The fifth season of the Netflix drama The Crown, which depicts the lives of the Royal Family in the early 1990s, is now available to stream.
The fictional television show imagines The Duke of Edinburgh’s close friendship with Penelope Knatchbull in addition to depicting the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
Many people may recognise her in real life as one of the 30 people who were permitted entry to the Covid-19-restricted funeral of The Duke in 2021 at Windsor Castle.
However, Penelope is a major character in the programme and is portrayed by Natascha McElhone, albeit some of the sequences in which she appears have already drawn criticism for being “cruel nonsense.”
Who exactly is Penelope Knatchbull, then? And how and when did she start to get along with Prince Philip?
Here is everything you need to know.
What is Penelope Knatchbull’s background, and when did she start interacting with Prince Philip?
In April 1953, Penelope “Penny” Meredith Mary Eastwood, now 69, was born in London.
Marian Hood was her mother, and Reginald Wray Frank Eastwood, who founded the Angus Steakhouse brand, was her father.
She apparently spent her formative years in Switzerland before moving back to London to complete her studies at the London School of Economics.
She got her current title, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, following her 1979 marriage to British peer Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma.
Prior to 2017, she was known as Lady Romsey and then The Lady Brabourne.
In addition to being the grandson of Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who was assassinated by the IRA in 1979, Norton was also Prince Philip’s godson.
In addition, King Charles III, with whom he has had a close friendship, is his second cousin.
At the Knatchbull wedding, The King (then known as Prince of Wales) served as best man. Later, The King and his then-wife Diana, Princess of Wales, went on vacation and spent time with the newlyweds.
Nicholas, Alexandra, and Leonora Mountbatten, who were born in 1981, 1982, and respectively, 1982 and 1984, were the couple’s three children (born 1986).
Leonora tragically passed away from renal cancer at the young age of five in 1991; this tragedy was mentioned in The Crown’s fifth season and was criticised as a “cruel” choice by an insider to MailOnline.y and later The Lady Brabourne, until 2017