Emma Corrin discusses the depiction of Diana and Prince Charles’ relationship in The Crown

Emma Corrin has called the early days of the relationship between Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales as ‘Shakespearean’.

The actress, 24, has taken on the role of Diana in season four of The Crown and admitted she was told by one of the show’s directors her life would change when she accepted the part.

During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Emma agreed with the host who discussed the ‘Shakespearean way’ in which the characters met on the show.

When asked if she liked how they were introduced, Emma replied: ‘Yeah, I really did. I think you’ve kind of hit the nail on the head by saying it’s sort of Shakespearean.

‘There is such a historical romance I suppose associated with that kind of depiction of two characters meeting that almost transcends all kind of reality and I guess kind of goes hand in hand with the whole fairy tale thing that they have going on at the beginning of the series. I thought it was a really beautiful way of doing their introduction.’

Emma told how she was advised by director Ben Caron to channel the attention she would receive from playing Diana into her performance.  

She said: ‘That is a conversation I had with Ben Caron, one of the directors, just after I got the part actually. 

‘I remember him sitting me down and saying, “You know your life is going to change a lot and anytime you feel overwhelmed or nervous or there are people taking photographs of you or you end up in the news, use it because it’s a completely parallel experience that you’re having.”‘

During the interview, Drew recalled how she met Diana as a child after she starred in the film E.T. and told how she presented her with a doll at the premiere.

She said: ‘I keep this here at the studio, this is me presenting the E.T. doll to Princess Diana when I was 7-years-old in 1982 at the world premiere of E.T. and it was a moment that I will never forget and I keep the picture nearby because I really was the girl amongst millions of other girls who grew up with Princess Diana.’

It comes after Emma recently admitted she ‘understands’ the upset surrounding the new season and its depiction of Charles (played by Josh O’Connor) and Diana’s relationship.

The actress appeared on the Tamron Hall show in the US on Tuesday, where she was asked by the broadcaster for her reaction to reports that the royal family are not happy with the portrayals of Charles and Diana.

‘It’s a difficult one. I think for everyone, on the The Crown, we always try and remind everyone that the series we are in is fictionalised.

‘Obviously, it has its roots in reality and fact but Peter Morgan’s scripts are works of fiction’, she said referring to the series creator.

Emma cautioned though that ‘at the same time, I understand why people would be upset because this is history. And with Diana it’s still very much fresh.’

‘I suppose, we approach these people that we play as characters which is why its such a joyous job because Peter writes such rich and complex characters.’

She later added, ‘Like the rest of the cast, I would kind of would rather not think about it. It’s so tricky because, as you said, there is so much pain still left with everything surrounding Diana.’ 

‘I can’t imagine what it’s like for them. Like Olivia [Colman] said this series is fictionalised but it all comes from a place of respect and love.’

Emma also spoke about her push to include scenes of Diana’s battle with bulimia and her mental health struggles in the series, explaining: ‘It was something that I was very passionate about doing justice to.’

‘For two reason really, I think it’s important that eating disorders and mental health are depicted and depicted properly and sensitively to really open up that conversation.’

‘Second of all, Diana herself opened up that conversation… she spoke very candidly about her struggles with bulimia and her mental health back in the ’90s. It’s still something I think we struggle to talk about today.’

She added, ‘Both myself and Peter Morgan felt that we wouldn’t be doing her justice or her story justice if we didn’t include it.’

Emma makes her debut in series four of The Crown, playing the young Diana from when she meets Prince Charles, played by Josh O’Connor, as a teenager through the early years of marriage and motherhood.

Amid its huge success with fans since streaming on Netflix on Sunday, commentators have lined up to criticise the drama, including Ingrid Seward who called it ‘pretty inaccurate’, Dickie Arbiter who said ‘some of the actions are fiction’ and Sally Beddell Smith who said ‘the level of invention has been growing’.

Tom Quinn said parts of the show were ‘total nonsense’, although Paul Burrell was full of praise, saying it was a ‘fair and accurate dramatisation of what happened’.

Friends of Prince Charles launched a blistering attack on the show over the weekend, accusing producers of the hit Netflix drama of ‘trolling on a Hollywood budget’.

Some of the Prince’s closest confidantes have accused the streaming giant of exploiting the Royal Family’s pain for financial gain and raged that ‘fiction is presented as fact’ in its twisted version of events.

The fourth series, which launched on Sunday, covers Charles’s doomed marriage to Princess Diana, her eating disorders and his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, up to the end of Margaret Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister.

In a series of highly unusual public interventions that demonstrates the depth of concern at the very top of the Royal Family, Palace insiders lined up to slate the Netflix show.

One insider said: ‘This is drama and entertainment for commercial ends being made with no regard to the actual people involved who are having their lives hijacked and exploited.

‘In this case, it’s dragging up things that happened during very difficult times 25 or 30 years ago without a thought for anyone’s feelings. That isn’t right or fair, particularly when so many of the things being depicted don’t represent the truth.’

It is the depiction of a callous and self-serving Charles meeting and marrying an innocent Diana while maintaining his affair with the then-married Camilla Parker-Bowles which has sparked such anger.

A Palace source said: ‘The new series paints the Prince and Duchess in a very unflattering light but at least at the start of reality shows like The Only Way Is Essex they admit that some scenes have been invented for entertainment.

‘There is no sense of telling carefully nuanced stories – it’s all very two-dimensional.

‘This is trolling with a Hollywood budget. The public shouldn’t be fooled into thinking this is an accurate portrayal of what really happened.’

It comes as royal experts said Prince Harry has stepped into a ‘bear trap’ with his £75million Netflix deal amid fierce criticism of The Crown’s portrayal of his parents, as it was said his brother William will ‘undoubtedly detest’ the show’s new series.

The Duke of Sussex is ‘unlikely to see a clash’ between the ‘deeply intrusive’ drama and the deal he and wife Meghan made, commentators said as they pointed out it portrayed his parents Charles as a ‘wimp’ and ‘brutal’ and Diana as ‘deeply stressed’.

Richard Fitzwilliams said Harry may even agree with the ‘derisory portrayal of the Royal Family as a rather sinister, uncaring and often cruel institution’, while author Penny Junor said the 36-year-old was in a ‘very awkward situation right now’.