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Who is Penelope Knatchbull? Prince Philip’s best friend in The Crown season 5-James Hockaday and Elizabeth Atkin-Entertainment – Metro
Countess Mountbatten of Burma was one of The Duke of Edinburgh’s closest pals.
Penelope ‘Penny’ Knatchbull remained one of Prince Philip’s closest friends for several decades (Picture: Getty Images)
Netflix drama The Crown’s fifth series is now streaming – portraying the Royal Family’s lives in the early 1990s.
The fictional programme depicts the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, but also imagines The Duke of Edinburgh’s close friendship with Penelope Knatchbull.
In real life, many may recognise her as one of just 30 attendees invited to The Duke’s 2021 funeral at Windsor Castle, which took place under Covid-19 restrictions.
But in the show, Penelope is featured as a central character, played by actress Natascha McElhone – though some scenes involving her have already been slammed as ‘cruel rubbish’.
So, just who is Penelope Knatchbull? And when/how did she become friends with Prince Philip?
Here’s all you need to know.
Who is Penelope Knatchbull and when did she become friends with Prince Philip?
Penelope Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, pictured at Royal Ascot 2022 (Picture: Getty)
Penelope ‘Penny’ Meredith Mary Eastwood, now 69, was born in London in April 1953.
Her mother was Marian Hood and her father was Reginald Wray Frank Eastwood – founder of the Angus Steakhouse chain.
She reportedly grew up in Switzerland, but returned to London and graduated from the London School of Economics in 1976.
In 1979, she married British peer Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma, from whom she gets her current title: Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
Previously, she was titled as Lady Romsey and later The Lady Brabourne, until 2017.
Penny, as she is known to friends, bonded with The Duke when he taught her carriage riding in the 90s (Picture: PA)
The pair were often seen together at The Royal Windsor Horse Show (Picture: Getty Images)
Norton was Prince Philip’s godson – and the grandson of Philip’s beloved uncle Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who was murdered by the IRA in 1979.
He is also second cousins with King Charles III, with whom he has been close friends.
The King (as Prince of Wales) was best man at the Knatchbull wedding, and later holidayed and spent time with the couple alongside then-wife Diana, Princess of Wales.
Countess and Earl Mountbatten had three children together – Nicholas (born 1981) Alexandra (born 1982) and Leonora (born 1986).
Very sadly, Leonora died of kidney cancer aged just five years in 1991 – a tragedy referenced in The Crown’s fifth season, slammed as a ‘cruel‘ decision by one insider to MailOnline.
Natascha McElhone will play Penelope Knatchbull in The Crown series 5 (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)
More: The Crown
It is thought that, around this time, Penelope became friends with The Queen and Prince Philip, who offered their support.
Around 1994, she became one of The Duke’s closest confidantes when he began teaching her carriage driving, a horse-driving sport he helped to create and promote – a passion The Duke would also share with his granddaughter Lady Louise Windsor.
Philip and Penelope quickly became close friends and were often seen together at The Royal Windsor Horse Show, sometimes riding mini motorcycles around the carriage driving course.
After The Duke’s retirement, she was a regular visitor at his Wood Farm cottage on the edge of the royal Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
Penelope attended Prince Philip’s funeral in 2021 (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
Also pals with The Queen, Penelope accompanied Her Majesty during her last visits to The Windsor Horse Show in 2021 and 2022 (Picture: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
So close was their friendship that palace staff reportedly nicknamed her ‘and also’, because no guest list was complete without her.
In 2010, it emerged that her husband Earl Mountbatten – then Lord Brabourne – had been having an affair and had gone to start a new life with another woman in the Bahamas.
The Queen and Prince Philip were said to have shown a great deal of admiration for Penelope’s insistence that life should carry on as normal on her family estate in Broadlands, Hampshire.
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The Earl returned in 2014, initially moving into a stable block. However in 2017, it was reported by the Daily Mail that he moved back into the 60-room mansion to live with the Countess again.
Penelope was once again in the news in 2021, after the death of Prince Philip that April, aged 99 – as one of a select few chosen to attend The Duke’s funeral amid Covid-19 restrictions.
She was also pictured attending The Royal Windsor Horse Show with The Queen in 2021 and 2022, and was among the mourners at Her Majesty’s funeral on September 19.
MORE : The Crown ‘ignored William’s pleas and will recreate infamous Diana interview’
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