How Does ‘The Crown’ Season 5 Tackle Prince Philip’s Rumored Affair With Penelope Knatchbull? And Who Is Norton Knatchbull?

The Crown Season 5 digs into the scandals that dogged the royal family throughout the ’90s. The tabloids catch Sarah Ferguson getting her toes sucked by a random banker, Prince Charles’s (Dominic West) extremely private calls with mistress Camilla Parker-Bowles (Olivia Williams) are leaked to the press, and even Prince Philip (Jonathan Pryce) gets a new special friend. The Crown Season 5 explains how Prince Philip bonded with royal pal Penelope Knatchbull, Lady Romsey (Natascha McElhone) over carriage driving after the death of Knatchbull’s daughter, Leonora. But how close do Prince Philip and Penny Knatchbull get on Season 5 of Netflix’s The Crown?

For over two decades, royal watchers noted that Prince Philip was exceptionally close to the beautiful Penny Knatchbull. So close that Knatchbull was one of only 30 mourners who attended Prince Philip’s funeral services in April 2021. Philip and Penelope were so close that the Palace staff nicknamed her “and also” because she was always on every guest list. Of course this means that many royal gossip columnists have wondered — or even assumed — Knatchbull was Philip’s mistress. But was she? Can’t an elderly married royal and beautiful woman who’s always with him just be friends?

This is one of the questions that The Crown Season 5 attempts to answer. There are two main episodes that track Prince Philip’s blossoming friendship with Penny Knatchbull. Although Knatchbull and her family are introduced in The Crown Season 5 Episode 1 as companions on Prince Charles (Dominic West) and Princess Diana’s (Elizabeth Debicki) awkward second honeymoon, we don’t get to know Penny until Episode 2. Prince Philip intends to pay his godson, Norton Knatchbull, his respects after the death of his little girl Leonora. Instead, Philip finds Norton’s wife Penny at their historic home of Broadlands.

Prince Philip takes it upon himself to introduce the grieving mother to the diverting sport of carriage driving. However it’s not until The Crown Season 5 Episode 6, that Penny’s relationship with Philip becomes something of a headache for Elizabeth II (Imelda Staunton).

So does The Crown Season 5 say that Prince Philip was having an affair with Penny Knatchbull? Or were they just friends?  And who was Leonora Knatchbull? The answer is a wee bit complicated… Spoilers for The Crown Season 5 ahead.

Who is Leonora Knatchbull in The Crown?

We’re briefly introduced to Leonora Knatchbull in The Crown Season 5 Episode 1. Princess Diana complains to a courtier that Prince Charles has invited his cousin Norton Knatchbull, his wife Penny, and their three children to accompany them, Prince William, and Prince Harry on a “second honeymoon” sailing around Italy. The courtier suggests that maybe he did it to be nice to the Knatchbulls after everything they’ve been through with their youngest child, Leonora.

The Hon. Leonora Louise Marie Elizabeth Knatchbull was born in 1986 and died of liver cancer in 1991 at the age of six. In The Crown Season 5 Episode 1, her godmother, Princess Diana, explains that her cancer is currently in remission. Norton Knatchbull guiltily tells Charles that he likes Leonora’s post-chemo curly hair more than how it looked before.

In Episode 2, we learn that Leonora’s cancer returned and that she died. Just as in The Crown, Leonora was buried at her family’s estate, Broadlands. And just like in The Crown, Prince Philip stepped in as a shoulder for her mother to lean on…

Does Prince Philip Have an Affair with Penelope Knatchbull in The Crown Season 5?

Well, well, well… it seems that The Crown goes so far as to deny the rumors that Prince Philip and Penelope Knatchbull were lovers that the show sort of confirms it? Let me explain.

When Philip and Penelope first start palling around, there is a sweet tenderness at play. Prince Philip feels for this woman who has lost her daughter Leonora to cancer. (Remember Prince Philip himself has a tragic past, losing his beloved sisters in a plane crash.) He’s recently discovered carriage driving as a past-time and thinks it will distract Knatchbull. That’s basically the long and short of it in The Crown Season 5 Episode 2.

The Crown Season 5 Episode 6 “Ipatiev House” is where the relationship becomes more complicated. It’s obvious that the two are now besties and they travel with a “gang” of carriage-driving enthusiasts around the world. Prince Philip and Penelope Knatchbull also share a lot of passionate discussions about DNA, Russian history, and various theories on worldly stuff. We’re repeatedly told that Penny is curious in a way that Queen Elizabeth II is not.

Here’s where it gets awkward. Although Philip is adamant that Penelope is just there for mental and emotional companionship, not physical stuff, Queen Elizabeth II is apoplectic that her husband has a friend who is a girl. It doesn’t help that Philip points out that the two have become so close that he’d like Lilibet to pal around with Penny so the press doesn’t assume there’s an affair at play. Elizabeth’s jealousy over Penelope is attributed to the fact that she feels that as Philip’s “soulmate,” she should be all the companionship he needs. Elizabeth dramatically mean girls Penny in private before acknowledging her in public. (In fact, Penelope was often seen in the Queen’s company and it’s thought by affair-believers, this was meant to quiet rumors.)

The thing is The Crown goes so out of its way to say nothing physical happened, you can’t help but wonder if something did. The show doth protest too much! It’s the narrative version of the Streisand effect, where by trying to tell people to look away, showrunner Peter Morgan is inviting our curiosity about Prince Philip and Penny Knatchbull’s relationship. If they are just friends, why write an episode where Elizabeth II loses her cool so much?

I’d honestly like to think that Prince Philip was capable of having a platonic friendship with a woman. That would be cool! And add dimensions to his character. By making such a big deal about their relationship, though, The Crown is actually stoking the flames of gossip. So who knows! Only God, Prince Philip, and Penny Knatchbull. (And maybe some of those horses they carriage-drove. The horses might know something.)