THE Crown has ignored heartfelt pleas from Prince William not to exploit the notorious Panorama interview with his mum — and has even put made-up quotes in her mouth.
The Netflix drama, due to air next week, has TWO episodes building up to the 1995 BBC bombshell and its aftermath.
The Crown has refused Prince William’s pleas not to recreate his mother’s Panorama interview
An investigation found interviewer Martin Bashir used forgery and deception to gain access to Princess Diana
A spokesman for William did not want to comment
A young William is shown watching the interview, and being asked by a teacher if he is all right.
His father Charles is shown yelling as he watches, then crying.
It was thought that streaming giant Netflix had slashed the length of the recreation to tiny snippets lasting just seconds.
In fact, producers have taken the most inflammatory parts of Princess Diana’s hour-long 1995 interview and condensed them into a segment lasting four minutes, 23 seconds.
They include Diana referencing the “crowded marriage” she endured while Charles was having an affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.
She also says she wants to be “a Queen in people’s hearts” but does not think she will ever be queen herself.
An investigation later found interviewer Martin Bashir used forgery and deception to gain access to the Princess.
But in a move that will spark widespread fury the streaming giant has exaggerated the language and made up huge sections of conversation.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine and friend of Diana, who died in 1997, said: “William will be furious. He said his piece when he said it should never be aired again.
“This is his mother and her memory they are doing this to.
“It must be very frustrating as he can’t say any more because it will just give Netflix more publicity.
“They should have listened to him. The interview has no credibility after the investigation. Everyone knows it has no legitimacy now.
“Charles will think they can say whatever they want about him but leave Harry and William out of it.
“He won’t give a stuff about how he comes across but just don’t attack his sons this way.”
The show’s tweaks and fabrications lay the blame for Diana’s plight squarely at the feet of the then Prince of Wales, and make the Princess, played by Elizabeth Debicki, sound more sympathetic.
Charles, played by Dominic West, is seen yelling and swearing during the interview, as the Princess casts doubt on his ability to be King.
The scene ends with him breaking down in tears as Camilla watches on helplessly by his side.
Diana and Bashir’s secret chat in The Crown
Producers have taken the most inflammatory parts of Princess Diana’s hour-long 1995 interview and condensed them into a four minute, 23 seconds segment
The two episodes feature scenes with Prince William as a young boy and include the moment he sees his mother’s interview on TV while he was a pupil at Eton.
He is seen being asked by his schoolmaster if he is all right.
Visibly upset he says, “I’m fine” then walks away from the TV before the interview has ended.
It is known that young William, now the Prince of Wales, was humiliated by the revelations about his parents’ private life being played out in public.
A spokesman for William did not want to comment last night.
But it is understood that the Prince made his feelings clear in a statement last April, accusing the programme of fuelling his mother’s paranoia and worsening his parents’ marriage.
He had said: “It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said. The interview was a major contribution to making my parents’ relationship worse and has since hurt countless others.
“It is my firm view that this Panorama programme holds no legitimacy and should never be aired again. It effectively established a false narrative which, for over a quarter of a century, has been commercialised by the BBC and others.”
Netflix said: “Season five of The Crown will dramatise events surrounding the Panorama interview, given the pivotal part it played during the time period the series covers.
“It will reflect what we now know about how the interview was obtained and how Diana was treated. The interview is not recreated in full.”
Princess Diana is played by Elizabeth Debicki in The Crown
