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Long anticipated, finally there: Season 4 of Netflix’s hit series The Crown! Fans of the series knew that Prince Charles’s and Lady Diana’s relationship would be the focal point of the series. And they weren’t disappointed. Right in the first episode we get to see “how everything began”. And this is where we will start now. So grab your mug, get comfy and enjoy our fact check.

1. Where did Charles and Diana meet for the first time?

According to the series, Charles met Diana at her home at Althorp where Charles came for a visit to see Sarah, Diana’s eldest sister. While waiting in the entrance hall for Sarah to come, Charles spots Diana dressed up in a costume for Midsummer Nights Dream (as a tree). We hardly see Diana against the bright light that shines through the grand door of the the entrance hall. Very shy, she hides behind the huge plants in the hall as she tiptoes from one end to another. That, however, doesn’t keep her from having a brief conversation with Prince Charles before she makes her way out leaving behind an amused Prince.

Truth is that the first meeting between the two of them took indeed place at her parental home in Althorp, but the setting was entirely different. In Andrew Morton’s book Diana – Her True Story it was revealed that both met in November 1977 at a shooting party on the estates, where Charles was invited over. Back then, Charles dated Diana’s sister Sarah and Diana was there “to make numbers” and to cheer the crowd up a bit. Charles later recalled Diana to have been “a very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old – full of fun.” Diana, however, remembered Charles to be a very sad man.

2. Was Diana really her sister’s cleaning lady? And did she date Prince Charles?

Both are true! Lucinda Craig, who shared a house with Sarah in London, paid Diana £1 an hour to clean the house. In Andrew Morton’s book we learn that Diana soon eclipsed her elder sister Sarah in looks and character. Sarah, who dated Prince Charles for a brief period and who was immensely popular in aristocratic circles, had a hard time seeing Diana supersede her. At one point she allegedly refused to take Diana with her to London saying that it would cost too much petrol to have an extra person in her car. That rivalry continued well after Diana’s marriage to Prince Charles.

That rivalry is also being echoed in the series in the telephone conversation between Sarah and Charles during which Sarah makes degrading remarks about her youngest sister:

“She is not a teacher. For that you need actual qualifications. She’s a helper-out. (…) I’m sure all the kids love her. I’m sure all the kids’ dads lover her too.”

Diana always felt closest to her younger brother Charles who was closer in age to her than her two elder sisters.

The image below shows Prince Charles and Lady Sarah Spencer at Windsor in summer 1977. They allegedly dated for nine months. Sarah invited Prince Charles to the shooting party in November 1977, which is where Prince Charles and Diana met for the first time. In hindsight, Charles’s and Sarah’s was a love affair that lasted for only a couple of months. Sarah was considered a possible match but didn’t want to marry Charles.

3. Was Princess Anne training for the Olympics?

That one is also true. Princess Anne was indeed a superb equestrian of her time. She took part in the 1976 Olympics in Montréal with her whole family in attendance to see her competing in Eventing. At 21 she won gold at the European Eventing Championship and was part of the British Eventing team for five years winning two silver medals at the European Eventing Championships.

Princess Anne passed her passion on to her daughter Zara Tindall, who also took part in the Olympics. In the 2021 Olympics in no other city than London, Zara was part of the British Eventing team, which won a silver medal. The silver medal was presented to her by her mother Princess Anne.

4. Was Princess Anne Prince Philip’s favorite?

In the series we see Charles witnessing his sister’s success at eventing and the anguish he felt over how proud their father Prince Philip was of Anne’s achievement. In the scene the Queen can be overhead saying to Charles:

“Prince Philip is beside himself. I’m so happy Anne could give him that. It’s really the best possible tonic for him!”

The backdrop here is certainly that Princess Anne was pretty much the son Philip never had. Anne is feisty and competitive in character which Prince Charles is not. Prince Charles comes across as a contemplative, insecure and very lonely figure in the series. He appears vulnerable and not at ease with his family. In contrast to Charles, Anne is not afraid of their father and way more relaxed with their mother as well.