#’The Crown’: The Real Story Behind Diana & Camilla’s Lunch Meeting

The latest season of Netflix’s historical royal drama The Crown has finally arrived along with Emma Corrin as a young Princess Diana.

Before she was labeled as the Princess of Wales, Diana Spencer was a kindergarten teacher’s assistant living in London. Her relationship with Prince Charles changed her status, and viewers see their evolution from acquaintances to spouses over the course of Season 4.

But prior to their 1981 wedding, Diana and Charles’ relationship became even more defined as she came to terms with the truth about his unbroken connection with married ex Camilla Parker Bowles. In the series, the first time we see Camilla (Emerald Fennell) and Diana (Corrin) meet, they grab lunch following the engagement.

Diana is tipped off about the possible meeting when Charles (Josh O’Connor) heads off on tour and says he asked Camilla to reach out to her while he’s away. This little exchange isn’t necessarily confirmed, but Camilla’s letter to Diana inviting her to lunch is. In the 2017 documentary Diana: In Her Own Words (also available on Netflix), the princess recounts receiving the letter upon moving into Clarence House.

(Credit: Netflix)

“There was a letter on my bed from Camilla, dated two days previous saying, ‘Such exciting news about the engagement. Do let’s have lunch soon when Prince of Wales goes to Australia and New Zealand. And love to see the ring. Lots of love, Camilla.'”

This letter was featured in the season and even worded similarly to Diana’s real-life account. The resulting lunch was certainly a tense exchange between Diana and Camilla in the series as the pair went back and forth discussing Charles. It was clear that Camilla knew more about Charles in that moment than his future wife-to-be, but it was a simple question that Camilla posed during the conversation that roots the moment in reality.

“We had lunch, and very tricky, very tricky indeed,” Diana revealed. “She said, ‘You’re not going to hunt, are you?’ I said ‘No.'” This reveal then, according to Diana, led Camilla to say, “‘Oh, I just wanted to know that.'” The question did slip into Camilla and Diana’s scripted conversation on the show, but Diana’s account in the documentary reveals the real meaning behind it.

“I was still too immature to understand all the messages coming my way,” Diana said of the real-life conversation, hinting at the deeper meaning behind Camilla’s words. As viewers of Season 4 will recall, Prince Charles would rendezvous with Camilla in the countryside as Diana often opted for locations closer to the city.

(Credit: Netflix)

As for the bracelet that Diana discovers Charles had made for Camilla, in the series, Di happens upon designs in the office. She realizes who the jewelry is for based on the engraving that read “Fred and Gladys,” which are Charles and Camilla’s pet names for each other.

In reality, that scenario unfolded a little differently, as Diana recounted, “Someone in his office told me that my husband had a bracelet made for her. I walked into this man’s office one day and I said, ‘Oh, what’s in that parcel?'”

“‘Oh,’ he said. ‘You shouldn’t look at that.'”

“I said, ‘Well, I’m going to look at it.’ So, I opened it and there was a bracelet. I was devastated.”

The Crown‘s Diana seemed equally devastated as she kicked flower bouquets and threw fan mail about her room upon not being able to reach the Queen to discuss the issues at hand. Ultimately, the bracelet nor the lunch prevented Charles and Diana from walking down the aisle, but the toxic environment did contribute to the Princess’s bulimia. This is depicted in Diana’s clear bingeing during her and Camilla’s lunch after which she purges.

While some of the small details may have changed for the show, The Crown still captures the essence of Diana’s sad tale, which ironically unfolds in an episode entitled “Fairytale.”

The Crown, Season 4, Streaming now, Netflix