However, one entirely new character we\u2019re also introduced to in season 5 is Penny Knatchbull<\/a>, seen as both a friend to Charles and Diana, and also to Philip.<\/p>\n Penny first appears in episode 1 on holiday with Charles and Diana<\/a>, along with her husband Norton who is played in the series by Elliot Cowan.<\/p>\n She has a prominent role throughout the season, but just who is Penny Knatchbull and who plays her in The Crown? Read on for everything you need to know.<\/p>\n Penelope Meredith Mary Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, was a long-time friend of Prince Philip and the wider royal family.<\/p>\n She is married to Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the <\/span>Duke of Edinburgh\u2019s godson and the grandson of Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was portrayed in The Crown by Greg Wise and Charles Dance.<\/p>\n Penelope, or Penny as she is often known, reportedly first met Prince Philip in 1974<\/a>, before she married Norton in 1979. Prince Charles was Norton\u2019s best man at his wedding to Penny.<\/p>\n Penny and Norton went on to have three children, Nicholas, Alexandra and Leonora. Leonora tragically died of kidney cancer in 1991 at the age of five.<\/p>\n From soon after they first met, Penny and Prince Philip went on to develop a close friendship. They were reportedly particularly bonded by their shared love of outdoor pursuits, including carriage driving.<\/p>\n In Ingrid Seward\u2019s biography Prince Philip Revealed<\/a>, she describes Penny as his \u201cconstant confidant\u201d<\/a> and his \u201ckeeper of secrets\u201d.<\/p>\n Penny was one of only 30 guests who attended Prince Philip\u2019s funeral, which was limited due to COVID restrictions at the time. She also attended Queen Elizabeth II\u2019s state funeral<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n Penny Knatchbull is played in The Crown season 5 by 52-year-old actress Natascha McElhone, who originates the role as she has not appeared in any of the other seasons so far.<\/p>\n McElhone is known for appearing in films such as The Truman Show and Mrs Dalloway, while her TV roles have included appearances in Californication, Designated Survivor and, most recently, Halo<\/a>.<\/p>\n She first appears in The Crown during season 5 episode 1, seen on holiday with her husband Norton, Charles and Diana. She then forms a close friendship with Philip from episode 2, after her daughter\u2019s tragic death, and Philip teaches her to ride a carriage.<\/p>\n Their friendship then continues throughout the season, with it becoming a major plot point in episode 6.<\/p>\n Asked how Penny\u2019s relationship with Philip is presented in The Crown season 5, McElhone said: \u201cWell, I\u2019m loath to say, because I hope it\u2019s on the screen. I think that\u2019s the point of the exploration, probably.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I loved about it is we so rarely see a man and a woman on screen who have a deep friendship where romance is not alluded to. The richness of those friendships, that loyalty. Our story starts because he really sees her when she\u2019s in deep pain and in grief, and he reaches out a hand and gives her a nudge back into life.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a strange assumption that as soon as you see a man and a woman together, you assume that they\u2019re romantically involved, so that exploration felt really appropriate. It\u2019s being looked at as a wild idea, but what happens if they\u2019re just friends. I don\u2019t want to put \u2018just\u2019 in front of it, because friends can be everything. So that was the way I approached it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div> McElhone also spoke about the \u201chuge responsibility\u201d she felt playing a real-life person, but added: \u201cI believe, and feel comfortable with the fact that The Crown is a fictionalised story about the royal family.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve done it a couple of times before, played real people. But I do believe in people\u2019s rights to be entirely private in the public eye.\u201d<\/p>\n The Crown season 5 will be released on\u00a0Netflix<\/a>\u00a0on November 9th 2022 and you can watch seasons 1-4 right now.\u00a0Sign up for Netflix from \u00a36.99 a month<\/a>. Netflix is also available on\u00a0Sky Glass<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Virgin Media Stream<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Looking for something else to watch? Visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. or more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By James Hibbs Published: Wednesday, 09 November 2022 at 12:00 am The fifth season of The Crown sees an entirely new cast take on the roles of the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Princess Diana and the rest of the royal family and those surrounding them. However, one entirely new character we\u2019re also introduced to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":25410,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/who-is-penny-knatchbull-and-who-plays-her-in-the-crown.jpg",1440,960,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/who-is-penny-knatchbull-and-who-plays-her-in-the-crown-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/who-is-penny-knatchbull-and-who-plays-her-in-the-crown-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/who-is-penny-knatchbull-and-who-plays-her-in-the-crown-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/who-is-penny-knatchbull-and-who-plays-her-in-the-crown-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/who-is-penny-knatchbull-and-who-plays-her-in-the-crown.jpg",1440,960,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/who-is-penny-knatchbull-and-who-plays-her-in-the-crown.jpg",1440,960,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By James Hibbs Published: Wednesday, 09 November 2022 at 12:00 am The fifth season of The Crown sees an entirely new cast take on the roles of the Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Princess Diana and the rest of the royal family and those surrounding them. However, one entirely new character we\u2019re also introduced to…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/25409"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Who is Penny Knatchbull?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Who plays Penny Knatchbull in The Crown and what\u2019s her role in<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>season 5?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>What has Natascha McElhone said about playing Penny Knatchbull?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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