Every new season of the hit Netflix show The Crown has added new characters, and season 5 is no different. One of those characters is Penelope “Penny” Knatchbull, a close friend of Prince Charles, Princess Diana, and Prince Philip.
Knatchbull’s storyline is not a fun one. She’s forced to deal with the death of her daughter Leonora Knatchbull, a sad situation that brings her closer to Prince Philip. So who plays Leonora Knatchbull in the show and what exactly happened in real life?
Read on to find out.
Leonora Knatchbull in Real Life
Leonora Knatchbull was the youngest and third child of Penelope Knatchbull, Lady Romsey, and Norton Knatchbull, Lord Romsey. Norton Knatchbull is a cousin of the recently deceased Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The lineage is fairly complicated, but when Norton Knatchbull’s mother passed away in 2017, he became Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Penny, the Countess Mountbatten of Burma. Their daughter Leonora Louise Marie Elizabeth Knatchbull was born in June of 1986 and ran in aristocratic circles similar to the Royal children.
Unfortunately, she died in 1991 at five years old after being diagnosed with kidney cancer. She passed away at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London and was buried at the Broadlands estate, which is owned by the Knatchbulls. The parents set up a fund in honor of their daughter called Leonora Children’s Cancer Fund.
In 2014, the charity merged with The Edwina Mountbatten Trust and became The Edwina Mountbatten and Leonora Children’s Foundation. The Duke of Edinburgh helped legitimize the charity by attending a reception for it in 1994.
Leonora Knatchbull in ‘The Crown’
Fictional Leonora is played by Clara Graham. The second episode of season 5, called “The System,” shows Leonora Knatchbull’s funeral and the subsequent heartbreak that her mother Penelope “Penny” Knatchbull, Lady Romsey went through. The mother is played by Natascha McElhone.
The Crown is currently streaming on Netflix.