Prince Charles and Diana WERE in love, despite what The Crown claims - Daily Mail

The series portrays Prince Charles sleeping with Camilla Parker-Bowles the night before his wedding and continuing their affair, despite the fact they had little or no contact during the first five years of his marriage to Diana. .

The Queen's former press secretary Dickie Arbiter told True Royalty TV that Princess Diana and Prince Charles were 'genuinely happy' during the early years of their marriage, and packed on the PDA during their 1983 tour of Australia (pictured) .

 The Crown's claim: Prince Charles phoned Camilla Parker-Bowles to discuss Diana and confessed to Princess Anne he felt like he 'didn't know her' (1980) .

Confidante: Prince Charles phones Camilla (Emerald Fennell) even after his family say he should marry Lady Diana.

Heart-to-heart: Princess Anne urges Charles to marry 'perfect' Diana in a conversation that is unlikely to have happened.

Shortly after Diana leaves Balmoral, Prince Charles picks up the phone to Camilla Parker-Bowles to tell her what a success it has been. .

The conversation is tinged with sadness on both parts, with Charles apparently coming to terms with the inevitability that he will one day marry Diana now that his family has approved of the match. .

Later in the episode, Charles and Anne have a conversation during which his sister urges him to marry Diana and 'close the chapter' on Camilla Parker-Bowles. She says of young Lady Diana: 'She's perfect...

However the royal family is unlikely to have pressured Prince Charles into marrying Diana. 'I’ve never heard any suggestion the royal family at that time was telling Charles "come on, Diana is great, you must marry her",' Penny Junor told HistoryExtra. .

An example of this is seen when Charles invites Diana to the opera in The Crown.    .

The Crown's claim: Charles was cold and cruel to Diana, cheated with Camilla before the wedding and there was never any break in their relationship .

After receiving a card from Camilla Parker Bowles, the two women meet for lunch at Ménage a trois at The Wolseley. It's an awkward encounter, with Camilla showing off how much she knows about the Prince of Wales' character and quirks, such as the fact he doesn't eat lunch or garlic, has a soft boiled egg with everything and loves the colour green - all of which Diana has no idea about.

He tells her it's 'over' between him and Camilla, that the bracelet was a 'souvenir', and presents her with a signet ring engraved with the Prince of Wales insignia - for 'the future Princess of Wales'. .

The facts: Charles and Camilla's relationship was friendly but he did not sleep with her the night before the wedding  .

The Crown's claims: Prince Charles verbally abused a heavily pregnant Diana and called her 'pathetic' before complaining about her to the Queen

Retreating to her room: When the Queen comes to Highgrove to visit, Prince Charles is seen banging on the door of Princess Diana's bedroom. Inside a pregnant Princess Diana could be seen laying on her bed while watching television, and turns the volume up on the screen as Prince Charles shouts through the door that she is 'pathetic'

When the Queen comes to Highgrove to visit, Prince Charles is seen banging on the door of Princess Diana's bedroom. 

Inside a pregnant Princess Diana could be seen laying on her bed while watching television, and turns the volume up on the screen as Prince Charles shouts through the door that she is 'pathetic'

The facts: The couple had difficulties, but it's unlikely Charles turned to the Queen  

Yet it seems highly unlikely that Charles confided in his mother that Princess Diana was so unhappy

As Junor writes in her biography of Camilla Parker Bowles: 'Not even after the Queen found Diana at the bottom of the stairs after her fall, mercifully unharmed, did he take the opportunity to confide in his mother.' 

Meanwhile Bedell Smith, in her biography of the prince, said the Queen would not interfere with her children's marriages, writing: 'The Queen's natural reticence and sense of propriety prevented her from intervening to correct Diana, much less to ask her, or Charles for that matter, about the princess's upset.' 

The Crown's claims: Prince Charles regularly called Camilla during the early years of his marriage to Diana

Still in contact: While enjoying lunch with the Queen, Prince Charles speaks with her about his relationship with Camilla

The Queen challenges Prince Charles on his choice of Gloucester because his home is 'only a 15 minute drive from Camilla'

While enjoying lunch with the Queen, Prince Charles speaks with her about his relationship with Camilla

The Queen challenges Prince Charles on his choice of Gloucester because his home is 'only a 15 minute drive from Camilla'

The facts: Prince Charles had almost no contact with Camilla at all for the first five years, with the resumption of contact believed to have been in 1986.  

The Crown's claim: Charles was angry about Diana bringing baby William on tour - and she threw a tantrum about their plans being changed

The Crown's claim: Charles is still infatuated with Camilla and brands Diana 'pathetic'

The facts: Diana 'fared well' on the tour and Charles and Camilla were 'purely platonic' at this point

David Dimbleby's 1997 biography backs up the claim, stating there was 'virtually no contact' between Charles and Camilla between 1981 and 1986, although they did continue to mix in the same social circles. 

The Crown's claim: Prince Charles 'proposed' to Camilla over the phone as his marriage to Diana fell apart

The facts: Royal biographer Penny Junor contests the idea that Charles would've suggested Camilla be his wife

'I don't think he thought he could marry Camilla, even if he'd been divorced from Diana,' she said, speaking to History Extra

The Crown's claim: Charles and Camilla were frequently meeting at Highgrove by 1988

In another, following his discussion with his mother, the Queen, about his marriage with Diana, Prince Charles visits Camilla and tells her of his plans to get protection officers to inform him if they catch Diana messing around

Series four of The Crown implies that Prince Charles and Camilla were in touch throughout his marriage to Princess Diana, but according to royal historians, Charles and Camilla were seeing each other again by 1986

The Crown's claims: Prince Charles was verbally abusive to Diana about her solo trip to New York in 1989

During the episode, Diana and Prince Charles can be seen arguing about her solo trip to New York, with the Prince of Wales telling her: 'Every time we do talk it ends in an argument, I say silence is preferable.'

Prince Charles goes on to bellow at Princess Diana that 'he cares about Camilla' and accuses her 'of hurting her', saying: 'If you hurt her, you hurt me

The facts: Princess Diana went on a hugely successful solo trip to New York, but Prince Charles' reaction is unknown