New Delhi: Jemima Khan, British television producer and friend of the late Princess Diana who was taken on board for Netflix's Emmy-winning series 'The Crown' for assistance in screenplay writing, has quit the show. Considering her close friendship with the Princess of Wales, she was roped in as a consultant for the upcoming fifth season of the popular series.
'The Crown' is a historical drama chronicling the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning queen in British history. The character of Princess Diana, played by Emma Corin, was introduced in the fourth season. In the upcoming season, Elizabeth Debicki is to portray Diana who died in 1997.
In an interview to the Sunday Times, Jemima Khan said 'The Crown' creator Peter Morgan had asked her join the priject as a consultant for the upcoming season.
Talking about her exit from the show, she said: "In 2019, Peter Morgan asked me to co-write on the fifth series of 'The Crown', particularly those episodes which concerned Princess Diana's last years before she died. After a great deal of thought, having never spoken publicly about any of this before, I decided to contribute."
She added: "We worked together on the outline and scripts from September 2020 until February 2021. When our co-writing agreement was not honoured and when I realised that particular storyline would not be told as respectfully or compassionately as I had hoped, I requested that all my contributions be removed from the series and I declined a credit."
Jemima Khan (nee Goldsmith), a former journalist, married Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who is the current prime minister of the country, in 1995.
Khan was a close friend of Diana, who had travelled to Pakistan several times throughout the 1990s and spent time with the Khans. Jemima and Imran separated later.
She founded a content company, Instinct Productions, some time back.
In a statement to The Sunday Times, a spokesperson for 'The Crown' said: "Jemima Khan has been a friend, fan and a vocal public supporter of 'The Crown' since Season 1. She has been part of a wide network of well-informed and varied sources who have provided extensive background information to our writers and research team, providing context for the drama that is 'The Crown'. She has never been contracted as a writer on the series."
Season 5 of 'The Crown' is expected to premiere on November, 2022.
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