Netflix to pile on agony for Royal Family by portraying them as scheming backstabbers in new series of The Crown

Elizabeth Debicki and Dominic West as Di and Charles

NETFLIX is set to spark further fury as the new series of The Crown portrays the royals as scheming back-stabbers.

It comes as the nation — still mourning the Queen’s death last month — throws its support behind the new King.

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Elizabeth Debicki and Dominic West as Di and Charles
Imelda Staunton as Her Majesty the Queen

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Imelda Staunton as Her Majesty the QueenCredit: ©2021 Netflix, Inc.
Jonathan Pryce as the Duke of Edinburgh and Natacha McElhone as Penny Knatchbull

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Jonathan Pryce as the Duke of Edinburgh and Natacha McElhone as Penny KnatchbullCredit: Keith Bernstein

The fifth series of the royal drama, which starts on November 9, dredges up embarrassing and painful events from 1990 to 1997.

But it also adds in events which are based on conspiracy theories, wild claims or pure imagination.

It will put further pressure on Prince Harry and wife Meghan, who have struck a deal with Netflix to make their own TV show.

Here are ten storylines on the show that a royal source blasted as “trolling on a Hollywood budget”:

Toe sucking

IN 1992 the royals were embarrassed by the publication of images of the Duchess of York’s toe sucking antics behind the back of her husband, Prince Andrew.

On the show, this sparks a discussion between Prince Charles (Dominic West) and the Queen (Imelda Staunton) about all of Her Majesty’s children and the state of their relationships.

In the scene, the future King snaps and tells his mother: “If we were an ordinary family and social services came to visit, they would have thrown us into care and you into jail.”

In another, the Queen is seen admitting her children’s rocky relationships “begin to look like parental failure of the most awful kind”.

Tampongate

ONE of the most mortifying incidents in the history of the royals was this scandal, which was based on recordings of intimate chats between the future King and the now Queen Consort.

He said he wanted to be reincarnated as a tampon so he could live inside her.

Far from avoiding dredging up the 1993 incident, which took place when the then-Prince of Wales was married to Di, the Netflix drama goes further.

Series five features another conversation between Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles which apparently makes their tampon chat sound decidedly tame.

Yacht slur

THE world was stunned when the Queen was seen in a rare tearful moment as the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned — a decision taken in 1994 by the Prime Minister, John Major.

But far from trying to save the vessel — which was the scene of many intimate moments for the Windsors — Prince Charles is seen in The Crown suggesting scraping it might be a good idea.

He tells Major it is just “a boat” and, in what sounds like a slur on his own mother, played by Imelda Staunton, 66, he adds: “She’s so obviously past her best.”

He tells Major (Jonny Lee Miller) it is just “a boat” and, in what sounds like a slur on his own mother, he adds: “She’s so obviously past her best.”

But there is no firm proof that the future King had any opinion on this either way.

Panorama

THIS series of The Crown devotes an entire episode to Princess Diana’s 1995 bombshell one-on-one with the BBC’s Martin Bashir.

But it does not recreate the interview, which is likely to please Prince William, who said he never wanted it to be broadcast again due to the clandestine way his mother was convinced to take part.

The creators lay the blame squarely at the feet of Bashir and even take a swipe at the Beeb, which aired it.

In an ironic moment, Bashir is seen convincing Diana to turn down other deals from abroad for chats — suggesting that if she does the interview with him, she will be “protected by the best brand name in the world for integrity — the BBC”.

Fresh Prince

IN one of the most bizarre scenes in the new series, Prince Charles is seen trying to breakdance.

Still available to view on YouTube, it is a spectacle which really happened, albeit five years before series five is set.

A rare moment of positivity towards the future King sees him throw himself into helping good causes, including his work with the Prince’s Trust.

It is during one event for the organisation that he is invited to have a go at showing off some of his moves.

But, in arguably the most cringey moment of the series, he is seen making a right royal mess of it.

‘Anti-Royal’ Di

WITH relations between Princess Diana and Prince Charles at rock bottom, she is seen taking part in a phone vote to abolish the monarchy during a TV debate.

There is no proof this happened, but it was a real show hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald in 1997.

At the time, public opinion was wavering on the Windsors due to a string of scandals involving the Queen’s children.

In The Crown, Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) is seen watching the show and frantically dialling to vote.

In real life, the result was 66 per cent in favour of keeping the royals.

Princess spy

THE Princess of Wales’s butler Paul Burrell said that in her latter years, dark forces were at work against her.

And The Crown explicitly shows a moment where Princess Diana is being bugged — apparently by the British secret service.

She is seen wandering around Kensington Palace, where phone calls end with bizarre noises, often clicking and screaming.

In another scene, the brake cables on her car appear to have been cut, which nearly results in a crash.

But it is not clear if this is an act of sabotage.

Pushy Al-Fayed

BUSINESS mogul Mohamed Al-Fayed is portrayed as a wannabe who uses money and influence to ascend British society — and get in with the Royal Family.

The ex-Harrods owner — who claimed Prince Philip colluded with secret services to kill Princess Diana — did all he could to ingratiate himself with the Windsors.

His son, Dodi starting a relationship with Diana was the pinnacle of his ambitions.

In one embarrassing scene in the new series Mohamed, played by Salim Daw, sponsors a horse trial in the hope that it will get him a seat next to the Queen.

Charles V Di

AFTER Princess Diana’s BBC Panorama interview, Charles is seen clashing with his wife over her comments about whether he is “fit to be King”.

In their meeting at Kensington Palace, the princess tells him: “The expectation, the waiting for it to happen — look how miserable it’s made you.”

In a vicious retort, Charles says: “It’s not the waiting that’s made me miserable. It’s the years spent rotting in a marriage to someone trying to destroy me.”

Duke & Penny

THE Crown’s suggestion Prince Philip pursued an affair with high society beauty Penny Knatchbull in around 1991 is already known — and has been slammed.

But it also shows a suspicious Queen reminding Philip, played by Jonathan Pryce, she is “half your age”, while he insists it is “friendship”.

Penny (Natascha McElhone) is confronted by Her Maj wanting to bring her into the fold to “nip all that in the bud”.

Seaing double

THE Crown’s Elizabeth Debicki recreates a famous shot of Diana perched on a diving board.

The Aussie actress, 32, wore an identical blue swimsuit as she portrayed Di’s holiday with boyfriend Dodi Fayed, just six days before they died in 1997.

Debicki stars as the princess, with British- Egyptian actor Khalid Abdalla playing Dodi.

Elizabeth Debicki recreates a famous shot of Diana perched on a diving board

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Elizabeth Debicki recreates a famous shot of Diana perched on a diving boardCredit: BackGrid
Diana in her iconic blue swimsuit on board Dodi Al Fayed's yacht

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Diana in her iconic blue swimsuit on board Dodi Al Fayed’s yachtCredit: Big Pictures
Aussie actress Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in Netflix's The Crown

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Aussie actress Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana in Netflix’s The CrownCredit: Splash

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