Princess Diana's Friend Is Shunning The Crown. Here's Why

The upcoming season of the Netflix hit, "The Crown," is set to be its most explosive yet, particularly considering Princess Diana's infamous "Panorama" interview with Martin Bashir is slated to feature heavily. The Daily Mail confirmed "an entire episode" of the fifth season will be dedicated to the revelatory chat, during which the People's Princess admitted there were three people in her marriage (referencing husband Prince Charles's highly publicized affair with his now-wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles). An insider further elaborated to The Sun that the creators of the show "see the interview as the keystone moment in series five." They added, "To the writers, the stormy marriage between Charles and Di led up to her outpouring on Panorama, and the aftermath of that decision defined her final months. They are making a huge investment in that." 

Following an internal investigation into the interview, it was ultimately determined Bashir had used "deceitful" methods to obtain an interview with Diana. Her eldest son, Prince William, made it clear in a subsequent statement, "It is my firm view that this 'Panorama' program holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialized by the BBC and others," per People. Likewise, The Telegraph reported William is "frustrated" at the show's further "commercialization" of the interview. Now, another close ally is turning her back on "The Crown" in a moment of solidarity. 

According to The Sunday Times, Princess Diana's long-time friend, Jemima Khan, was drafted into "The Crown" to assist with the writing of the upcoming fifth season. Series creator Peter Morgan asked for Khan's assistance covering the final years of the late royal's life, which abruptly ended in a devastating Paris car crash back in 1997. However, Khan exited the project after reportedly discovering her friend's life was not being handled with the requisite care and attention. She and Morgan had a brief romantic entanglement too, but split in early 2021. 

As Khan explained, she was approached to work on the show in 2019 and, "After a great deal of thought, having never spoken publicly about any of this before, I decided to contribute." The two worked extensively on script outlines for several months. However, "When our co-writing agreement was not honored, and when I realized that particular storyline would not necessarily be told as respectfully or compassionately as I had hoped, I requested that all my contributions be removed from the series and I declined a credit," Khan shared. 

Following the news his late mother's friend, Jemima Khan, had exited "The Crown" due to concerns Diana Spencer's legacy wasn't being handled in the right way, royal watchers called on Prince Harry to take a stand against streaming giant Netflix. As The Sun noted, Harry has his own multimillion dollar deal with Netflix. Royal author Angela Levin, who penned "Harry: A Biography of a Prince," reckoned he needs to step up and make his feelings known. Levin argued, "Harry has remained absolutely silent about Netflix. He should tear the deal up and make a stand for his mother." She added, "What's more important? Money or defending his mum? It's astonishing he can't find his voice on this."

Season 5 of "The Crown" will cover the final years of Diana's life, from her divorce to her relationships with the likes of heart surgeon Hasnat Khan and Harrods heir Dodi Fayed, and of course the infamous "Panorama" interview. Elizabeth Debicki is set to portray Diana, but real-life friends of the late royal have consistently expressed their distaste with "The Crown" over its handling of her life. Additionally, Majesty magazine editor Ingrid Seward opined, "I don't think Harry gets it. I presume when he did the deal with Netflix he didn't think it through — but Meghan [Markle] would have, she's not an idiot. He talked about 'The Crown' during his bus interview with James Corden, so he's not totally oblivious."