Morton, like the overwhelming majority of the public, believed the Princess to be a happy woman, and the marriage to also be content. Nobody knew that, but the couple and those they kept close to them, and Morton certainly knew nothing of the events that would eventually end up in his book and which would have the public brand him the biggest liar in the world for years. Two happy occasions, but behind the scenes, things were not as happy as they appeared. It was a big year for the Princess after all, Diana would be marking her 30th birthday and also her 10th wedding anniversary. It was 1991, and Yorkshire-born journalist Andrew Morton was setting about writing a biography on The Princess of Wales. Unbeknownst to the public, until 1997, Diana had been a big participant in the writing of the book, sharing her information via secret tape recordings. Stories about turbulent relationship with Charles, an affair with a woman named Camilla Parker Bowles, attempts at suicide and an eating disorder (among countless other stories about her time in the Royal Family) it just could not be true! Andrew Morton could not know all of this, such intimate details and strange stories the only person who really knew the true story was Diana, so it had to be all a lie, right?

So, Morton gave Colthurst questions and Diana recorded her answers on tape, which were returned to Morton by Colthurst.Most people could not, and did not, believe most of what the book had to say.

On the show, he agrees to be an intermediary between Diana and Andrew Morton, who was writing a book about her that would eventually become Diana: Her True Story. In the series, he's played by Oliver Chris. James Colthurst is a medical doctor who became close friends with Princess Diana. James Colthurst a real person? Here’s what you need to know. He appears in episode 2 of the fifth season, where viewers see him answering a phone call from Diana, and it becomes clear that these two have been friends for a long time.īut, of course-as the British royal family likes to remind everyone- The Crown is ~technically~ fiction. James Colthurst, a good friend of Diana who was her go-between with writer Andrew Morton. One character introduced this season is Dr. Season 5 of The Crownis out now and, naturally, people are once again pouring over details of Princess Diana’s life and which stories told on the show are real, and which aren't.

Princess diana book tapes