The season also features Prime Minister John Major<\/a>, played in season 5 of the Netflix<\/a> drama by Jonny Lee Miller<\/a>, and shows him in the role previously filled by Gillian Anderson\u2019s Margaret Thatcher in season 4.<\/p>\n The Crown season 5<\/a> suggests that Major played a part in helping to mediate Charles and Diana\u2019s divorce, after being asked to do so by the Queen. But did this really happen?<\/p>\n Read on for everything you need to know about the real history behind John Major\u2019s involvement in Charles and Diana\u2019s divorce.<\/p>\n In The Crown season 5 episode 9, John Major is seen telling the Queen that it could be difficult to keep relations between Charles and Diana amicable during their divorce proceedings, with tensions still running high following Diana\u2019s Panorama interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Queen tells Major that a mediator will be required, and while Major goes on to suggest some potential candidates, the Queen asks if he will take on the role. She says he is \u201cthe rarest of things: someone that is easy to like and trust\u201d, and Major agrees to act as an \u201cumpire\u201d for the couple.<\/p>\n In a meeting with Charles, Major suggests Diana may be seeking such a large sum of money from the divorce to ensure her future independence. Charles says this isn\u2019t the case, as he believes she is trying to \u201cruin\u201d him.<\/p>\n Speaking with Diana, Major later reveals that Charles is now willing to discuss a sizeable payment, as long as Charles refrains in public from speaking about the marriage or the monarchy in a damaging manner. While she initially asks for a larger sum given these terms, Major later reveals to the Queen that \u201cheadway\u201d has been made in the negotiations.<\/p>\n The divorce goes through, with Charles looking to get things sorted sooner rather than later for the sake of his and Camilla\u2019s public image.<\/p>\n In episode 10, following the Conservative Party\u2019s electoral defeat, the Queen tells Major that she will remain especially grateful to him for his help in mediating Charles and Diana\u2019s divorce.<\/p>\n In reality, there is no suggestion that Major played any significant part in mediating the divorce between Charles and Diana. However, Major did reportedly offer \u201csupport and guidance\u201d earlier in the couple\u2019s relationship, in 1992 before the couple separated.<\/p>\n Major\u2019s biographer Anthony Seldon wrote in Major: A Political Life<\/a> that Major did offer advice to the couple at this time, but that it was \u201cto no avail\u201d and that \u201cafter it was clear that the marriage was unsustainable, his prime concern became the constitutional position\u201d.<\/p>\n Major later announced the couple\u2019s formal separation in the House of Commons, saying on December 9th 1992: \u201cIt is announced from Buckingham Palace that, with regret, the Prince and Princess of Wales have decided to separate.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir Royal Highnesses have no plans to divorce and their constitutional positions are unaffected. This decision has been reached amicably, and they will both continue to participate fully in the upbringing of their children.\u201d<\/p>\n Major\u2019s involvement in the couple\u2019s divorce proceedings in 1996 appears to have been entirely fictionalised.<\/p> A spokesperson for the real-life Major has said in relation to his depiction<\/a> in the series that \u201cdiscussions between the monarch and prime minister are entirely private and \u2013 for Sir John \u2013 will always remain so.\u201d Therefore, it appears impossible for the show\u2019s creators to know whether the Queen really did ask him to help mediate the divorce.<\/p>\n In real life, Diana was reported to have agreed to divorce<\/a> Charles in February 1996, with a final agreement then reached in August of that year.<\/p>\n Diana was granted a financial settlement and retained both her apartments at Kensington Palace and her title of Princess of Wales. In exchange, she gave up her use of the title Her Royal Highness and relinquished any future claim to the throne.<\/p>\n The Crown seasons 1-5 are available to stream on\u00a0Netflix<\/a>\u00a0now.\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>. For 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: Monday, 14 November 2022 at 12:00 am The fifth season of The Crown focuses primarily on the breakdown of Prince Charles and Princess Diana\u2019s marriage, with episode 9 seeing their divorce finalised. The season also features Prime Minister John Major, played in season 5 of the Netflix drama by Jonny Lee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":25784,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/did-john-major-mediate-charles-and-dianas-divorce.jpg",1440,960,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/did-john-major-mediate-charles-and-dianas-divorce-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/did-john-major-mediate-charles-and-dianas-divorce-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/did-john-major-mediate-charles-and-dianas-divorce-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/did-john-major-mediate-charles-and-dianas-divorce-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/did-john-major-mediate-charles-and-dianas-divorce.jpg",1440,960,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/11\/did-john-major-mediate-charles-and-dianas-divorce.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: Monday, 14 November 2022 at 12:00 am The fifth season of The Crown focuses primarily on the breakdown of Prince Charles and Princess Diana\u2019s marriage, with episode 9 seeing their divorce finalised. The season also features Prime Minister John Major, played in season 5 of the Netflix drama by Jonny Lee…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/25783"}],"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\/25784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How does John Major mediate Charles and Diana\u2019s divorce in The Crown?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Did John Major really mediate the royal couple\u2019s divorce?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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