by Emma Corrin) in Season 4

Season 4 of The Crown premiered earlier this month introducing Princess Diana, played by Emma Corrin. During a recent appearance on the  Tamron Hall Show , Emma confessed that she understands why the British royals might not be happy with the latest season. “I think for everyone in The Crown, we always try and remind everyone that what we are, the series that we’re in is fictionalized to a great extent. Obviously it has its roots in reality and in some fact, but Peter Morgan’s scripts are works of fiction.”

She added, “At the same time, I understand why people would be upset, because this is history and even with Diana, it’s still very much fresh I suppose, everything that happened. And so I do really understand if people would be upset.”