The Crown’s Emma Corrin reveals she secretly battled whooping cough during filming

Emma Corrin secretly battled whooping cough during filming for The Crown’s fourth series.

The actress, 24, said she was only able to recover from her bout of illness after a trip abroad to film her final scene was cancelled earlier this year.

It comes after Emma, who has asthma, revealed she’d been rushed to hospital while filming series four in Spain due to ‘low oxygen levels’ after recording a swimming pool scene.

Scary: Emma Corrin secretly battled whooping cough during filming for The Crown’s fourth series (pictured in character as Princess Diana)

Emma told Interview magazine that she originally she and co-star Josh O’Connor (who plays Prince Charles) were due to travel to Pyrenees to record their final scene together, but these plans were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The star, who plays young Princess Diana, explained that the early end to filming finally gave her a chance to recover from whooping cough, which she battled throughout the production.

Emma added she constantly had to change the way she performed the role of Diana as a majority of the scenes were filmed out of order.

She added: ‘We filmed out of order, and the shift was constant. Older Diana holds herself so well. The director would be like, ”Emma, posture!”’

Worries: The actress said she was only able to recover from her bout of illness after a trip abroad to film her final scene was cancelled

 Worries: The actress said she was only able to recover from her bout of illness after a trip abroad to film her final scene was cancelled

Scary: The star explained that the early end to filming finally gave her a chance to recover

Above: Princess Diana is pictured in the 1980s

Scary: The star explained that the early end to filming finally gave her a chance to recover (pictured in character, left, and Princess Diana, right) 

Emma also said that the attention that has come from playing the role is something she is ‘scared about.’   

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection of the lungs and breathing tubes, with symptoms including bouts of coughing and gasping for breath.

While it can be most dangerous in babies and children, with some needing treatment in hospital, adults can still suffer nosebleeds and sore ribs, and can be treated with antibiotics. 

Emma revealed last week that she was hospitalised while filming The Crown’s fourth series after being ill with a cough while on location in Spain, after stopping to pick up some antibiotics.

Health woes: Emma revealed last week that she was hospitalised while filming The Crown's fourth series after being ill with a cough while on location in Spain

Health woes: Emma revealed last week that she was hospitalised while filming The Crown’s fourth series after being ill with a cough while on location in Spain

However after being assessed by medics in the hospital they refused to let her leave due to her dangerously low oxygen levels. 

Emma told GLAMOUR UK: ‘I’m asthmatic and had been ill for a while with a cough. I had to film a scene in a freezing-cold swimming pool. It was the hardest scene to film because I was genuinely keeping myself alive treading water.’  

‘We were meant to be flying back that night to the UK and went past a hospital to get antibitotics. The doctors gave me an oxygen test and test and said “we can’t let you go because your oxygen levels are so low”, so I was hospitalised.

‘I remember the nurses figuring out what I was filming and saying ”would you like us to put a cardboard box over your heard so nobody recognises you?”.’

Candid: After being assessed by medics in the hospital they refused to let Emma leave due to her dangerously low oxygen levels (pictured in character)

Pictured: Princess Diana pictured in June 1997

Candid: After being assessed by medics in the hospital they refused to let Emma leave due to her dangerously low oxygen levels (pictured in character, left, and Princess Diana, right) 

Emma explained how the incident happened following a two-month shoot in Spain, where she was recreating the 1983 tour of Australia her character Princess Diana took with her husband Prince Charles.  

As a student of education at Cambridge University, Corrin was a keen viewer of the first two seasons of The Crown.

In 2018, Emma was hired to read a few lines as Diana during a casting call for Camilla Parker Bowles (played by Emerald Fennell).

She was told it wasn’t an audition, but she watching the 2017 documentary Diana: In Her Own Words 15 times and rehearsed with her speech therapist mother anyway.

Six months later, she was called back for a chemistry read with Josh O’Connor, who plays Prince Charles and she Corrin landed the part there and then. 

Acclaimed: Emma landed the role of Princess Diana after originally being hired to read a few lines for the character during a casting call (pictured in character)

Acclaimed: Emma landed the role of Princess Diana after originally being hired to read a few lines for the character during a casting call (pictured in character)