Was Prince Charles Really Caught in an Avalanche as Seen on ‘The Crown’?

Season 4 of The Crown packs in plenty of drama and tragedy, including a terrifying ski accident Prince Charles (Josh O’Connor) is involved in while in Switzerland. In the episode titled “Avalanche,” the prince goes missing for hours and is even presumed dead after an avalanche hits the mountain where he was skiing with friends. The episode is dramatic and tense, but is it all for effect, or did Prince Charles really get caught in a deadly natural disaster?

According to a 1988 article from The Guardian, The Crown sticks pretty true to the real story. The prince and his friends had gone on their own adventure at Gotschnagrat Mountain at the Klosters ski resort, leaving Princess Diana and Sarah, Duchess of York to stay behind in their chalet. Without any warning, an avalanche suddenly came down on Prince Charles and his friend, Major Hugh Lindsay.

While Charles was lucky enough to get out of the direct path of the falling snow and avoid any injuries, Major Lindsay tragically died in the accident. Major Lindsay, who was 34-years-old at the time of his death, left behind his pregnant wife Sarah, who worked at the Buckingham Palace press office at the time. Patricia Palmer-Tomkinson, another skier in the group who was hit by the avalanche, suffered leg injuries and a collapsed lung.

Not long after the avalanche, the prince joined in rescue efforts to try and find his friend. According to The Guardian, Prince Charles “joined other members of the party in a frantic bid to dig out Major Hugh Lindsay, who was caught in the cascade of tons of freshly fallen snow which shot down Gotschnagrat Mountain in the fashionable ski resort.”

Lindsay was eventually pronounced dead upon arrival to the hospital. “Eye-witnesses said that Prince Charles, who was lifted off the slope by a second helicopter, was visibly distressed,” The Guardian reported. “The second helicopter pilot was quoted by locally based reporters as saying the Prince was weeping.”

According to a People article that was published not long after the incident, the prince and his friends may have ignored avalanche warnings from earlier in the day, and he had led the group on an unmarked slope on the mountain called the Wang. “Charles, who was leading the group, was assigned—and readily accepted—much of the blame,” People reported. A local source told the magazine, “I can’t understand what the royal group was doing on the Wang. It is notoriously bad for avalanches.”

Stream The Crown on Netflix