The Crown plans to depict notorious ‘tampongate’ 1989 phone call between Charles and Camilla ‘sympathetically as two young lovers’ after Netflix bosses were blasted for ‘crass’ and ‘bad taste’ decision to portray conversation that sparked scandal

• The Crown is planning to depict the ‘tampongate’ phone call between Charles and Camilla ‘sympathetically’
• The notorious call between the then prince and Camilla will be in next month’s release of the Netflix series 
• The 1989 call was taped by an amateur radio enthusiast and circulated by the press with audio and transcript

The Crown is planning to depict the notorious ‘tampongate’ phone call between Charles and Camilla ‘sympathetically as two young lovers’ in next month’s series.

However Netflix bosses have been blasted for the ‘crass’ and ‘bad taste’ decision to portray the infamous 1989 conversation that sparked a royal scandal.

The call between then-Prince Charles and Camilla, which has been widely referred to as ‘tampongate’, was taped by an amateur radio enthusiast who claimed to have stumbled across the pair’s conversation while moving between audio channels. 

During the call, the then prince referred to being reincarnated as the tampon brand tampax, and told Camilla that he wanted to ‘live inside’ her.

The audio recording along with a transcript of the six-minute call was sold to a tabloid and published.

It was circulated again in 1993 by The People, following the separation of Prince Charles and Diana.

The Crown is planning to depict the notorious ‘tampongate’ phone call between Charles and Camilla ‘sympathetically as two young lovers’ in next month’s series. Dominic West and Olivia Williams as Prince Charles and Camilla

Netflix bosses have been blasted for the ‘crass’ and ‘bad taste’ decision to portray the infamous 1989 conversation that sparked a royal scandal

During the taped call, the then prince referred to being reincarnated as the tampon brand tampax, and told Camilla that he wanted to ‘live inside’ her

The scene will be delivered ‘sympathetically’ in a bid to show affection between Charles and Camilla,  The Telegraph reported. 

It will also attempt to create viewer sympathy at the intrusion into their lives at the time, the paper reports. 

However its inclusion in next month’s series has been called ‘crass’ and ‘in bad taste’ by two of the paper’s sources.

Josh O’Connor, who played a young Prince Charles The Crown’s series three and four said that he would not film the infamous phone call.

‘When they offered me the role, one of my first questions was – I say questions, I think it was pretty much a statement – “We are not doing the tampon phone call”,’ he told SiriusXM in 2020.

‘[The Crown] was my one chance for my parents to see something [I’ve acted in] with no shame and there’s no way I was going to scuttle that by talking about tampons on Netflix.’

Josh O’Connor, who played a young Prince Charles The Crown’s series three and four said that he would not film the infamous phone call.

Dominic West, who depicts Prince Charles in the upcoming series, said that he has chnaged his mind about the conversation, having previously felt that it was ‘sordid and deeply, deeply embarrassing’.

‘Looking back on it, and having to play it, what you’re conscious of is that the blame was not with these two people, two lovers, who were having a private conversation,’ he told Entertainment Weekly.

‘What’s really [clear now] is how invasive and disgusting was the press’s attention to it, that they printed it out verbatim and you could call a number and listen to the actual tape.

‘I think it made me extremely sympathetic towards the two of them and what they’d gone through.’

He added that co-star Olivia Williams, who plays Camilla, has a sympathy for the Queen Consort — with both actors wanting to ‘do right’ by the pair.

A spokesperson for Netflix told The Telegraph that The Crown has always been presented as a drama based on historical events.

The spokesperson added that series five will cover events that have already been widely documented by journalists, biographers and historians.   

It comes as Netflix was criticised for making up royal scenes for The Crown and has reportedly changed the Queen’s historic Annus Horribilis speech.

In November 1992 her Majesty spoke at London’s Guildhall after a number of scandals and just four days after the fire which burnt down part of her home at Windsor Castle. 

At the time she was celebrating her Ruby Jubilee and admitted in the speech that it was not a year ‘which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure’.   

Show: Netflix has been criticised for making up royal scenes for The Crown and have reportedly been forced to rewrite the Queen’s historic Annus Horribilis speech (Imelda Staunton pictured in character as the Queen)

She thanked the public though for their continued support over the years to her and husband Prince Philip. 

Queen Elizabeth said: ‘In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an ‘Annus Horribilis’.’

According to The Sun, The Crown version reportedly sees Imelda Staunton, who plays the Queen in the hit Netflix series, act out a ‘rewritten’ version of history. 

Speech: In November 1992 her Majesty spoke at London’s Guildhall after a number of scandals and just four days after the fire which burnt down part of her home at Windsor Castle

The show does not portray the Monarch delivering the same lines she did and instead acknowledges ‘the errors of the past’. 

A TV insider claimed Netflix has ‘rewritten history by changing the speech’ which Ms Staunton delivers in the show. 

They said: ‘Netflix can argue about what may or may not have happened behind closed doors to justify some of their storylines, but they’ve essentially rewritten history by changing the speech.

‘This will only add to the sense that The Crown is taking huge liberties with the truth and unfairly causing untold damage to the reputation of the monarchy.

‘It also feels highly insensitive given that the Queen only passed away last month, and the nation is trying to rally around the royal family.’

MailOnline contacted representatives for Netflix for comment.  

The speech was made just weeks before then Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced they were separating. 

Earlier this week new photos from the shooting of The Crown reveal how the controversial Netflix series will show moped-riding paparazzi photographers swarming Princess Diana’s car in the moments before the crash that killed her.

History: At the time she was celebrating her Ruby Jubilee and admitted in the speech that it is was not a year ‘which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure’

Drama: However, The Crown version sees Imelda Staunton (pictured), who plays the Queen in the hit Netflix series, act out a ‘rewritten’ version of history

A TV insider told The Sun: ‘Netflix can argue about what may or may not have happened behind closed doors to justify some of their storylines, but they’ve essentially rewritten history by changing the speech’ (Imelda Staunton pictured in character)

The images show photographers riding on the back of mopeds as they drive close to a Mercedes similar to the one that Diana was traveling in when it crashed in the Alma tunnel in Paris in the early hours of August 31, 1997.

They are seen travelling into a tunnel that is just 100 yards from the one in which Diana was fatally injured.

The Paparazzi infamously pursued the car being driven by drunk driver Henri Paul as it carried Diana and her lover Dodi Al Fayed away from the Ritz hotel in Paris.

Some then took pictures as Diana, Dodi and Paul lay gravely injured in the wrecked Mercedes after the crash.

The source added: ‘This will only add to the sense that The Crown is taking huge liberties with the truth and unfairly causing untold damage to the reputation of the monarchy. It also feels highly insensitive given that the Queen only passed away last month, and the nation is trying to rally around the royal family’ (Imelda Staunton pictured in character) 

Netflix had insisted the ‘exact moment’ of the crash will not feature in the controversial drama, but the new images will pile pressure on the streaming platform as they show just how close they get to the moment of impact.

Speaking to MailOnline, royal biographer Andrew Lownie said the depiction of the minutes before Diana’s death is ‘distasteful’, adding that ‘a bit of sensitivity would not go amiss’.

The fifth series is being released on November 9, with the sixth series still being filmed.

It comes after Princess Diana’s friends yesterday slammed the ‘insensitivity’ of Netflix as initial images of the scene emerged.

History: The speech was made just weeks before then Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced they were separating

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