The expanding list of relatives of the Royal Family from The Crown (2016). Beware of spoilers.
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Relatives of the Royal Family
General
Prince Philip explores his relation to the Romanovs
"A convention of genealogists couldn't work out what you were born."
— Queen Elizabeth, to Prince Philip
- Everyone Is Related: Owing to intermarriage among the royal families of Europe, all those of royal blood on this list — Dickie Mountbatten, Prince Ernst August, Prince and Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, The Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, and the Romanov Imperial Family — are not only related to both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip (who, to add, are both third cousins and second cousins once removed), but they are also all related to each other in varying degrees of proximity due to their shared descent from one of two (or both) major 19th century European monarchs; Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (known as the 'Grandmother of Europe') and King Christian IX of Denmark (known as the 'Father-in-Law of Europe').
- Searching for the Lost Relative: Two episodes give key focus to the topic of lost royal relatives; "The Hereditary Principle", in which Princess Margaret delves into the murky, tragic history of her secretly-institutionalised Bowes-Lyon cousins, and "Ipatiev House", in which Prince Philip agrees to provide a DNA sample to help to identify the bodies of his murdered great-aunt and Romanov cousins.
- Tangled Family Tree: The European monarchies are all related to some degree or other via intermarriage, the intricacies of which are occasionally explored in-series, though it's often boiled down to a concise As You Know remark for the audience's benefit. However, old monarchical relations are the main subject of Series 5 episode "Ipatiev House", which explores both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's ties to the Russian Imperial Family, with Philip at one point poring over an actual family tree (image above) to establish his connection.
Relatives of the House of Windsor
The Duchess of Windsor
Her Grace Wallis Windsor (née Warfield), Duchess of Windsor
Click here to see her in Season 3
The wife of the Duke of Windsor, formerly Mrs. Simpson, whose relationship with him led to the abdication crisis.
- 24-Hour Party People: Loves to entertain and is happy to fill her home with friends night after night.
- Affectionate Nickname: The Duke addresses her as his "dear darling Peaches" in his letters.
- Cool Aunt: To Charles, at least. In a touching gesture, she gives him a watch of the Duke of Windsor's that she had inscribed in 1939. She's also a confidant for his plans for a romantic getaway with Camilla.
- Dying Alone: Despite her infamy and playing a significant role in the prior three seasons, there's not one mention of her death in 1986 or her burial with the Duke in Season 4, which goes past it chronologically. However Season 5 does use flashbacks to have Sydney Johnson mention her death and very infirm, troubled last few years, which were spent almost entirely alone apart from medical visits. Her Lonely Funeral at Windsor Castle is shown, with only the royal family attending, ironically.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Her way of coping with aging, namely, lots of plastic surgery, exaggerated these tendencies. In Season 3 Mountbatten refers to her as "flapping around like a demented bat."
- Foreshadowing: The mass resistance to her relationship with David isn't a thousand miles away from the obstacles Margaret and Peter or Charles and Camilla encounter with regard to their own relationships.
- Gold Digger: One of history's most famous. Although she genuinely wound up viewing David affectionately, the fact that he continued to cater to her every whim didn't hurt. The British establishment viewed her as an "adventuress," period.
- Happily Married: Despite the chaos it brought to the British monarchy, she and David do seem to genuinely love each other.
- Jerkass Has a Point: She is not the nicest person, but while she relentlessly mocks Elizabeth for her bad press over Peter Townsend and Margaret, she's also right that it shows the royal hypocrisy and outdated attitudes.
- Kick the Dog: She and David have no problem laughing over Elizabeth's bad press during the Townsend Affair, seeing it as a vindication for their own relationship.
- Love Ruins the Realm: Her affair with King Edward VIII was the origin of the constitutional crisis of 1936. The realm prevailed, the king did not. Ironically, given the perceived inadequacy of Edward as ruler, in a way it's an inverted example in that she saved the realm by removing him from the throne and giving way to George VI.
- Manipulative Bitch: Persuades the Duke to pump the Royal Family for a larger allowance during his visit for the King's funeral. The Queen Mother sees this coming from a mile away and cuts them off completely.
- The Nicknamer: She and David often refer to members of the Royal Family and British Establishment by various embarrassing nicknames.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: The Abdication. She's still equally well-known to history for being "Mrs. Simpson", or "the woman he loved" as much as The Duchess of Windsor. It's shown as harder for her husband, the former King Edward VIII, though.
- Plastic Bitch: Dickie Mountbatten notes that she’s had multiple facelifts, and she's viewed by the family as a money-hungry, vulgar opportunist who cuts them all up behind their backs.
- Really Gets Around: Members of the Royal household believe she was sleeping with Ribbentrop while he was the Nazi German ambassador to London, while simultaneously carrying on her affair with King Edward.
- The Resenter: She's openly disdainful that despite her marriage to the Duke, she has no true royal title (she's not 'Her Royal Highness', merely 'Her Grace', despite her husband's status) and she was never considered a member of the Royal Family, as per other spouses, which is why she appears on this list, and not here alongside her husband.
- Slut-Shaming: The Queen Mother describes her as "that Jezebel divorcée."
- Unholy Matrimony: Virtually everyone else in the Royal Family views the Duke and Duchess's marriage this way.
- Wham Line: Delivers one to Charles in Season 3, when he says his family means well.Wallis: No. They don't.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: British-born Lia Williams plays Wallis with a mix of English and mid-Atlantic accents. This is quite similar to how Wallis spoke in real life, though.
- Widow's Weeds: Wears them (complete with the veil) at her husband's funeral near Windsor Castle.
Lord Mountbatten
The Right Honourable Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Click here to see him in Seasons 3-4
Played By: Greg Wise (Seasons 1&2), Charles Dance (Seasons 3&4)
"Having Mountbatten as the name of the Royal house, having your first-born son, Charles, as the first Mountbatten king... Well, that would be some achievement, wouldn't it?"
The 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and the uncle of Prince Philip. He is both a family friend and an advisor to Philip, but his advice frequently causes tension with both the Windsors and the British establishment.- Agent Peacock: Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia during World War II, with such impeccable and refined tastes that the biggest room in his home is not a ballroom, but his closet, which is solely for all his uniforms.
- Ambition Is Evil:
- When he raises a toast to the Royal House now being called Mountbatten, warning bells go off for Queen Mary, the Queen Mother, and Sir Tommy Lascelles, the House of Windsor's staunchest defenders.
- His boundless ambition becomes a liability to the government in Season 3. After being forced out as Chief of Defence Staff, he seriously considers participating in a coup against the government.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: Oddly made without the loved one in the room. Soon after Edwina's only appearance in the show, Mountbatten declares that despite being a Henpecked Husband he truly and sincerely adores his wife.
- Back for the Dead: His assassination in Ireland takes central place in the Season 4 premiere.
- Cool Old Guy: Born at the very end of the Victorian era, his lordship is still a fairly jolly, personable, and unstuffy war hero. Season 4 shows he has a very close and playful relationship with his teenage grandson and the teen boat boy.
- Cool Uncle: To Philip, followed by his great-nephew Charles.
- External Combustion: The Series 4 opener sees Mountbatten venturing out lobster-potting off Mullaghmore with members of his family. The lurking IRA had attached a radio-controlled bomb to his boat and just a few hundred yards from the shore, the bomb is detonated. Mountbatten, his grandson, a local boat boy, and his son-in-law's mother all die from the blast, which devastates Princes Charles and Philip in particular, as well as PM Thatcher, who vows to the shell-shocked Queen that she'll crush the terrorist IRA organisation.
- Freudian Excuse: Dickie was born a minor, morganatic German prince and Military Brat. His father Louis then lost his position in the Admiralty and princely rank during the vicious anti-German xenophobia of World War I, when he was a teenager note . Trying to be grander and more British than the rest of the British ever since, he calls being made First Sea Lord in 1955 — the same post his father was forced to give up at the outbreak of World War I — the proudest moment of his life, and he does not take eventually getting sacked from the Ministry of Defence well.
- Four-Star Badass: As Admiral of The Fleet, he is a five-star naval officer. He's also one of the most prominent British victors of WWII and a respected national figure in some circles. He still commands authority decades later and the domineering Queen Mother completely trusts Dickie with several Palace intrigues.
- Heel Realization: After Elizabeth gives him a verbal spanking over his ideas of a coup, Dickie realizes that his true job now that he's retired shouldn’t be serving the people, but his family, which is emphasized during his talk with his estranged sister and how he takes Charles under his wing.
- Henpecked Husband: Edwina in her one appearance ridicules her husband for being a peacock. Dickie responds it's natural given the "wounds I have from a single encounter with you."
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Everyone in the show treats Dickie as a war hero and great military leader, but actually his record was rather more chequered than that. He was a successful destroyer captain, and he and his staff planned the raids on Bruneval
and St. Nazaire, but he was also responsible for the disaster that was the Dieppe Raid, and he never really accepted responsibility for its failure. As the last Viceroy and first Governor-General of India, he badly handled the process of granting India its independence. As Chief of Defence Staff, his main legacy was the merging of the Admiralty, the War Office, the Air Ministry, the Ministry of Aviation and the Ministry of Defence into a single consolidated Ministry of Defence, but few people trusted him. - Historical Villain Upgrade: While the real Mountbatten was (allegedly) approached by a group planning a coup against the Wilson government, who offered to install him as the new leader (hoping his connection to the royal family would lend them legitimacy), he ardently refused to be a party to an act of treason. Here, he's portrayed not just as an active participant in the conspiracy, but as its leader.
- Immigrant Patriotism: Although Dickie is second-generation, Princess Alice reminds him that due to history and mixed ancestry, the Battenbergs are neither one thing nor another and belong neither here nor there, calling them "mongrels." Dickie and his Freudian Excuse won't hear of it, citing the United Kingdom as the only proper home he's ever known.
- Lineage Comes from the Father: Which is why he’s quick to boast that with the Queen's succession, "the House of Mountbatten now rules." When this gets back to Queen Mary, whose husband began the House of Windsor, she acts quickly with Tommy Lascelles, and the Queen Mother, to pressure the Queen to officially keep the name of the Royal Family as Windsor. Unfortunately, this is also one of the reasons that Philip and Elizabeth's marriage becomes tense. The irony is that Philip and his uncle aren't playing this trope completely straight either, since the name Mountbatten comes from Philip's mother's side of the family. As Winston Churchill points out, his paternal name is the unwieldy Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. note
- Mentor:
- Lord Mountbatten eventually took the young Philip under his wing, even ensuring Philip took his family's name. His wish for the Royal House to be known as Mountbatten makes him more of an Evil Mentor in the minds of Windsor loyalists.
- He does the same with Charles, to the point they refer to each other as Honorary Grandfather and Honorary Grandson respectively.
- Nephewism: Downplayed, actually, since he never raised Philip (or Charles) and neither lived with him, but as one of Philip's few remaining nearby relatives, he's very close to and involved with the adult Philip. Whether this is out of affection or his own ambitions, or an inseparable mix of both, is never made clear. He later forms a close relationship with Charles and becomes a warmer alternative for the prince, in contrast to the harsh Philip.
- Nice to the Waiter: A tragic example. The boat boy that comes on the ill-fated venture for lobster fishing is given the same loving, jovial, and instructive treatment as Mountbatten's grandson.
- Nobility Marries Money: How Dickie came by that lavish lifestyle, and that fateful castle in Ireland. At the time, it was also Marry for Love, but his wife Edwina Ashley was one of the richest heiresses in Britain note . Her vast wealth even supported several relatives (like Princess Alice) for several years.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Mountbatten gets uncomfortably forward with his niece-in-law/distant cousin Elizabeth by declaring that they each married a "wild spirit" in Philip and Edwina and it is hopeless to try to tame them. He tries to encourage her by noting that, when you truly love someone you learn to cope. It backfires; Elizabeth is not amused by his presumption and clearly doesn't welcome the advice.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: His enemies are fond of snidely pointing out how he "gave away India" (namely, that he was the Viceroy who oversaw the partitioning and transitioning of India from a British colony to the independent nations of India and Pakistan). It should be noted that this isn’t entirely fair; while it is true that Lord Mountbatten made several missteps during the transition, the independence of India was all but inevitable by the time he became Viceroy. The actual decision to grant India (and Pakistan) independence was entirely that of the government of the day (a Labour government, as it happened, though any conceivable British government of the era not headed by Winston Churchill would have done the same).
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Known exclusively by his family and friends as "Dickie", not Louis (even though "Richard" is not among his several given names* ).
- Parental Substitute: To Charles, providing him with more support (and interference) than either of his parents. Mountbatten has no sons, so this comes relatively easily to him. Downplayed and more complicated with Philipnote , however in the show after Dickie's assassination, his abandonment issues come out full force and he expresses hurt and resentment that Dickie switched his attention and affection to Charles.
- Pet the Dog: For all Dickie's flaws, he was very close to his family as well as a caring brother, and it shows in his talk with Princess Alice.
- Rank Up: Mountbatten is appointed Admiral of the Fleet in 1956 during the Suez Crisis. He considers it the achievement of his life and is very proud to match what his father attained.
- Sexless Marriage: Of a sort; he and his wife have sex often, but rarely, perhaps never, with each other.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: While many of the men in the show know how to rock a suit, Lord Mountbatten is particularly well-dressed, and passes on some of his passion for Savile Row tailoring to Charles.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: With the ascetic and detached, yet forgiving Princess Alice. Impatient, angry Dickie tried to carry out a coup and nearly embodies "worldly" concerns and luxuries, while she turned her back on her old life to give her time and possessions to the poor.
- Social Climber: Mountbatten sees his nephew's marriage as a way up for himself. He also insisted Philip join the Navy rather than the RAF because the social prospects were better note .
- Spanner in the Works: He works with the Queen Mother in separating Charles from Camilla.
- The Svengali: His influence over the strong-minded Philip isn't anything like what the Mountbatten enemies worry about, but he's still naturally happy to have the influence at Court. Played straighter with less-confident Charles, who is going to be the future sovereign.
- Treacherous Adviser: Unknown at first to Charles, who trusts his beloved "Honorary Grandfather" to help him marry Camilla. Dickie promptly ensures that they're separated instead, probably also qualifying him for Evil Uncle. Charles is understandably still more-or-less furious about it years later, despite still loving Mountbatten.
- We Used to Be Friends: In Real Life Mountbatten and his second cousin the Duke of Windsor were extremely close when David was Prince of Wales — he was even the best man when Dickie married Edwina. It probably explains some of his unabated animosity towards Wallis.
Lady Mountbatten
The Right Honourable Edwina Mountbatten (née Ashley), Countess Mountbatten of Burma
Played By: Lucy Russell
The wife of Dickie Mountbatten and Prince Philip's aunt. She and her husband do not enjoy a close relationship.- Adaptation Distillation: Despite being a fully-fledged character in her own right, here Edwina is basically reduced to one snarky quip and more discussion of her promiscuity.
- Awful Wedded Life: Whilst she and Dickie did originally Marry for Love, by the time of their appearances in-series, things have soured considerably and they live completely separate lives, enjoy the company of other lovers, and snipe at each other as they briefly cross over in the vast entrance hall of their London residence.
- Blue Blood: Her father was Wilfrid Ashley, 1st Baron Mount Temple, and a descendant of the Earl of Shaftesbury. The other part falls under Half-Breed Discrimination.
- The Cameo: Edwina was a complicated woman with both an enormous fortune and a very hectic life, but she's only in the series for about a minute, quite literally.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Her father was uninterested in both her and her younger sister due to being girls, her mother died from tuberculosis when Edwina was young and all of her grandfather's money and effort couldn't save her, leaving her daughters with long periods when they couldn't see her even before that, she then acquired an Evil Stepmother (Muriel Forbes-Sempill, whom Dickie flatly described as "a bitch"), and although she eventually went to live with her grandfather Sir Ernest and happily served as his hostess for a couple of years, he died suddenly when she was away from home.
- Freudian Excuse: Her Dark and Troubled Past probably played an enormous part in her restless nature.
- Half-Breed Discrimination: Her grandfather Sir Ernest Cassel was a Jewish Prussian and had converted to please his dying Catholic wife; her mother "Maudie" was their only child, who then married into the Protestant aristocracy. Edwina also spent much time as a child around her grandfather's unassimilated relatives, who were some of the only people to take any interest in her. Her stringently Protestant and racistly unpleasant Evil Stepmother freely used all of this against her. It also both served to help her bond with Dickie (since the Mountbattens also sprang from this trope), and later became a cause of major alarm in World War II, as she and Dickie made the decision to initially send their daughters to America and away from Those Wacky Nazis.
- Lady of Adventure: A trope codifier. After having children, Edwina began a period of intense global travel, with various trips taking her to Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Jerusalem, Damascus, Baghdad, and Tehran. Exhibiting a passion for the ancient world, she visited the archaeological dig at Persepolis and the (at the time) recently rediscovered city of Machu Picchu, after which she trekked over the Andes and down into Chile.
- Named After Somebody Famous: Her grandfather's great friend King Edward VII; it was meant to be "Edwardina", and perhaps fortunately got contracted.
- Nobility Marries Money: Her parents, and then a Generation Xerox version with Dickie. Her money not only financed their lifestyle but provided for several of Dickie's relatives as well, and the fateful Classiebawn Castle in Ireland came to Dickie through an inheritance of Edwina's on her father's side.
- Really Gets Around: Her oft-noted promiscuitynote is alluded to in-series when she and Dickie bump into each other as he arrives home and she doesn't bother to hide from him the fact that she's heading out for a rendezvous with her lover. In Real Life she allegedly had something of a harem — up to eighteen men — whom she referred to as “ginks” including, if rumours are to be believed; Indian Prime Minister Nehru note , jazz singer Leslie 'Hutch' Hutchinson (whom she apparently once gifted a jewel-encrusted penis sheath), Lord Molyneux, American polo player Laddie Sandford and Evening Standard editor Mike Wardell.
- Rich Bitch: She's presented as a haughty beauty who doesn't give a stuff about her husband knowing of her love affairs, and she's undoubtedly rich — amongst the richest characters presented by the series, in fact. Played with in that she freely used her money to support whichever of her relatives needed it, and spent a great deal of time doing humanitarian work.
- Socialite: She was a leading light in London Society with an inheritance of £2million (equivalent to a whopping £90m today) from her grandfather, financier Sir Ernest Cassel, making her one of the richest women of her day.
Prince Ernst August
His Royal Highness Prince Ernst Augustus IV, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, Prince of Hanover
Played By: Daniel Betts
A German royal and distant relative of the British royal family through his descent from King George III. He visits England for a shooting weekend and manages to rub both Dickie Mountbatten and Queen Mary up the wrong way.- Blue Blood: Sports an impressive heritage. He's the eldest son of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick and Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia, the only daughter of Emperor Wilhelm II, Ernest Augustus's third cousin in descent from George III of the United Kingdom.
- Gratuitous German: Engages in this with his aunt Queen Mary and cousin David, the Duke of Windsor, who are also fluent.note
- Innocently Insensitive: Blabs to Queen Mary that he and the Dickie Mountbatten enjoyed a sumptuous dinner and champagne mere hours after her son Bertie's death. This does not go down well with the fearsome matriarch.
- Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught: Shooting is a Serious Business in upper class circles, so when Ernst brings a modified shotgun (one which belonged to his maternal grandfather Kaiser Wilhelm IInote ) which is more like a Hand Cannon to a drive, Dickie Mountbatten is furious — "You are a cheat, Hanover" — though Ernst smugly brushes it off.
Princess Cecilie
Her Royal Highness Princess Cecilie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine
- Affectionate Nickname: Although her given name was Cecilie, she was known to her family as Cécile.
- Alas, Poor Villain: To a modern audience's sensibilities, Nazis are beyond the pale, but from the way she is presented as a supportive, caring character, it's difficult not to feel sorry for her, as her death is nothing short of horrific in every way possible.
- Call-Back: She and her sisters are referenced in the very first episode, when Churchill loudly mentions Prince Philip's "Nazi sisters" at the royal wedding, though Cecilie only appears right at the end of Series 2.
- Cool Big Sis: For Prince Philip, who looks to her for emotional support and a touch of levity in place of his ice-cold father and mentally-ill mother. He reminds Charles that Cecilie was his favourite sister.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Utterly terrified of flying at the best of times, Cecilie dies along with her husband Georg Donatus, their two young sons and Georg's mother when the aircraft in which they were travelling crashes in flames after hitting a factory chimney near Ostend, Belgium, killing all on board. Cecilie was eight months pregnant with her fourth child at the time of the crash, and the remains of the baby were found in the wreckage; a Belgian official enquiry concluded that Cecilie had given birth mid-flight. The crash-site is hauntingly depicted in episode 9 of Series 2, as Philip imagines himself picking his way through the wreckage.
- Death of a Child: The bodies of her two young sons, Prince Ludwig and Prince Alexander are presented next to the crash-site in unflinching detail, and the screams of Cecilie’s new baby accompany tragic scenes of the plane at first in difficulty and then finally crashing, killing everyone onboard.
- Hope Spot: Despite the nightmarish scenario of going into labour aboard an aircraft in chronic distress, Cecilie does manage to give birth, and there's a brief moment where she proudly smiles, holding her baby in her arms, amid the screaming and flashing before the plane finally goes down.
- Maternity Crisis: She goes into labour while the plane shes’s travelling in barrels along out of control in dense fog but manages to give birth minutes before the plane crashes.
- Obliviously Evil: Doesn't seem to realize the true horrors of the Nazi system, cheerfully spouting off about Hitler's policies without question.
- Parental Favoritism: Prince Philip's father, Prince Andrew, acknowledges her as his favourite child after her death, and appears to blame Philip's acting up at school as the cause.
- Posthumous Character: She appears throughout the episode "Paterfamilias," which features flashbacks of Prince Philip's time at Gordonstoun, and the events surrounding her death.
- Sympathetic P.O.V.: A rare example of a card-carrying Nazi depicted as a normal, seemingly nice young woman who dies in tragic circumstances.
- Those Wacky Nazis: Cecilie, her sisters, and her husband were prominent Nazis (as Churchill loudly commented at Philip and Princess Elizabeth's wedding), which is acknowledged multiple times within the series, though she is presented as a perky, quite jolly young woman and displays none of the associated overtly villainous behaviour, apart from some over-zealous remarks about Hitler's mandate that his followers bear multiple children to bolster his available soldiers.
- Unwanted Assistance: Whilst flying to Scotland with Philip, one of the household servants manfully keeps up appearances and tries to serve her tea from a salver, despite the impossibility under such dramatic flying conditions, causing her to shriek with terror as it clatters to the floor.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Absolutely hated planes and having to fly anywhere in them, which makes her death in a plane crash even more tragic.
- Widow's Weeds: She explains to her brother Philip, who years later relays it to Charles, that she always wears funeral-black when flying as “you may as well dress for your own funeral”. It sadly proves to be an apposite decision.
Prince Georg Donatus
His Royal Highness Prince Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
Played By: August Wittgenstein
A German prince who was Prince Philip's brother-in-law via his marriage to Philip's sister, Cecilie. - Affably Evil: Georg is presented as a kind man who is supportive of his young brother-in-law, despite his affiliation with the Nazi Party.
- Affectionate Nickname: He was known as 'Don' to his close friends and family, including Prince Philip, as seen in-series.
- Big Fancy Castle: Some scenes in which he appears are set at Schloß Wolfsgarten, his impressive family seat.
- Meta Casting: German-Swedish actor August Wittgenstein bears the full title ‘Prince August Fredrik zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg’ and is a member of the princely House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg; a first for the series in terms of casting an actual royal to play a royal.note
- Nazi Nobleman: As part of Hitler’s strategy to gain entry into German society, he courted old families like the titular royals of Hesse-Cassel and Hesse-Darmstadt. The aristocracy had emerged tattered and under pressure from the devastation and loss of status after World War I, and many found Hitler’s patriotic message of national pride appealing. They also feared a Communist revolution in Germanynote and the possible seizing of their family assets that could come with it, seeing the Nazi movement as a potential bulwark. Despite the fact that Don's father Grand Duke Ernst had wanted absolutely nothing to do with the Nazis, Don felt differently.
- Posthumous Character: Appears in the episode "Paterfamilias'', which includes flashbacks to young Prince Philip's sojourns in Germany, and horrifying scenes of Georg and his family's deaths aboard the fatal flight over Ostend, detailed in Cecilie's entry above.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Actor August Wittgenstein is a fine looking man, and in real life Georg was known for his handsome, dashing looks.
- Those Wacky Nazis: Like his wife, Princess Cecilie, Georg is depicted is a fervent supporter of the Nazi regime* , and in his introductory scenes, he's wearing a suit with a swastika arm-band. Later on, he joins in with boisterous, drunken singing of pro-Party songs.
Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
His Royal Highness Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
Played By: Guy Williams
Prince Philip's cold, harsh father who appears in flashbacks to Philip's turbulent childhood.- Broken Bird: He didn't fare as well as his wife (or son). See Trauma Conga Line.
- Disappeared Dad: He moved to the south of France and later the Principality of Monaco after his wife Alice fell ill, and only saw Philip sporadically, letting the boy's uncle George Mountbatten, Marquess of Milford Haven, have custody.
- Excessive Mourning: When young Philip is presented to him following the death of his favorite daughter Princess Cecile in an air crash, Andrew is utterly cold and actually blames Philip's misbehaviour at school for her death. He commands the now Unfavorite Philip be removed from his sight, with seething rage. See Historical Villain Upgrade.
- The Exile: A proud Greek, he took his repeated Real Life exiles from the land he loved very hard.
- Great Escape: After the defeat of Greece in the Greco-Turkish War, he was imprisoned and sentenced to death. His wife, Princess Alice of Battenberg, arranged for intervention by King George V, who negotiated for Andrew’s release and rescue. Soon afterwards a Royal Navy gunboat, HMS Calypso, evacuated the family from Corfu. Prince Philip, who was still a baby, was reputedly carried out to the ship in a makeshift cot made out of an orange crate — a scenario Philip relates to Elizabeth in-series.
- The Hedonist: A dark example born out of his Dark and Troubled Past. He was known to "gamble and philander on the Riviera", but it's now believed more likely he did this to cope with PTSD and the losses of his family, and was generally known to be a lonely man for the rest of his shortened life. Alice even charitably referred to his longterm mistress as "the friend who took care of Papa".
- Hero of Another Story: Andrea had a rather hectic life and was generally fairly different from his Monster of the Week antagonistic portrayal here.
- High-Class Glass: Sports a monocle, which adds to his intimidating appearance.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Provided by the series, mainly so Dickie Mountbatten could draw an analogy about Philip hating his father and then foreshadow how due to parental mistakes Philip's son would likely one day end up hating him, with Philip having to ask for forgiveness. In Real Life, traditional Andrea was overjoyed to have a son, played a large part in spoiling The Baby of the Bunch, and due to exile, spent more time with Philip in Paris than most royal parents ever did. The theory that Andrea was suffering from PTSD due to his court-martial and near-execution, exacerbated by Alice's breakdown, explains why he did not attempt to raise Philip on his own and instead sent him to England. The story about Philip having anything to do with his sister's death is Based on a Great Big Lie, so there's no reason for Andrea to have been cruel — in real life he was just crushed by Cecile's death. Both Philip and Alice maintained positive thoughts and feelings about him for the rest of his life — and Philip likely wore his signet ring afterwards for the rest of his own.
- Impoverished Patrician: In 1922 his brother, the King of Greece, was forced to abdicate after the debacle of the Greco-Turkish War. Andrew, who was working in the army, was accused of treason, stripped of his titles and exiled. The family fled to Paris, where they would be based for the next decade. They were, however, this to begin with, as the Greek royal family was not rich, but especially when compared to the British Royal Family.
- Like Father, Like Son:
- Alice was known to say that when she met Andrea when she was 17, it was not only Love at First Sight but he seemed like "a Greek god" to her. Not only did teenage Elizabeth have the same feelings about the Gorgeous Greek Philip, the wording was liberally applied.
- Philip's sister Sophie said that on meeting a newly-grown up Philip at the end of WWII, she was amazed by how much of their father's mannerisms and sense of humour he had.
- Only Known By His Nickname: Slight variant. His family and Alice called him Andrea* , which is the shortened and Italian version of the original Greek of his name, Andreas. Whether that or the anglicized "Andrew" counts as his 'nickname' depends on whom you'd ask.
- Parental Favoritism: Openly and aggressively acknowledges Princess Cecile as his favourite child — and is devastated when she dies in a plane crash.
- Posthumous Character: He died in 1944, and is therefore only shown in flashbacks to Prince Philip's childhood.
- The Scapegoat: Blamed by the Greek high command and the following coup that took control of Greece's government for not following orders he thought were foolhardy, and the subsequent loss of the battle of Sakarya and the war. Being court-martialed and nearly executed for political reasons scarred him for life.
- Those Wacky Nazis: Because Cecile’s funeral took place in Germany in 1937 and his daughters were married to prominent Nazis* , he is shown surrounded by Nazi high officials, and Cecile's funeral march is festooned with the Nazi flag, prominently hung from windows and poles along the whole route, as the historical record and pictures of the event show. However, there's no evidence Andrea himself had any sympathetic inclinations (as he was in Monaco until 1944, when even Alice visited her daughters in Germany during the war).
- Trauma Conga Line: Spend your entire life since childhood training to serve in the Greek military. Refuse to speak anything but Greek to your parents. And then end up scapegoated, court-martialed, almost murdered, exiled (again) to a place where you have no skills. Your marriage breaks down. Your wife loses touch with reality and needs to be committed. You have to send your son away. And just when you think you've found a sunny place to forget it all? Your favorite child dies. With her family. Horrifically. Not too much wonder it literally took a toll on the man, who died from a broken heart* .
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Philip, with a few drinks in him, briefly discusses his feelings on this matter with Charles in Season 4, except he says "I barely knew my father" and "You have a father!" As seen above, this, too, is all Based on a Great Big Lie. The years that he never had with Andrea might have been weighing on him at that point, but to imply that the man was never in his life (or that Philip had solely negative feelings for him) is pure dramatic license.*
Princess Alice
Her Royal Highness Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, Mother Superior Alice-Elizabeth
Played By: Rosalind Knight (Season 1), Sophie Leigh Stone (Season 2), Jane Lapotaire (Season 3)
Prince Philip's mother Alice, born Her Serene Highness Princess Alice of Battenberg, and eldest sister of Lord Mountbatten. Shortly after Philip and Elizabeth's wedding, she started a convent in Greece and increasingly fell on hard times. After the Colonels' Coup in 1967, she left Greece for the last time, to live in Buckingham Palace.- Affectionate Nickname: Her granddaughter Princess Anne refers to her as “Yia-yia” — Greek for granny.
- Affluent Ascetic: She was born into royalty and has a number of wealthy relatives who should be able to provide her with a very comfortable life. Instead, she chooses to dedicate herself to helping the impoverished and selling her valuables to fund her charity while keeping nothing for herself. Even when she comes to live at Buckingham Palace, she takes a very modest room when larger apartments are available.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: When she first comes to stay at Buckingham Palace, Philip spends a lot of time trying to avoid her as much as possible, especially as the Royal Family documentary is under production at the palace. The first time he speaks to her is after he realises exactly how much she has been through in her life.
- The Beautiful Elite: At the time of her birth in 1885, she was about as elite as it gets, even with mixed ancestry. As she herself says, she was born at Windsor Castle with her great-grandmother Queen Victoria present. She then grew up to be so good-looking that despite her deafness, Edward VII said "no throne is too good for her."
- Broken Bird: With a tragic backstory, she is revealed to be a very stoic example in season three.
- Cool Old Lady: She enthrals her teenage granddaughter, Princess Anne, with stories of her colourful past, as well as a very critical, anti-monarchist reporter from The Guardian during an interview.
- Deadpan Snarker: It runs through Philip's maternal family. Princess Alice's only response to a jeweller calling the police on her context is "Did you come up with a price yet, sweetie?"
- Disability Immunity: She was born deaf, and used her deafness during the Nazi occupation of Greece to obfuscate her way through Gestapo questioning when she sheltered a Jewish family. Subverted with her psychiatric issues as they made her life very hard.
- Good Shepherd: She is honest in her piety, and has almost beggared herself trying to support her convent.
- Half-Breed Discrimination: The morganatic Battenberg side comes from her German princely grandfather note making a Maligned Mixed Marriage to a lady-in-waitingnote ; the royal equivalent of bastardy since the children couldn't inherit any of the father's titles.note It's why she reminds Dickie that (despite their mother Victoria's Hessian and British royal blood and their current high social status) they're "mongrels."
- Inspirational Martyr: She lived a remarkable Real Life of sacrifice and service, founding field hospitals when Greece and Turkey went to war, sheltering a Greek-Jewish family during the Holocaust and almost starving doing charity work in Athens in World War II, and founding an Greek Orthodox order of nursing nuns — all despite having had to escape her home in Greece twice, having been forcibly institutionalised, and more. It's this level of altruism that softens the heart of a fictional anti-monarchist Guardian journalist, inspiring him to write a favourable article about Princess Alice's life, and giving the Royals a much-needed PR boost in-story.
- Living Relic: During her lifetime (1885 - 1969) the world changed unimaginably so, considering the rapid advances in technology and the breaking down of rigid social-class structures in the egalitarian 1960s. With a childhood spent in the antiquated Victorian era, and a death coinciding with the moon landings, her presence in the series is that of an emissary from a long-gone chapter in the history of Europe's monarchies.Princess Andrew: There came a moment around the time I turned 70...when it dawned on me that I was no longer a participant, rather a spectator.
- Memento MacGuffin: The only remnant of her regal past still with her is a priceless, perfect sapphire she has kept hidden away, but is willing to sell if it helps pay for repairs to her convent's roof.
- Missing Mom: Confesses to having been this to Philip due to having first been institutionalized and then separated from him by World War II. note
- Modest Royalty: She had some of the most famous and prestigious relatives in the world and was the Queen's mother-in-law, yet by 1967, she was living an incredibly rustic, selfless life as a nun in a run-down covent in Athens.
- Must Have Nicotine: A contender for the worst offender in the series so far, smoking in nearly every scene in which she appears. She runs into the courtyard of Buckingham Palace to get a light from the BBC when she can't find one inside.
- Nuns Are Funny: Her mother Princess Victoria, Marchioness of Milford Haven, scoffed, "What can you say of a nun that smokes and plays canasta?" In-series, her eccentricity, permanent smoking, and the fact she keeps turning up in places she's not supposed to be makes for an amusing scenario.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: After she married, her title for the remainder of her life was "Princess Andrew". To undoubtedly make things easier for the audience, she's only referred to as "Princess Alice," her title at birth.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Her third daughter Cecile died in a plane crash when Philip was a teenager. She outlived her grandchildren from Cecile as well.
- Politically Correct History: Rather glaringly in "Bubbikins." In 1967, having a sudden story of family psychiatric illness, institutionalization, and treatment appearing on every newsstand in the country would more likely have provoked horror and shame in Philip (and most of the readers), far from the positive reaction the show portrays. By the same token, while Alice's forcible commitment and treatment seem like "barbarism" now, it was
Fair for Its Day 1930s medical standards and the best care her family could find — considered some of the best in the world — and certainly not intended as torture.note - Sibling Yin-Yang: With Lord Mountbatten. He tries to stage a coup after losing his previous position and is rather attached to luxury, while she turned her back on her old life to give her time and her worldly possessions to the poor.
- The Stateless: Due to her turbulent life and Military Brat childhood on top of her Battenberg family's colorful history, she views herself this way. A proud Briton, her brother Dickie firmly disagrees but still calls her "Princess Alice of Nowhere-At-All."
- The Voiceless: Up to Season 3. Her character made appearances on-screen in Season 1 and Season 2, but "Bubbikins" is the first time she gets to say anything.
Katherine & Nerissa Bowes-Lyon
Miss Katherine & Miss Nerissa Bowes-Lyon
Played By: Trudie Emery & Pauline Hendrickson
Born with severe developmental disorders and consequently institutionalised, they are the daughters of the Queen Mother's brother John, and are therefore first cousins of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret.- Big Sister Instinct: Well, Big Cousin Instinct. Katherine's close familial relationship to the Royal Family is teased early in the episode when she starts panicking as soon as she hears on the radio that Margaret was sent to the hospital for respiratory problems.
- Blue Blood: The Bowes-Lyons are an ancient aristocratic Scottish family, with a line going back to at least the 12th century. Their family seat of Glamis note Castle is reputedly to be the most haunted in the world. Katherine and Nerissa were daughters of John Herbert "Jock" Bowes-Lyon, second son of the 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and brother to the Queen Mother.
- Contrast Montage: The sisters are revealed when scenes of Katherine’s birthday party at the very grim Earlswood Hospital are intercut with the scintillating glamour of a birthday dinner at Buckingham Palace for Prince Edward (their younger cousin).
- Dark Secret: Princess Margaret, acting on information from her therapist, discovers that despite the 1963 edition of Burke's Peerage note listing Nerissa and Katherine as having died in 1940 and 1961, the sisters were actually alive, and had been placed in Earlswood Hospital for the mentally disabled.
- The Disease That Shall Not Be Named: The exact nature of their issues and similar cases with other cousins has never been confirmed. In keeping with attitudes toward disability at the time, they were officially diagnosed as "imbeciles."
-
In Memoriam: The episode in which they appear, "The Hereditary Principle", closes out with real-life photos of the sisters and the dates they lived. - Mad Woman In The Attic: One of the most infamous and undoubtedly the highest profile case of its type. Margaret forcibly extracts from the Queen Mother the fact that due to fear of a scandal, and public accusations of a tainted bloodline, the Bowes-Lyon family (and implicitly the Windsors too) reported the girls as dead and had them sequestered away in a mental institution. The sadder part is the issues appear to have been on the side of their mother's family, and not the Bowes-Lyons at all.
- Riches to Rags: Born into the Scottish aristocracy, they spent most of their lives in an austere, grim mental institution.
- Tragic Keepsake: Both women are aware enough to know who their Windsor cousins are, and keep royal memorabilia by their beds.
Lady Romsey
The Right Honourable Penelope Knatchbull (née Eastwood), Baroness Romsey
- '90s Hair: Her big, beautifully blown out hairdo, held in place by clips or an Alice band, is classic 90s Sloane style. Her hair is so voluminous that any supermodel of the time would envy it.
- Commonality Connection: Penny and Prince Philip initially bond over the grief they share in having lost a beloved relative; her over the death of her youngest child and him over the death of his sister, Princess Cecilie.
- Cunning Linguist: Penny casually implies she reads Russian, although she might be referring to translations.
- Death of a Child: Leonora was only five. At first we see her in remission, with newly-curly hair, but we also see her funeral and her grave at Broadlands.
- Idiot Ball: Penny grabs this in "Ipatiev House" so that the Queen can finally gain the upper hand on her husband's beautiful younger close friend. It doesn't make too much sense that a plethora of books in multiple languages would only focus on some assumed (inaccurate) rivalry between Queen Mary and Tsarina Alexandra and ignore all the social history of the time. Worse still, she innocently tries to explain the Queen's own family history to her.
- Just Friends: Philip admits to Elizabeth that he is very close to Penny, though he is absolutely insistent that they are purely intellectual, social, and emotional companions and nothing improper has taken place... although, again, by modern standards they may be having something of an emotional affair. He even asks the Queen to befriend her so as to avoid any tabloid speculation. Elizabeth is understandably not thrilled.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: For Prince Philip, Penny is like some sort of energetic Whovian assistant, sharing his passion for science, discovery, and taking risks, and sitting enraptured when he explains any kind of new concept to her. In this regard, Penny's almost the complete opposite to his wife.
- Nobility Marries Money: Penny isn't blue-blooded by birth; her father, Reginald Eastwood, made his fortune as the founder of the Angus Steakhouse restaurant chain. Having attended finishing school in Switzerland, she was elevated into aristocratic circles in 1979 when she married Norton — although by this point the Knatchbulls were not exactly poor, either, thanks to inheriting half of Edwina's fortune.
- Only Known By Her Nickname: Her full name of Penelope isn't mentioned by anyone.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Her youngest child, Leonora, dies of cancer at the age of just five and Penny has her buried in the grounds of Broadlands in view of the house, so as to be close to her.
The Romanov Imperial Family
Their Imperial Majesties Tsar Nicholas II & Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia
Played By: Alexei Dyakin and Anja Antonowicz
The last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia. Nicholas, the 24th Tsar, was the son of Dagmar of Denmark, making him first cousins with the Queen's grandfather George V (Dagmar was the sister of Queen Alexandra, George's mother). The Tsarina, formerly the German Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt, is Prince Philip's great aunt (and also a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria)."Nikolai Alexandrovich, in view of the fact that your relatives are continuing their attack on Soviet Russia, the Ural Executive Committee has decided to execute you."
— Commandant Yakov Yurovsky
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The horrific manner of the murder of Tsar Nicholas and his family is depicted in graphic detail in Series 5 episode "Ipatiev House", named after the building in which the Imperial Family were housed before their deaths. Nicholas and his family are awoken in the early hours, told that they are being set free and to dress for a "final photo". It's all a trick, and having been led down into the house's cellar and seated, they are shot by firing squad, with the girls being unflinchingly bayoneted to death after jewels sewn into their bodices deflect the bullets fired at them.
- The Emperor: The title Tsar and Tsarina are equivalent to Emperor and Empress in English, and at the height of the Romanov reign, he ruled as an absolute monarch over much of Eurasia.
- Everyone Is Related: As descendants of Queen Victoria and Christian IX of Denmark (Alix of Hesse was Victoria's grand-daughter, Nicholas was Christian's grandson) they have familial ties to almost every other European dynasty of the era. Nicholas and his wife are both first cousins with King George V; Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Tsarina are also first cousins, among others.
- Hope Spot: Nicholas is awoken by a guard and told that the family are "being moved for their protection". Nicholas is immediately convinced his Cousin George has come to the family's aid, and will be sending a ship providing them safe passage to London. He's horribly wrong.
- Prepare to Die: Having lulled the family into a false sense of security, the head Bolshevik, Yakov Yurovsky, reads out the family's death sentence and they are immediately executed by firing squad.
- Reality Is Unrealistic: In Real Life Tsarina Alexandra actually spoke English with her husband and children, since she was far more comfortable and fluent in that than in Russian.
- Riches to Rags: Nicholas was one of the last truly autocratic monarchs in proximity to Europe and ruled over a vast empire, living in isolated, splendid luxury. Following the Revolution, and the resignation of his government, he was forced to abdicate, detained, stripped of all of his assets, moved to series of increasingly humble dwellings, and was ultimately imprisoned in a run-down house in Yekaterinburg before being executed in front of his family.
- Rule of Symbolism: The scenes of the Romanovs being savagely butchered are intercut with King George V and his party blasting pheasants at a shoot. The dead birds are then slung over the beaters' shoulders and hung up on a cart in a cruel parallel with the lifeless bodies of the Tsar and his family being carried and loaded onto a wagon to be transported to their unmarked burial site.
- Shot at Dawn: With no warning of an execution, the family are roused from their beds at midnight, led down into a cellar and first shot, then bayoneted to death.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Nicholas II looked exactly like his first cousin George V, which is noted by Queen Elizabeth, and care is taken with the actors cast to emphasise this.
- We Hardly Knew You: They are promptly executed after their introduction.
- Wham Episode: For the unaware, episode 6 of Series 5 begins with a trip back to 1917, where we see, for the first time in-series, King George V chit-chatting with his family. However, the title, "Ipatiev House" provides grim Foreshadowing and the initial genteelity is used to set up a Contrast Montage between George V and Queen Mary enjoying their morning breakfast and a pheasant shoot intercut with scenes of George's cousin Nicholas and his family being murdered in unflinchingly shocking detail. It surpasses the grimness of the Hessian plane crash and Aberfan tragedy.
Their Imperial Highnesses The Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia of Russia & Tsesarevich Alexei of Russia
Played by: Anastasia Everall, Julia Haworth, Amy Foreman, Tamara Sulkhanishvili and William Biletsky
The children of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra.- Bulletproof Vest: The Romanov daughters had sewn jewels into the lining of their undergarments, which initially deflect many of the bullets fired their way. The Bolshevik guards resort to brutally finishing them off with bayonets.
- Delicate and Sickly: Tsesarevich Alexei suffered from haemophilia and was therefore subject to a lot of internal bruising and joint problems. As the family are led down to the cellar to their unknowing deaths, his mother requests a chair for him as he can't stand for long.
- Fallen Princess: The girls enjoyed a sheltered, outdoorsy and ostensibly happy childhood, but following their father's deposition after the Russian Revolution, their privileges and luxuries were consistently stripped away until they were forced to live as prisoners in a cramped, dusty house and barely allowed to leave their rooms, or talk to each other in anything but Russian.
- Would Hurt a Child: Along with Would Hit a Girl; the three older sisters are adults, but even the underage Anastasia (17) and the still younger and Delicate and Sickly Alexei (13) are offered absolutely no mercy from the Bolsheviks; along with their parents, they are all gunned down and then monstrously bayoneted to death.
Relatives of Diana, Princess of Wales
Lady Fermoy
The Right Honourable Ruth Roche (née Gill), Baroness Fermoy
Played By: Georgie Glen
Diana's maternal grandmother and a lady in waiting to the Queen Mother. She accompanies her granddaughter on dates with Charles and to Balmoral to make sure nothing untoward happens.- '50s Hair: Like many women of her background and age, she maintains a smart, 50s look well into later decades — just like HM The Queen, in fact.
- Grande Dame: As Diana notes to a friend, her grandmother is a humourless snob and revels in her senior position in the Royal Household.
- Ice Queen: She's a stiff, no-nonsense woman, exhibiting a glacial froideur even with her own granddaughter, Diana. She's on warmer form in front of her employers, however, as seen in "The Balmoral Test" when playing Ibble-Dibble with the Royal Family and "The Hereditary Principle" when chatting with the Queen Mother.
- Lady-In-Waiting: She was a friend and confidante of the Queen Mother, and acted as her lady-in-waiting for 33 years.
- Maid and Maiden: When Diana's relationship with Charles begins, and when she moves into the Palace, her formidable grandmother is on hand to ensure nothing improper happens.
- Remember the New Guy?: She has been the Queen Mother's lady-in-waiting for 33 years (around the time the series has started), yet we haven't seen or heard of her until her granddaughter starts being courted by the Prince of Wales.
- Stern Teacher: Tasked with making sure her granddaughter is up to snuff on royal protocol, she exhibits no grandmotherly warmth towards Diana, and is obsessively hot on making sure that she doesn't let the family down.
Lady Sarah Spencer
Lady Sarah Spencer
Played By: Isobel Eadie
One of Charles's girlfriends and the older sister of Diana.- '70s Hair: Sports a longer version of the classic 70s 'page-boy' cut so prevalent in the latter years of the decade.
- Amicable Exes: Around the time Charles calls her to discuss dating Diana, they are both very cordial and friendly, with no apparent bitterness regarding their failed relationship and he even congratulates her on her recent engagement.
- Blue Blood: She's the eldest child of the 8th Earl Spencer, and bears the honorific Lady as such.
- English Rose: She is a slightly older and redheaded version of her famous sister.
- Non-Idle Rich: In Real Life, she worked throughout her time dating Charles and in later life was elected High Sheriff of Lincolnshire, the oldest secular office under the Crown and dating right back to the 10th Century.
- Redhead In Green: Sports an olive-green woollen gilet over a blue-green floral blouse, complementing her coppery-red hair.
- Sibling Rivalry: It's telling that she demanded Diana keep out of Charles' sight during his visit to Althorp, perhaps knowing that her pretty, beguiling younger sister may be a bigger hit.
- Upper-Class Equestrian: Her date with Charles immediately involves riding. Riding off to a secluded lodge house, that is. Later in Real Life, she became Master of the Belvoir Hunt.
Lord Spencer
The Right Honourable Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer
Played By: Philip Cumbus
Diana's younger brother Charles and the current holder of the Spencer earldom.- Affectionate Nickname: Diana calls him "Carlos", as she did in Real Life. It also neatly serves to differentiate him from her husband/ex-husband.
- Blue Blood: The Spencers are one of England’s most ancient and preeminent aristocratic families, with a line dating back to the 15th Century. Upon the death of his father in 1992, he became the 9th Earl.
- Conviction by Contradiction: Having initially been drawn in by Martin Bashir's earnest lies, Charles convinces Diana that Bashir is a trustworthy outlet for her planned TV interview. However, having taken scrupulous notes detailing Bashir's "evidence" of spying, he realises that many of the details contradict each other and immediately warns Diana off him. Bashir spins a Seamless Spontaneous Lie, telling Diana that her brother has been "got at" too, and she doesn't follow Charles' advice.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: His Chekhov's Skill of journalism training and likely background as an historian means Spencer takes careful notes and is eventually able to spot the contradictions in what Bashir says and lose faith in him. Diana, with fewer critical reasoning skills and operating almost purely on emotion, makes the fateful decision to trust Bashir in spite of her brother's warnings.
- One-Steve Limit: Played with. A few people call him "Charles Spencer", but Diana prominently calls him "Carlos" to start. She does refer to him as simply "Charles" later.
- Unwitting Pawn: The Immoral Journalist Martin Bashir approaches Charles under the guise of concerns he has over invoices (which he has faked) evidencing that his sister is being spied on by a variety of parties — some close to home, others more intangible. Using a combination of Baddie Flattery and needling Spencer's own previous issues with press intrusion, Bashir initially gains his trust — so much so that he brokers a meeting for him with Diana.
Relatives of Lord Snowdon
Lady Rosse
The Right Honourable Anne Parsons (née Messel), Countess of Rosse
Played By: Anna Chancellor
Lord Snowdon's icy mother. A renowned socialite and beauty in her younger years, she was considered to be amongst the best-dressed women of her generation — though something of a social climber too. - Abusive Mom: She treats her son Tony with a neglectful and sometimes downright cruel level of dismissal, even after he bags himself a royal princess — nothing seems to please her.
- Armor-Piercing Question: While travelling with Tony to his wedding to Princess Margaret through crowds of cheering people, he proudly asks her if she ever thought he would reach such a rarefied height. Without a change in her face, and with wry condescension, she simply asks her son if the whole relationship and marriage were contrived to impress her. Tony falls silent and looks away.Lady Rosse: Darling, I do hope you haven't done all this for me?
- Historical Ugliness Update: Anne Messel, as she was born, was a delicate-looking, elfin beauty (looking not unlike Grace Kelly, in fact) and a darling of the social scene. Here, she's played by Anna Chancellor, who could be called a 'handsome' woman, but one who is also famously well known for playing rent-a-hag characters.
- Ice Queen: Without a hint of defrosting — she's stiff, uppity, and treats her son with a deliberately cold detachment.
- Nouveau Riche: In-series, she's presented as being jumped-up, overly haughty, opulently dressed and slightly sneering, with Prince Philip noting her to be a "ghastly social-climber". She was actually from Jewish immigrant (on her father's side) and merchant stock (her maternal grandfather was a furrier), so Philip's not exactly wrong, and in Real Life, she was known as 'Tugboat Annie' for her ability to drag herself ever forwards — and upwards.
- Rich Bitch: She rose from mercantile beginnings, but managed to land an Irish earl and climb the social ranks. In-series, her elevation to the rank of countess has rendered her snobby and cold.
- Socialite: Anne made her debut in 1922, and was an instant smash hit on the Society social-circuit due to her poise and sense of style.
- Social Climber: Prince Philip directly refers to her as such with withering indignation. Snowdon always believed his mother’s disdain for him came from being "the son of a marriage with no title", although he got along quite well with other Messel relatives.
