'The Crown' Cast Dodges 'Tampongate': 'Skip to the Next Question'

Cast members of Netflix's hit royal drama The Crown have sidestepped questions about a controversial royal scandal involving King Charles III and Queen Camilla that has been recreated in the show's fifth season, out today.

NBC's Today reporter Keir Simmons sat down with season 5 stars Imelda Staunton (Queen Elizabeth II), Jonathan Pryce (Prince Philip), Lesley Manville (Princess Margaret), Elizabeth Debicki (Princess Diana) and Dominic West (Prince Charles) this week to discuss the show's release, which has caused waves of controversy in the U.K.

One of the storylines represented in the newest installment documents what was known as "tampongate," a scandal that resulted from the publication of a private phone call between the then-Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. In the course of the pair's discussion Charles joked that he wished to live inside Camilla's trousers, saying he wanted to be reincarnated as Tampax.

The call took place in 1989 and was recorded by a radio enthusiast who recognized the prince's voice. In 1992 the recordings were sold to a news agency and transcripts of the call were published in 1993.

The scandal brought with it deep embarrassment for the royals, given that Charles and Princess Diana were still married, and contributed to a number of problems in the early 1990s that threatened the very survival of the monarchy.

Sensitively raising the subject of the recreation of events in The Crown, Simmons told the cast members: "There's a particular scene...how do I put this? It's about a phone call...I'm not quite sure how we talk about it on morning TV..."

To this, Staunton, interjected and told the presenter: "Perhaps we don't. Let's skip to the next question."

Simmons, flustered, moved jovially on, telling the audience: "That was the Queen talking."

In a link at the end of the interview, he again referenced the awkward exchange, telling the studio: "Did you see there guys the way that I was put in my place by Imelda Staunton?" He added she was "frankly as terrifying as the Queen...I hope she was joking."

On portraying the monarch during that turbulent period in the 1990s, Staunton explained that "these are tumultuous times within the family, and that's riches for us to play, so these are the difficult years."

Netflix has come under fire in the U.K. in the build-up to season 5's release, with veteran actor Dame Judi Dench writing an open letter denouncing the show and calling for a disclaimer to be added telling audiences that they are viewing fiction not fact.

In response the show added a note to its marketing material that read: "Inspired by real events, this fictional dramatization tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the political and personal events that shaped her reign."

This, however, has not dampened the outrage completely as photographs emerged of the series in production for its sixth season, recording the final hours of Princess Diana's life. These include scenes with Debicki in a car similar to the one in which Diana died at the age of 36 in a high-speed crash in 1997.

"The public are well aware that it's a drama, not a documentary," West told Today viewers. That has been the line adopted by Netflix throughout the six years that The Crown has been on screens.

Buckingham Palace has not commented on the series, though some members of the royal family have acknowledged their portrayals over the years.

Most notably Prince Harry defended the series in a 2021 interview with James Corden, saying: "It gives you a rough idea about what that lifestyle, what the pressures of putting duty and service above family and everything else, what can come from that. I'm way more comfortable with The Crown than I am seeing the stories written about my family, or my wife, or myself."

Newsweek has reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.

Season 5 of Netflix's The Crown is available to stream now.

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