Penny Knatchbull

The Crown season 5 depicts the friendship between Prince Philip and Penny Knatchbull. Here's the truth between the real-life royal companions.

Their companionship continued for years, with Lady Penny seen with Prince Philip and the Queen at Sandringham, horse shows, and other royal events. [viewers should know this by now](https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a41898949/is-the-crown-accurate-true-story/)) The Crown imagines how exact interactions and conversations went down. The now-Countess Penny is believed to have visited him regularly at his retirement cottage at Sandringham before his death, She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. According to royal biographer Ingrid Seward, Penny and Philip's friendship blossomed after the family tragedy. She was dating Norton Knatchbull at the time. “Philip befriended her when her life began to fall apart … As for Prince Philip (Jonathan Pryce), he develops a close friendship with family friend Penny Knatchbull while experiencing his own marital troubles with the queen. 9, rumors were already circulating that the new episodes would cover Prince Philip and now-Countess Penny's friendship. To prove that he has nothing to hide, Philip even convinces his wife to befriend Penny (played by Natasha McElhone) herself. The mere implication that the duo had an affair did not sit well with royal insiders. Although Her Majesty—and probably many of us viewers—first suspects him of having a romantic affair, Pryce's Philip assures her that his and Lady Penny's relationship is simply an “intellectual and spiritual companionship,” nothing more.