The Crown: Who is Penelope Knatchbull and what was her relationship with Prince Philip?

The Netflix series will shine a light on the Duke of Edinburgh’s close confidante

The Crown has returned to our screens with its fifth season, which premiered on Netflix on 9 November.

It features a whole new cast as viewers see the royal family move into the nineties. Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce play the late Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke Edinburgh respectively, while other members are played by Dominic West (Prince of Wales), Elizabeth Debicki (Diana, Princess of Wales), Olivia Williams (Camilla Parker-Bowles), Claudia Harrison (Princess Anne), and so on.

Fans will also be introduced to a few new characters this season, including Penelope Knatchbull (played by Natascha Mceklhone).

Penelope, who is married to Norton Knatchbull and holds the title of Countess Mountbatten of Burma, is known to have been a close confidant of Prince Philip’s over the years.

Norton is the second cousin of now-King Charles III, who was the best man at his 1979 wedding to Penelope. He is also Prince Philip’s godson.

The couple share three children, Nicholas Knatchbull, who holds the title Lord Brabourne, Lady Alexandra Hooper, and Leonora Knatchbull, who died of kidney cancer at the age of five in 1991.

But Penelope and Philip have known each other since before she married Norton. They met at a polo match in 1975 when she was just 20 years old and Philip was 52.

The pair have been close friends ever since, despite their 32-year age gap, and often participated in the equestrian sport of carriage driving after she became his driving partner. Penelope was also a regular visitor to Wood Farm, a cottage on the Sandringham Estate that Philip frequented following his retirement in 2017.

HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh and Lady Penny Romsey mount their mini motorbikes during the Royal Windsor Horse Show at Home Park, Windsor Castle on May 13, 2005 (Getty Images)

They were such fast friends that Penelope was one of only 30 mourners who were invited to attend Philip’s funeral last year, after his death in April 2021. The Duke’s funeral was a small, private occasion due to Covid measures that limited the number of people who could be present in an enclosed space at the time.

The new season of The Crown suggests that Phillip pursued an emotional affair with the younger woman while being married to the Queen.

Rumours that Philip conducted an affair with Penelope were sparked throughout their friendship, but both parties always strenuously denied the accusations.

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh points over Lady Penny Brabourne's horse before it competes in the Land Rover International Driving Grand Prix on May 11, 2006 (Getty Images)

The Netflix series is expected to show the pair touching hands as Philip talks about his marriage.

However, the storyline has been branded “cruel rubbish” by the Queen’s former press secretary, Dick Arbiter, who told The Sun: “The truth is that Penny was a long-time friend of the whole family. Netflix is not interested in people’s feelings.”

Majesty magazine editor Ingrid Seward also criticised The Crown’s depiction of Philip and Penelope’s relationships, describing it as “exceedingly bad taste”.

“This is fiction,” Seward said. “There’s no way in a million years he’d discuss his marriage with anybody. The royals probably won’t watch it for their own sanity.”