season 5 is back with a whole host of new faces, including one of ’s closest companions, Penelope Knatchbull.
The latest instalment of the hit Netflix drama focuses on the now King’s affair with Queen Consort Camilla Parker-Bowles, and the breakdown of his marriage to the Princess of Wales.
The Peter Morgan-created series will also feature Penny, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, who is played by Natascha McElhone and is joining the cast along with Princess Diana actor and as Prince Charles.
After marrying Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma in 1979, she befriended the late Prince Philip when he began teaching her carriage driving in 1994.
They quickly became close friends and were often seen together at the Royal Windsor Horse show, sometimes riding mini motorcycles around the carriage driving course.
She was also among the in April 2021.
Countess Mountbatten, previously known as Lady Romsey and later Lady Brabourne, had three children with the Earl – Nicholas, Alexandra and Leonora.
Sadly, Leonora died of kidney cancer in a London hospital at the age of five after a 14-month fight against the disease.
Leonora’s funeral was held at Romsey Abbey and she is buried in the grounds of the family home, Broadlands in Hampshire.
The Leonora Children’s Cancer Fund charity was founded in her name in 1994.
Nicholas, who is King Charles III’s godson, married Ambre Pouzet, a performing mermaid in 2021.
In marriage documents obtained by the, it listed his profession as ‘music producer and gardener’ and Ambre’s as ‘behavioural therapist’.
The publication also said Nicholas does gardening work at Broadland and had welcomed a baby boy, Alexander, in June with his wife.
Meanwhile, Alexandra married Thomas Edward Huntly Hooper on 25 June 2016, at Romsey Abbey, with King Charles III giving her away.
Princess Diana’s goddaughter shares two children with her husband, sons Alden and Inigo.
The Crown is available to stream on Netflix.